FanPost

Alright, I Guess I Can Watch The World Series

Ed Zurga

Like many Michiganders, I still have a very bitter taste in my mouth after the Tigers were swept quite nonchalantly out of the MLB playoffs. Since then, I have staunchly refused to watch any form of baseball in protest of… something. Probably the Tiger’s bullpen, they are an easy scapegoat. Either way, hockey is on, and regular season hockey is much better than playoff baseball when your team barely squeaked in and then choked hard.

But last night’s game changed some things. After the Giants walloped the Royals in Game One of the World Series, I was flipping through the channels and found myself landing on Game Two the moment when Royal’s catcher Salvador Perez hit a two-run double to put them ahead by three.

"This is exciting, I guess I can watch this inning," I thought.

Then it got better.

In the next at-bat Omar Infante blasted a homer, and as Perez walked the final few feet to score the fourth run of the inning, the Giant’s pitcher, reliever Hunter Strickland, shouted out. Perez shouted back.

Then all the players started leaving their dugouts as the back-and-forth got more intense. Only umpire intervention prevented a dugout brawl during the second game of the freaking World Series, and that is awesome. I settled into my chair and finished out the game.

For much of September, Kansas City was a royal pain in the butt for many Tigers fans. They led the division for a while and they stayed within a few games all the way until the last two or three games of the regular season. When we clinched the division it was a good time, but it still stung a little to have that moment drag out for so long with pitchers like Justin Verlander, David Price, Max Scherzer, and Anibal Sanchez. When Kansas City made it, even with the wildcard, they went ballistic, and the entire fanbase of Major League Baseball patted them on the back for ending a playoff drought of almost three decades.

Nobody thought that they would get this far, or even play this well for that matter. To sweep your way to the World Series is no meager task, and the Royals did it with aplomb. After Game One everybody thought the Cinderella story was over.

This was their first loss in the playoffs, and nobody knew how they were going to respond. Last night they let the world know that adversity doesn’t shake them. In a single week this story progressed from "Plucky Underdog Sweeps its Way to First World Series in 29 years" to "Clock Strikes Midnight for Plucky Underdog" and, after last night "Plucky Underdog Digs in Heels for World Series Slugfest.

That last story is one that I can watch, regardless of who’s playing (even though I wish it was my Tigers). This is gritty baseball, and that’s the type of baseball that I love.

So for now, I’m still a Tigers fan. I’m not rooting for the AL, or for our division, and I’m certainly not rooting for a team from San Francisco. I’m cheering for great baseball, and a series to seven with a made-for-Hollywood finish. You should too.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.