An embarrasment of riches

 

Before I wrote this, I was caught between wanting to celebrate my team's World Series championship and thinking maybe I'll shut up about it because people don't want to hear it.

 

I know I shouldn't worry about that -- who cares what those people think, my team just won two World Series in a row for the first time since I became a fan 50 years ago! But I was raised not to boast and if people are mad about the thing I want to boast about maybe it's not worth boasting about anyway.

 

Still, I didn't come up with the current MLB climate of haves and have-nots. I picked my team a long time ago, before free agency was a way of life. The only super-team I knew then were the Yankees. There are several super-teams now (look up MLB payrolls, the Dodgers aren't even first). The Dodgers get a lot of hate, warranted or not. But I can't let that spoil my celebration of TWO WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ROW.

 

I'm not accustomed to this, obviously. I've watched the Dodgers lose two World Series in a row -- twice. There was 29 years without a trip to the Series. This is also the first time I've experienced the Dodgers winning Game 7 of the WS (last time that happened I was 3 months old). 

 

It was a great time last night. I forgot I'd be home for Game 7. If you watched the game, you know it looked like the Blue Jays were going to win for eight innings. The Dodgers couldn't hit -- it's been an issue all seven games -- and the Blue Jays seemed to have the magic touch with guys like Ernie Clement and Addison Bargar, who I barely had heard of, on every single ball, every single time. 

 

Shohei Ohtani giving up a three-run homer to Bo Bichette in the third inning seemed like an insurmountable deficit. The Dodgers inched closer a run at a time and then the Blue Jays struck instantly (Clement again and -- what? -- Andres Gimenez?). Then the game seemed to crawl slowly to an inevitable conclusion. Max Muncy's homer in the eighth didn't quite give me life but the deficit was at one again, if that meant anything at all.

 

And then Miguel Rojas tied it with one out in the 9th.

 

 

I mean that's crazy. There's a reason all my Miguel Rojas cards show pictures of him fielding. But it was nice to have a nobody on the Dodgers surprise for a change. The Blue Jays aren't the only ones with "blue-collar guys" on their team. (by the way, their payroll is in the top five, too). And every team that gets this far has a few of those guys.

 

This postseason the Dodgers relied on players like Rojas, Will Klein, Justin Dean, Justin Wrobleski and Kikè Hernandez while some of the superstars struggled. This team was like the undead, they just kept finding a way no matter how poorly they were hitting or how much their bullpen sucked.

 

Anyway, the game was tied and that's when my daughter, who was following it three hours away, texted her mom, saying "I don't know if you want to know this but it's tied". My wife had gone to bed before the game started because she can't handle the stress.

 

She didn't get up right away, so she missed the Blue Jays' failed attempt to win in the bottom of the ninth and the hilarious play in which Andy Pages ran over Kikè Hernandez to catch the final out of the inning that I was still laughing about when my wife finally made it downstairs.

 

She was amazed that I was in such a good mood given the extra innings tie. Hey, the Dodgers have given all they have and have taken it as far as possible, there's nothing to fret about.

 

I probably knew then in some way that the Dodgers were going to win. After somehow avoiding several "how do they get out of this?" scenarios, Will Smith hit his home run in the 11th, for the Dodgers' first lead all game, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto -- amazing -- closed it out on no day's rest.

 

 

 

It was joy, at 12:18 a.m., sending my daughter a congratulatory text, it's still crazy how she's become such a dedicated Dodger fan. My sister- and brother-in-law, who both have been nothing but Bills fans for decades, were also following the Dodgers.

 

The reaction on social media was not quite as pleasant. I eventually received a few congratulations after one rude response (from a former blogger no less). But mostly it's been crickets any time I get excited about the Dodgers over there. Another reason probably just to pull the plug completely.

 

I know it's an embarrassment of riches. Few fans get to experience something like this, but Blue Jays fans have, back when I was in my 20s. It took me living to 60 to experience it myself. Now that it's done, I basically have all I need as a fan. I don't really need the Dodgers to win another title.  The postseason is way too long. I'm exhausted. For my own mental (and probably physical) health, some other teams can win titles the next few years. I won't mind (OK, maybe a couple of teams I'll mind).

 

This was a great Series, whether you had a team involved or not. The Blue Jays and Dodgers knocked heads for seven games and I will watch Game 6 and 7 (and probably Game 2 and 3) over and over. This win will mean spending money again, too, for gear, of course, but also card prices will go up again.

 

Oh right, that stuff doesn't matter ...

 

BECAUSE THE DODGERS ARE TWO-TIME CHAMPIONS! 

 

This morning, I got up too early because I was still wired. I looked at the time on my phone. Then I looked at the clock in the kitchen. Then I looked back at my phone. I had completely forgotten about the time change. Hello, life. I can deal with you now again.