For the second straight season, the Philadelphia Phillies knocked Atlanta’s dick in the dirt after a regular season that saw the latter dust the former in the standings. There is no meaning, it’s just funny to watch.
Atlanta seemed to spend more time trying to air grievances than find a big hit from the moment this series started. But then, when you move the whole organization to White Flight Condos And Spa, it’s probably not surprising that they think they’re entitled to way more than they got.
We’ll address them all.
First, the Orlando Arcia mishegas somehow got larger and dumber. Probably because Alanna Rizzo of MLB Network, who to quote Tony Mendez, if she had an intelligent thought in her head it would die of loneliness, decided to bleat the tired garbage of bloggers vs. real writers, as if the latter was actually providing everything fans wanted than the former probably wouldn’t exist.
Seeing as how she works not just for the official bullhorn of MLB but also spends her afternoons emitting noxious gas with Chris Russo, one of the world’s leading noise polluters, we know exactly where her credibility is.
We’ve heard all this before from the crusty baseball writer crowd, where only those truly in the know understand what it means to be media in a clubhouse, which has always smacked of the nerds gleefully getting to hang out with the jocks for once. And that there’s some sort of protocol, unspoken, of course, on what’s available to be reported and what isn’t. Sounds an awful lot like water carrying and those desperately trying to hold onto their “cool” cred instead of doing their job, but what do I know, I’m just a drunk with thoughts. If there’s some kind of “code,” then how much is everyone hiding?
As Britt Ghiroli pointed out:
Or Chelsea Janes:
If Arcia had run around after Game 2 so excited that he had Spencer Strider’s underwear on his head, it would be a funny anecdote that would be just as much on the record as what Arcia did. What Arcia and Atlanta are really pissed off about is that they were made to look foolish when Bryce Harper shoved his foot up their ass sideways.
Bad look for Acuna
Speaking of pettiness:
Patrick Beverly does this and everyone loses their mud.
Excuses are like . . .
Way back when, meaning Game 1, it was the layoff that put Atlanta behind the 8-ball. Wasn’t fair they had five days off. Funny story, when Atlanta won the World Series in 2021 it had four days off between the regular season and the start of the Division Series. The Astros didn’t seem to mind the break last year. 2018 Red Sox had four days off, too. So did the 2017 Astros. And the 2016 Cubs. One day really mean that much? No, no it doesn’t. Here’s a thought, maybe try not getting your ass rubbed in the moonshine?
It is startling that a team that is only two years removed from a championship has now spent two years in Philly losing their mettle. They’re supposed to be tested and passed.
Another bad look
Want to get more petty? I can do that:
Care to guess how many plate appearances Arcia had in that 2021 postseason run?
The baseball season is just one long tournament
Off to the LCSs, where none of the four teams won more than 90 games. I guess I’ll just have to accept that this is my thing and I’ll have to get over it. It’s not that the MLB playoffs are just a tournament, the whole season is. The 162 games is just an obscenely long group stage. We think we know what it means and what it portends, and then the knockouts roll around and we learn something completely different. Remember how good both men’s and women’s Japan team looked in the previous World Cups? And then the knockouts and they ate it. So many teams like that.
As for the Phillies, they’re just a tournament team. They seem to know how to pace this out, and don’t shrink from the moment, and baseball is designed to make players shrink from the moment. Do everything right and you still only get on base a third of the time. Make a great pitch all the time and some punter will still fist one over the shortstop’s head.
But the Fightins, they grow into it. The guys they count on, the guys they brought in to provide big moments, they provide big moments. Harper, Castellanos, Turner, Wheeler, Schwarber, they eat it up. Meanwhile, the two MVP candidates, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mookie Betts, are a combined 1-for-117 or whatever this week.
It’s fine, soon enough I’ll be dead and so will every other fan of my vintage and the baseball fans left won’t know any different. I’m a product of another time, one that’s passed. I’ll get there eventually.
Follow Sam on Twitter @Felsgate and on Bluesky @felsgate.bsky.social
Original source here
#Atlanta #noise #ends #dirt
