The 2010 Baseball Playoffs and the Ojeda Factor...

Jimenez faded down the stretch, as did Colorado

Did anyone notice that the last three installments of the Underdogs have focused on non-sports related topics?  No?  Well they did.  And people were probably getting upset.  I actually don't have any evidence of that, but, just in case anyone actually did get upset, we will now attempt to set things right with a triumphant return to the world of sports blogs.  Indeed, the Underdogs are back with the first baseball blog of the year.  YAY!  Just in time for October!  yay?  Ah yes.  On a crisp fall day on which the Major League Baseball Playoffs will begin, the big question on my mind is… does anyone care???  (Aw, I love saying that because all my Yankee fan friends get all bent outa shape :)  But really, what a season!  To me it felt like it ended 6 months ago.  Wait, didn’t I say the same thing LAST year???  UGH.  The Mets were abysmal… so were the Cubs, and the San Diego Padres choked away a big Divisional lead to give the Evil San Francisco Giants a playoff birth. I tried to get excited about the Rockies while passing through Denver, when I got to see the masterful Ubaldo Jimenez beat the Giants to win his 17^th game, but even he couldn't carry them to the promised land.

The day after giving away Manny Ramirez to the White Sox
the Dodgers pretty much gave up on the season.

Then when we got here to LA we headed out to Dodger Stadium (right next to Elysian Park, where we play tennis) to see the Dodgers lay down and die against the Evil Philadelphia Phillies.  The Dodgers, Rockies, and Padres all had a chance with about a month and a half to go in the season to turn things around and somehow oust the Phils or Giants from contention, but none of them could.  The only saving grace in the National League was that the Cincinnati Reds were able to hold off the (also Evil) St. Louis Cardinals.

Coors Field in Denver

So here we are at baseball playoff time and if you take a look around, there are actually lots of good Underdog types to root for.  No teams from LA or Chicago, no Boston Redsox.  Seriously, as I am writing this out I am actually getting excited about baseball for the first time since Spring Training.  The Tampa Bay Rays beat out the Evil New York Yankees for the AL East Divisional Championship (while spending about a third as much on payroll as the Empire.)  The small market Minnesota Twins and the previously mentioned Cincinnati Reds defied the odds to make the postseason, but the most surprising contender this year has to be the Texas Rangers. 

Dodger Stadium.

Alex's Least favorite place to watch a baseball game.
But not because of a Perfect-Game-related spat :)

Amazingly only three teams had a lower payroll this season than the Rangers did, so their playoff appearance is definitely a remarkable achievement.  Clearly they are doing something right down there in Arlington.  Also, the 101D’s own Catia Ojeda is the biggest Ranger Fanatic I’ve ever met, so I like to live vicariously and pull for them.  And I can’t reiterate this point enough… she is a serious fan folks.  If you want an example ask her about the “Perfect-Game story” that went down at Fenway a few years back.  She still gets mad at her (now husband) Alex, (congrats guys! :) when it comes up because even though he was not a Sox fan he had the temerity to root against her boys as the night went on, tantalized by the chance to witness a perfect game.  She didn’t buy the “history-of-the-game” argument and was horrified at his lack of respect.  In fact, since she was probably the only person in the ballpark wearing a Rangers hat, she considered it a full-fledged betrayal!  To this day if you bring it up (and of course I love to do so) she will momentarily go back to that place and look at Alex as if he is the scourge of the earth, with those “how DARE you eyes.”  Always a priceless moment. 

Catia and Alex last Halloween as Deviled Egg

Anyway, so when the Rangers finally broke up the perfect game in the seventh inning with a single up the middle, Catia immediately jumped up joyously to cheer the hit.  Then she started defiantly talking smack to the surrounding Red Sox Nation as they looked at her in disbelief.  When we get to this part of the story, I like to watch Alex as he relives the moment as well with a slightly nervous expression.  Because at that point he suddenly had to turn his attention from their little spat about the Perfect Game to the current problem… of how to get them out of Fenway alive that night.  Imagine that spectacle!  One diehard Texas fan swimming proudly in a sea of crazy (possibly dangerous) Boston fans?  Now, that’s a brave underdog!

Everything turned out alright in the end though.  They made it out of there and today Catia and Alex are a brilliant married couple.  (Just off of the honeymoon in fact.)  And I think that without a doubt the Perfect Game spat made them stronger.  I mean, when you think about it, if that is the biggest fight they’ve ever had in their relationship… they must be the ones playing the perfect game.  HHHMmm.  Catia just cringed at my bad pun.    

Anyway, when you add it all up the AL has three good-guy teams (Twins, Rays, and Rangers) to the NL’s one (Reds.)  And that’s not such a bad postseason for Underdogs.  Because of the Ojeda connection, I am pulling for the Rangers over the Rays in their first round matchup, and hopefully the Reds can somehow come out of the NL, but the biggest first round series has to be the Yankees against the Twins.  Game one is tonight in Minneapolis, right back where the Underdogs started a year ago.  Last year we made it out to the Twins last regular season game at the Metrodome (we even got Certificates saying as much) as they finished the season on an incredible tear to beat out Detroit for the last playoff spot.  The Yankees ended Minnesota's playoff dreams quickly however in the first round, and the Cinderella story hit midnight.  This year though the Twins have home field advantage (in their new outdoor stadium, where it might get down to 45 degrees tonight) and a good chance to redeem themselves against the mighty Yanks.  At last count, the Twins have two World Championships compared to the Yankees' twenty-seven, so there is no doubt that it is a tall order facing the Minne-boys.  The Yankees are really really good.  But for Underdogs everywhere… It would be fun to see the upset!  And eventually, perhaps, the chance to see the Ultimate Dream Scenario...   

Reds vs Rangers in the World Series!!  :)  aw That would KILL Vegas! 

2009 in Minneapolis.  The Underdogs have come full circle.  

Baseball is BACK baby!  Hmmmm, I think that is also something I said a year ago when we started this thing.  Hard to believe it’s been a year already.  Seems like three doesn’t it?  Happy Baseball Watching!

And as always, thanks for reading,
Underdogs out!