Sweet (s) Talking. …

As the regular season of Major League Baseball drew to a close, a local Detroit Tigers fan told me over the years a few things that came to mind. He often said, “One of our two teams will be there at the end of the season and the other won’t. Which referred to the Tigers’ almost annual playoff presence over the past decade, while the Brewers have often failed to advance to the playoffs.

Now that the tables are completely reversed, said Tigers fan, a Kingsford resident who will go unnamed – but is the younger brother of a former director of community schools in Norway and deceased Iron Mountain sports director – will acknowledge the disappearance. of his team due to the reconstruction. But he refuses to give credit to the fact that the Brewers have been in the playoffs for four consecutive years and are in a much better position as a franchise than his Tigers.

But I remember it coming from the guy who said in 2014 – when the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals by half a game to win the AL Central Division – that even though the Royals continued to play in the World Series and losing in seven games to the San Francisco Giants, as the Tigers have had a better season because they won the division. Well of course they did – and I’ll be waking up in two days after losing 85 pounds in my sleep the night before. …

On a related note, I’m writing this column after watching the Boston Red Sox defeat their fierce rivals, the NY Yankees, in the 2021 AL Wild Card game. The Yankees went so far as to bring former shortstop Bucky Dent to Boston’s Fenway Park and buy him a ticket behind the plate to the game. For those of you unfamiliar with the importance of Bucky Dent and the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, Dent hit a winning home run in a decisive 163 game for the 1978 AL East title at Fenway. The Yankees won the World Series that year against the LA Dodgers. Looks like Bucky Dent – and the bully factor – didn’t save the day this time around.

It reminds me of the fool who paid an incredible amount to buy the “Steve Bartman Baseball” of the 2003 NLCS at Wrigley Field to detonate it at Harry Carey Bar in Chicago. Blow up that baseball is supposed to stop the supposed “1945 Billy Goat Curse” which many naive Cubs fans actually believe is what kept their beloved team from winning the World Series for 71 years. The point is, Chicken Little was not right and the sky did not fall. Hopping a baseball didn’t end a curse, and Bartman didn’t beat the NLCS for the Cubs in 2003 – the Cubs did it themselves. …

One final blurb on MLB – to say I’m excited to watch my Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs later this week is an understatement. Starting starter Corbin Burnes, who starts NLDS Game 1 on Friday afternoon at American Family Field against the Atlanta Braves, has had a season worthy of Cy Young. Brewers skipper Craig Counsell would be a spearhead for National League Manager of the Year if the SF Giants hadn’t won 107 games under the direction of former Brewers fielder and Tigers Gabe Kapler. The Brew Crew has six NL 2021 stars on their roster, including Arizona Diamondbacks star Eduardo Escobar, who was acquired by Brewers general manager David Stearns as of the trade deadline on the 30th. July. Burnes, star Brandon Woodruff and star Freddy Peralta – “The Big 3” at the start of Milwaukee’s starting rotation, not to mention a lighted reliever box anchored by an all-star fireball throwing left-hander Josh Hader.

The national media are inclined to highlight large market teams and overlook small market teams like the Brewers and Tampa Bay. It makes the excitement of the next playoffs for the Brewers all the more exciting for me to go under the radar and shock the baseball world and make it to the World Series for the first time since 1982. Come on Brewers! ! …

Fall is here, that means it’s time to enjoy the MLB playoffs, ladies and gentlemen. Also, stay safe, healthy, and happy. …