This year’s MLB playoffs have been a joy to watch and very blue looking. Seriously, there has been a lot of blue out on the diamond this fall—the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Texas Rangers, the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Mets, the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago Cubs, the list goes on and on. Only one team—the Pittsburgh Pirates—really broke that trend. With Pittsburgh being eliminated, it’s been a blue October.
In the NL, New York is looking to knockout Chicago and prolong the 105 year championship drought in the Windy City. Meanwhile in the AL, the Royals are up 3-1 in their series against the Blue Jays. K.C. is looking to repeat the success of their 2014 postseason run, which ended badly after the club had the misfortune of running into San Francisco on an even year (the Giants have won 3 of the last 5 World Championships, each of them coming on an even year) and the dark magic of starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner.
“Last season is still very fresh in my mind,” said Seattle University junior (and Royals fan) Jarrod Williamson. “I think this year’s team has an even better shot at [a Championship] than last year’s, which is super exciting.”
In the NLCS, the Mets have dominated the Cubs’ potent, young offense. Matt Harvey fireballed his way to a dominant Game 1 win, striking out nine in seven and two-thirds innings. Noah “Thor” Syndergaard followed that by fanning nine Cubs over five and two-thirds innings of work in game two. In game three, the Cubs again fell to the Mets, 5-2.
“My family is all [Cubs] fans, so we’re hoping things can turn around for us,” said sophomore Erick Salundon.
Meanwhile, the AL has featured a pair of offensive powerhouses in the form of the Blue Jays and the Royals. Both teams were ranked in the top five in ESPN’s Power Rankings, having scored a whopping 891 and 724 runs in the regular season, respectively. Indeed, it hints as to how the ALCS has panned out thus far. None of the opening four games has seen the winner score less than five runs. To wit, Tuesday’s game saw sixteen runners cross home plate, with the Royals winning 14-2.
Moving forward, nothing is fixed. Both the Cubs and the Royals have the talent to regain lost ground.
Most importantly, according to Back to the Future II, the Cubs win the World Series this year.
Which teams will appear in the World Series remains to be seen. Only one thing is for certain; both sides will be wearing blue.
Will may be reached at [email protected]
