The October Drama Is Just Getting Started

The Dodgers are testing my marriage vows to this franchise, Milwaukee has developed an attitude, and October baseball is giving everyone trust issues.

I need everyone to gather around because I have some things to say, and unfortunately, none of them are going to be particularly calm.

October baseball is officially in its toxic relationship era.

One minute you're planning a World Series outfit, the next you're staring at your television like a Victorian woman waiting for her husband to return from war.

Except your husband is a baseball team.

And he's left fourteen men on base.

WELCOME TO THE POSTSEASON, GIRLIES. 💋

Where the stakes are high, the men are stressed, and I am approximately one bad bullpen decision away from needing a medically supervised vacation.

Let's discuss the absolute AUDACITY happening around Major League Baseball.

The Dodgers: Babe, We Need to Talk.

First of all, let me make something very clear.

I love the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I love them when they're winning. I love them when they're losing. I love them when they're making decisions that would get an ordinary man blocked on every social media platform I own.

But right now?

THEY ARE ON THIN ICE.

We're down 2-0 to Milwaukee in the NLCS, and I would like to know WHO APPROVED THIS STORYLINE.

Because it certainly wasn't me.

Game 1? A 2-1 loss.

Game 2? A 7-4 loss.

SEVEN TO FOUR, BESTIES.

And before the baseball men come crawling out of their caves to explain that it's a seven-game series, I KNOW.

I CAN COUNT.

I JUST DON'T WANT TO COUNT LOSSES.

That's the difference.

The offense has been giving us absolutely nothing when it matters most, and I am TIRED of watching runners get stranded like somebody forgot to pick them up after practice.

We have talent. We have superstars. We have championship experience.

WHAT WE APPARENTLY DO NOT HAVE IS THE ABILITY TO HIT A BASEBALL AT THE MOST CONVENIENT POSSIBLE MOMENT.

And Shohei?

Baby.

I adore you.

I would defend you in a group chat full of Yankees fans.

But I need you to remember that the baseball is supposed to go VERY FAR in the OTHER direction.

Respectfully. Lovingly. With my entire heart.

Current relationship status with the Dodgers:
Still together, but I'm sleeping on my side of the bed and we're discussing boundaries.

Milwaukee Is Acting Like the Popular Girl Who Just Got Invited to Prom

EXCUSE ME, BREWERS.

WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD BE THIS CONFIDENT?

Because Milwaukee has apparently decided that the defending World Series champions are simply an inconvenience on their way to a bigger appointment.

And the worst part?

THEY'RE BACKING IT UP.

William Contreras had three hits and three RBIs in Game 2, including a home run, while the Brewers' bullpen basically told Los Angeles, “Sorry, we're closed.”

I hate how effective that was.

I really do.

And listen, I'm a Dodgers girl through and through, but I am also a baseball girl.

I can acknowledge good baseball when I see it.

Even when it's personally ruining my evening.

Milwaukee is playing with confidence, executing when it matters, and making every opportunity count.

Meanwhile, I'm on my couch bargaining with the baseball gods like I have a direct line to their customer service department.

And before somebody makes this about payrolls, let's be serious.

October doesn't care how much your roster costs.

October cares whether you can get a hit when there are runners in scoring position.

My official Milwaukee assessment:
Annoying. Talented. Unfortunately deserving of respect.

I said what I said.

Cleveland and Tampa Bay: Oh, So We're ALL Being Dramatic?

While I'm busy having a personal crisis over in the National League, the American League has decided to join the circus.

Cleveland won Game 1 of the ALCS, 7-3.

Cute.

Tampa Bay came back and won Game 2, 3-1.

ALSO CUTE.

Now the series is tied 1-1, and apparently nobody wants to make things easy for anyone.

A defensive mistake helped Tampa Bay score three runs in the fourth inning, and Freddy Peralta threw six scoreless innings.

SIX.

SCORELESS.

INNINGS.

Do you know what I would give for that kind of peace and stability in my life right now?

Actually, don't answer that.

Here's what people sometimes forget about playoff baseball: one tiny mistake can completely change a game.

One error.

One pitch.

One poorly timed decision.

Suddenly you're down three runs, your manager is being interrogated by the internet, and somebody's uncle is writing a 900-word Facebook post about why baseball was better in 1987.

My American League verdict:
Both teams are giving competitive, emotionally unavailable, and unwilling to define the relationship.

I'm seated.

Can We Discuss the Emotional Damage of October Baseball?

Because WHY do we do this to ourselves?

Seriously.

We spend six months watching 162 games.

We memorize batting averages. We learn pitching rotations. We develop deeply unreasonable attachments to grown men who don't know we exist.

We buy jerseys.

We defend trades.

We argue with strangers named BaseballDad1974.

And then October arrives and suddenly every single pitch feels like a personal attack.

Your team wins?

YOU'RE INVINCIBLE.

Your team loses?

Nobody speak to you. Nobody touch you. Nobody ask what's for dinner.

My husband could ask me the most innocent question in the world during the seventh inning and I would respond like he's personally responsible for our runners being left on base.

Sorry, babe.

It's not you.

It's the bullpen.

And here's the part that makes me even crazier.

I LOVE IT.

I love the drama. I love the pressure. I love the underdogs making the favorites uncomfortable.

I love the players who become postseason legends overnight.

I even love the chaos.

As long as the chaos is happening to someone else's team.

A Friendly Reminder to the Baseball Gatekeepers

While we're here, I have a little public service announcement.

Women can love baseball AND love the drama.

We can understand a pitch count while wearing pink.

We can discuss bullpen management and then immediately discuss which player looks like he smells expensive.

MULTITASKING, BABE.

It's a skill.

And if I want to analyze a manager's decisions while drinking an iced coffee out of a glittery cup?

THAT'S CALLED RANGE.

Nobody needs to prove they belong in a ballpark.

Especially not to a man who thinks yelling “SWING!” at the television qualifies as advanced analytics.

Anyway.

Back to my emotional crisis.

So Who's Actually Surviving October?

Milwaukee has the momentum.

Los Angeles has some serious work to do.

Cleveland and Tampa Bay are still fighting for control of their series.

And me?

I'm still here.

Still loyal.

Still delusional enough to believe my Dodgers can turn this entire thing around.

Because that's what being a fan is about.

Faith.

Loyalty.

And occasionally convincing yourself that a two-game deficit is simply an opportunity for a dramatic comeback montage.

Do I believe in the Dodgers? ABSOLUTELY.

Am I currently pleased with them? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Two things can be true, babe.

Now excuse me while I go check the postseason schedule for the seventeenth time and pretend I'm a normal, functioning adult.

YOUR TURN, BESTIES:

Who's winning the pennants? Who's breaking your heart? And which team needs to be publicly embarrassed in Wednesday's Burn Book?

Because I have a pink pen, a platform, and some THOUGHTS.

XOXO,

Yesenia 💋⚾️

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