The air is turning a bit cooler in the mornings, and the leaves are beginning to change.
October is almost gone, but it must be time for the World Series.
The Fall Classic, a staple of my youth and something I have watched religiously since the 1970s, began last night. My favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is taking on the Toronto Blue Jays.
A lot of drama has unfolded this postseason. Thanks to television, we now have multiple rounds of playoffs for each league. I suppose it allows more teams to have a chance, but it also makes it harder. I guess that’s why we haven’t had a repeat champion since the New York Yankees did it from 1998-2000.
Home runs have been center stage this postseason. Shohei Ohtani hit three home runs last week in the Dodgers’ clincher over the Brewers. He also pitched six scoreless innings and struck out 10 Milwaukee batters, leading many experts to proclaim it the greatest single-game performance ever.
On Monday night, Toronto’s George Springer hit a go-ahead home run to put the Blue Jays in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1993. Their opponent, Seattle, was bidding to make its first World Series appearance. Alas, they will have to wait ‘til next year.
Speaking of home runs, this year marks the 50th anniversary of what many call the greatest World Series game ever played. It was Game 6 between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox.
The game turned out to be an “instant classic” as the Reds, needing just one win to clinch, had a lead late in the game. Bernie Carbo delivered a dramatic pinch hit home run to tie the game, and then the teams battled it out and into extra innings.
Finally, in the bottom of the 12th, Boston catcher Carlton Fisk ended the game with a home run down the left field line. The famous image of him waving the ball fair, and then jumping for joy, remains etched in my mind.
Alas, Boston would go on to lose Game 7 and keep their World Series curse — they hadn’t won one since trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees — alive. The Red Sox have since won the World Series four times since 2004, so don’t feel too badly for them.