Astros’ fate keeps Rays and baseball fans talking
What’s your slice of October baseball pie? Classic apple? Too late. The Big Apple’s Yankees exited stage left. Pecan? The Braves offer that savory sense of the South. Key Lime? Say hello to the Rays.
Hungering for more f lavorful postseason stakes?
Would you rather see the Rays chase the Astros out of the playoffs as quickly and painfully as possible, following a cheating scandal that scorched the game but stopped well short of recalling ill-gotten rings?
Is there a small part of you that would prefer, as do many, the appointment viewing gold of the Astros meeting the Dodgers in a World Series gushing irony?
Though almost all of San Diego would rather slop ketchup on fish tacos than see the Dodgers win anything, watching Joe Kelly trot out of the bullpen might be worth the price of the couch sores alone.
Or make it Rays-Braves and call it a day?
The Rays continued to dictate the storyline Monday with a 4-2 victory during Game 2 of the AL Championship Series at Petco Park.
“This is what people are saying, but I don’t know where they got it from,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker, when asked whether his team feels any “us against the world” vibe from his clubhouse. “If it is, there ain’t nobody here talking about it.”
Trust us. They’re talking about it, from Point Loma to Pawtucket. How do you prefer your Astros, slightly crispy or the consistency of a smoldering charcoal briquette?
Baker got downright philosophical about the strange circumstances.
“When I was mad a couple years ago, a few years ago (before joining the Astros), it was my fault,” said Baker, who inherited a monumental mess not of his
own making and trails in the series, 2-0. “(Like rapper) Tupac, ‘Me against the world.’ At some point and time, we’ve all had that outlook and that attitude unless you’re one of the more blessed ones that’s been here on this earth.
“And I don’t know too many of those.”
The Astros, of course, will receive zero sympathy beyond their backyard.
Because of it, the Rays’ bandwagon has started to bulge.
“After we beat New York, I got a lot of things, ‘Good luck. Go do your thing,’ ” Rays pitcher Blake Snell said. “A lot of people are engaging more with the Rays. I think there are a lot of people rooting for us.”
There are plenty of reasons to cheer for the Rays, no villain required. They’re good, first and foremost. They’re fun to watch. They play smart. They find a way, without the big-market bank account. In San Diego, toss in the fact former Padres Manny Margot and Hunter Renfroe suit up.
Rays manager Kevin Cash hopes the product shares at least some of the stage with America’s collective venom.
“I don’t know if it’s for those situations,” Cash said of the mushrooming support. “I hope we’re gaining fans for just, you know, people just watching us play. We’ve got a lot of guys that I think fans can really relate (to) and appreciate. Just a bunch of good guys that on a nightly basis go
out there and show how much they enjoy playing.”
When Margot belted a three-run homer to deadcenter in the bottom of the first inning Monday to build the Rays a 3-0 cushion, the cheers surely extended well beyond Tampa Bay. When he tumbled over a fence in right field in the second to corral George Springer’s foul popup — landing on his head, before f lopping to the concrete — a stunning highlight was added to the reel.
As Rays shortstop Willy
Adames snared a rope off the bat of Astros slugger Alex Bregman in the first and tacked on another f lashy stab of a Carlos Correa liner an inning later, you got the feeling he could run for national office.
“Nobody has forgotten what they have done, or chose to do in years past,” Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier said after a 2-1 win Sunday in Game 1. “And they have to live with that.”
The Astros accomplished something wholly
remarkable during a season like no other. In a country fighting over everything from politics to the U.S. Postal Service, they brought untold millions with different backgrounds and allegiances together.
All the while, Baker kept reminding us how tricky the season is to explain or frame.
When a Houston reporter asked about a recent pitching performance, Baker voiced displeasure with creative if not pointed
diplomacy. He’s had practice.
“You know who the French philosopher (Albert) Camus is?” Baker asked. “I want you to look him up, because Camus was one of the most negative philosophers around. So, you look him up. You’re too young to be that negative. I don’t want you to end up like Camus.”
Pie, a la mode.
Grab a fork.