“Baseball is visceral, tragic, and absurd with only fleeting moments of happiness; it may be the best representation of life.” –Adrian Cardenas
Sorry, baseball world. It was up to this ball-club to exact some sort of small revenge for the inadequacies against the universe and they failed. This was a demoralizing series, as the swingin’ dick Asterisks, in a perpetual climate of contradiction, proved that cheating without repercussion or self-reproach is the new American way of life. This approach is celebrated in the White House (and politics in general) and has trickled down into the muck of the baseball world as the catalysts bounce back and forth from “powerful” to “victim” at the drop of a hat or whenever it is convenient to benefit from said situation. When did we become a bunch of cowards? Even as a child I knew that when I did something terrible I felt remorse without trying to rub it in the victim’s face. That basic and humanistic concept is way over the heads of these “men.”
Am I being dramatic here? In the end, despite the unmitigated disaster, my friend (who doesn’t give a toss about baseball) and I toddled down to the local art museum after the game, (don’t judge, we wore masks and the tickets were very limited) and afterward, in the suburban slob tradition, we scarfed a bunch of fast food, coddled in blankets while embracing auteur status of gory B-grade camp/crap horror movies. (Only because there were no more Cobra Kai episodes after binge-watching the shit out of the first 2 seasons) Very sophisticated stuff. This led me to forget about millionaires prancing around in pajamas and playing with balls. Embracing the important things in life. And we all need that in these trying times of pandemics, assholes, liars, cheaters, and pricks that surround us every day lacking any sort of compassion, justice, or truth that ultimately corrupts their blackened hearts.
The Asterisks won this series fair and square and undoubtedly have a powerful lineup, but in the playoffs pitching is always the Prom Queen and they have a noticeable lack of it. (So did the A’s but that is another story) How good is this team? Perhaps they stumbled upon a “playoff hot streak” à la the 2019 Nationals. Ahh, except that team had– you guessed it–pitching. Their shit-smudge dream will inevitably end, although, regrettably not by our hands, and their classless fans will crawl back under the rocks from whence they came. Go Rays! or Yankees? (I can’t believe I actually said that) 2020 can you please burn in hell? Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to go put my head in a cheese grater while searching for early signs of senility.
Coco Crisp's Afro 
It sucks…I thought the A’s would roll them like wholesale carpet… I don’t see them getting by NY or Tampa Bay.
A dark part of me would love for them to get to the World Series only if the Dodgers do. There is no one I would like more to see the Dodgers play than them.
I would love that too, but momentum is a tricky thing and it would be best to just see them go away as soon as possible. If there’s any consolation, I believe that their mini “dynasty” is over.
The second I heard that Verlander was done for this and next year…and Grienke will be gone soon…yea I do believe they are over.
You are right…the last thing I want to see is for them to get hot…I don’t see where they are getting the pitching.
Hold onto that smart girlfriend. Waste not a minute more on the stupidity of Major League Baseball 2020. For expanding the postseason entries and encouraging mediocrity, the corrupt greed balls running baseball (another comparison to the White House) deserve to have a team with a sub .500 mark like the Astros make a deep run in the playoffs. What next? Starting every inning with a runner on second?
Haha. Tou·ché Simba. I normally wouldn’t give a care about who won. The ‘Stros could have vindicated themselves quite easily this offseason, but they refused and that rubs me the wrong way. Here we have a reverse of the Black Sox scandal and no one seems to care. Corruption is the norm and that’s just the way it is. Very sad.
A 20 year tradition continues for the A’s.
Even though Billy Beane was ‘kicked upstairs’ several years ago, this is still ‘his’ team, and his maddeningly disinterested approach towards the postseason continues to affect the franchise. I pretty much gave up on the team after the 2014 collapse, when he was in full denial mode, dismissing the ‘inherent unfairness’ of the playoffs. Nobody who makes such lelaborate excuses for failure should be in his position.
Give me the attitude from 1988-92, where even disappointment was met with determination to try to do better. Beane learned nothing from his brief time playing for the A’s. He was a non-entity as a player, and even moreso as an executive. Most people who aren’t Beane measure success differently.
Interesting take. His influence in the baseball world is undeniable, but does that lead to winning? Yes and no. If I were to place any blame, however, more would be placed on the ownership than a GM trying to make cake out of dogshit.
Gary,
I feel ya’ really man and hopefully Joe Kelly will have a fine rebuttal for those…Sorry, I have my reservations about that team as well…we should have won that last series, just saying…
For what it is worth, (I am a Clipper fan) there is always next year…
Yeah, I’m rooting for the Dodgers now. I lived in LA for a long time and went to Chavez Ravine more times than I can count so they have a little piece of my heart.
bear not the weight of the world on your (or your club’s) shoulders. at least we still have halloween and next season – hopefully. at least you have the A’s and a shot at redemption next year, unlike the reds.😏
No Halloween parties though! Prob just stay in and watch a slasher flick and drink a few beers.
good plan. beer, candy & gore. the prowler is an obscure one, but a good one. there are so many good ones though.
There isn’t enough stigma associated with cheating, in life or sports. ESPN has A-Rod in their booth, and at some point in every game, he and the other broadcasters talk about some accomplishment from his career, conveniently leaving out his suspension for using PEDs. His mere presence in the booth normalizes his cheating. I’ve always thought baseball broadcasters should call out cheaters for the rest of their careers by saying things like, “Now batting for the Brewers, known steroid-cheat, Ryan Braun.” Instead, they speak of the accomplishments as if they are real, and in so doing, denigrate the accomplishments of guys like Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, and Reggie Jackson, whose measly 586, 573, and 563 home runs respectively do not seem nearly as impressive. All headlines involving Houston in this postseason should say, “Sign-stealing Astros Advance/Eliminated in/from the Playoffs.” Go Rays!
Thanks for the comment, Hugh. I agree with you on every account, but there seems to be so much corruption that cynicism kicks in and you just have to forget it all to remain sane. I know MLB has zero integrity, but they still get my money (very little these days) and time, and attention, so who am I to talk? The whole thing is a fiasco of epic proportions and to be honest I’m kind of glad I wont be around in 50 years to see how much more terrible things will be.
The wins can be had the ‘Finley Way’. I see it every time. It’s very frustrating.
I think of Charlie O. every time the A’s wear the kelly green uni’s
Damn bro… I feel you. After reading this I can pretty much guarantee that we were in the same position mentally and emotionally when the A’s lost the final game of this series and when I watched my Giants lost the last game of the year to the Padres to keep them out of the postseason. I was a wreck and you’ve got some strong words on your loss.
The Rays are taking care of business so far though.
Hallelujah! Hopefully the Rays end this series quickly so I can just watch and enjoy baseball passively again.