I hate the national fan discourse that tends to develop whenever a great player ends up on a bad team. You know what I’m talking about: “The commissioner should force them to trade him to a contender!” We heard it for years as Ohtani toiled on the Angels and it always rubbed me the wrong way. Fans of bad teams get have fun things, too.
And moreover, baseball is more than just the playoffs. The amazing things that Shohei Ohtani did on the field and the memories he made for Angels fans during his six
years in Orange County were real and they count for something, even if they only did occur of the course of the regular season. There are an infinite number of ways to consume and enjoy baseball in the months outside of October.
Having said that… man it was fun watching him finally get to pitch in October, and in one of our best baseball cities at that. The greatest baseball player of all-time was knocked around a bit early in the game against the Phillies, but then he really settled into the game, retiring 10 batters in a row and striking out 9 as the Dodgers came from behind to take Game 1.
Elsewhere, the Yankees got embarrassed up north (lol), the Brewers put a pounding on the Cubs, and the Tigers won in extras (without the Manfred Man, remember!) out in Seattle.
The National League takes a break today but both AL series resume with Game 2. God bless, postseason baseball.
