A few days ago, I stridently agreed with the statement “I don’t need the playoffs to validate the season for me.“ I was happy with this season and with the promise of what this club could bring next season. That’s still the case, although I do find myself caught up in this tremendous and unexpected stampede to get to the playoffs. Our team’s forward momentum, and the falling dominoes of the fortunes of other clubs right now, is astonishing to witness.
We all know, given the strange alchemy of this recent run, that this team is indeed capable of beating anyone even though it’s a team with a lot of rookies who seem mysteriously able to do the right thing at the right time and exceed whatever could rightly be seen as possible.
So I would be a little disappointed if they didn’t at least make the playoffs this year, although it wouldn’t be an excoriating disappointment like our last two appearances at the World Series.
Overall this season, regardless of its previous downsides, is an extraordinary gift and something memorable and easy to treasure, regardless of what the ultimate payout is in the end.