We always say the MLB season is a marathon and not a sprint. I guess Detroit and Minnesota decided the marathon was not long enough. They extended it by one more game today and then they extended today's game number 163 beyond the usual 9 innings. Minnesota finally won it 6-5 in 12 innings. Both teams let many chances slip away before Minnesota clinched it in the 12-Th on a hit by Alexi Casilla who is batting .198 for the season. Perfect end to a disastrous slump by the Tigers. I thought this race was over a while back. But the Tigers found a way to miss the playoffs after leading the division by 3 games with 4 games to go. Miguel Cabrera didn't help by partying with the enemy between games during that final weekend series and then coming home drunk and fighting with his wife. Too many controversies for one weekend. At the end of the day, or rather the season, Tigers loss ends up being Twins gain and they won the tie-breaker this year unlike last year when they lost to the White Sox. This is the third straight year with a one-game playoff in baseball. It's an interesting way to get us primed for the real playoffs.
The playoffs start tomorrow with 3 games. Twins have to go into the Bronx and face the game's top lineup less than 24 hours after winning an extra-inning game. I always thought the league was tough on these teams playing the one-game playoff by scheduling the real playoff game the very next day. But only today I learnt that the Yankees actually have the right to choose when they start their playoff - tomorrow or the day after. Of course they chose tomorrow because that puts the most pressure on the Twins. Not that the Yankees need these things on their side to win it all. They should be able to handle the Twins pretty easily. They have won all their 7 games this season against them and they should win 3 more though they may lose one game in the process. They better win the series. After all, they have the game's highest paid catcher, first baseman, third baseman, shortstop, starter and reliever ! No wonder the Yankees always say anything less than a championship is a failure. What a stupid system MLB is running. It's like a football team having the highest paid QB, RB, WR, linebacker and cornerback in the same team or a NBA team having the highest paid point guarrd, shooting guard and power forward in the league. I don't think that'll happen in those sports, but anything goes in baseball. It's not all about the Yankees though. The Rockies play the Phillies and the Dodgers play the Cards tomorrow as well. I pick the Cards, Rockies, Yankees and Boston to advance.
Bring on the playoffs anyways. Best way to spend the time between the NFL games is to watch playoff baseball. And did I mention the NBA pre-season has started too! Nothing wrong with that.
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