John Henry's greed (and lack of respect for the fans) ruined my childlike love of baseball. I've undoubtedly lost my fastball when it comes to knowing what's going on in the game; I watched maybe 50 innings all year (and that feels high), but I love the playoffs. There's nothing like the thrill and intensity of October baseball. Every pitch feels do or die. Insert cliche here.
Despite having no dog in the fight (just anybody but Houston, NYY, or the Dodgers) and a lack of 2022 storyline knowledge, I've watched a fair amount of the MLB playoffs. Even though they're on the brink of elimination, it's awesome to see Seattle back in the mix. I love that the field expanded to six teams. They're basically using the old NFL playoff format with 1 & 2 seeds getting byes. It's way better IMO than a one-game wildcard playoff after 162 games. I always thought that was kind of stupid. I still would've liked to see MLB eliminate divisions and seed based on overall record, but I understand why that's more of a Dozie pipe dream than a realistic potential change. So last night, I was watching Padres-Dodgers Game 2. I missed the first few innings; I think I tuned in like 4th, but what caught my attention was San Diego Padres reliever Robert Suárez, who pitched two scoreless innings.
This dude is a 31-year-old rookie that grinded his ass off to get to the big leagues. Down a game in the series, with starter Yu Darvish getting in a jam, Suárez came in and kept the Padres alive. Here's a little more backstory on his journey to the show.
When the announcers said, Suárez was a 31-year-old rookie; I felt seen. There are obvious parallels to my blogging journey, and frankly, his story inspired the fuck out of me. I mean, this is what playoff baseball is all about. There are the big-name guys who become legends, but every year it feels like some unknown guy steps up in a clutch spot, and last night that guy was Robert Suárez. Oh and he fucking shoves btw. 100+ mph HEAT.
It might be unfair to call Suárez unknown just because I didn't know who he was until last night (even though I watched the Mets series....well, I slept through 90% of Game 3), but he had a solid rookie year: 5-1, 2.27 ERA, 61 Ks in 47.2 innings over 45 appearances.
I didn't tune in until the 4th, but I was checked the box score during the game. Every time the Padres scored, the Dodgers answered right back, and it felt like the Dodgers were gonna find a way to win this game. They've dominated the Padres all year, winning the season series 14-5, but Suárez held the lead, cleaning up Yu's mess in the bottom of the 5th, then pitched out of his own jam the next inning.
Robert Suárez is living proof that it's never too late to give up on your dreams. You haven't failed until you officially quit. Suárez's first appearance in the Majors was a shit show. He didn't record an out, gave up three runs, and picked up the loss on Opening Day. He didn't give up. From there, Robert Suárez went on to have an outstanding rookie year. Last night he kept the Padres' playoff hopes alive in a dire situation. It's just an incredible story that I think many people can find inspiration in. I'm rooting for him and the Padres big time. I want to see Don Orsillio and Kyle Mooney happy. The Dodgers won 111 games this year to the Padres 89, so obviously, they're massive favorites in this best-of-5 NLDS matchup, but it's tied 1-1 going back to San Diego. It wouldn't be without the effort of a THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD ROOKIE. As a narrative guy, I fucking love this story. Robert Suárez is my new favorite major leaguer. Fingers-crossed that he's a hashtag good guy. P.S. I love that he's number 75 too, people forget that would've been my HS football number it my school had both jerseys.
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