The crowd is raging, the players stand intense and ready to make an unforgettable play at any second, the hearts of everyone in the stadium leap with each pitch; it must be October baseball.
It’s hard to describe the scene of a playoff baseball game without sounding too cliché, but that’s because it is just that classic.
October baseball makes watching the regular season worth it. I love baseball, but I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a game that can tend to drag like an antiques road show.
It's probably the only sport you can watch for five minutes and see literally no action: the batter takes a few pitches, routinely stepping out of the box to take a few practice swings in between each one, the pitcher saunters off the mound to gather himself for a bit, the cameraman starts working his cool angles all over the field; a close-up of the manager, a shot of the pitcher, a view of the shortstop kicking around dirt. This happens as the commentators are telling a story about the batter's childhood. There’s no way around it; baseball can be downright boring.
When baseball is bad, it's monotonous, but when it's good, it is thrilling.
And nothing proves this statement better than the electricity that is felt during every moment of October baseball. From the 5-game division series that leaves almost no room for error, to the intense championship series, which brings players so close to the promised land they can practically taste it, to the World Series, where champions are crowned and legends are made forever.
It’s almost unfair for these players that all the work and drive they put into what must feel like an endless 162-game season is left null and void if they don’t bring their A-game to the postseason. But that is part of the beauty that is the playoffs; the ability to come up clutch in the most intense of situations creates legends that live forever, be it a historic athlete like Reggie Jackson or a lesser-known hero such as Bucky Dent. Star or not, any player who can rise to the occasion when the spotlight is on will forever be commemorated in October glory, and just as easily they can wind up being remembered in infamy if they screw up on the big stage, as cruel as it may be. Just ask Bill Buckner.
The history of this great game’s postseason is littered with dramatic occurrences, heartbreaking finishes and classic moments, and it's no coincidence. Whatever it is that’s in the autumn air in baseball stadiums all over the country that promises historic nail-biting moments is a unique and wonderful thing. Any true baseball fan will tell you when it’s your team that’s battling through the treacherous fall schedule, it creates a nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach that stays strong from the opening pitch to the final out. So easily can your pride be crushed or lifted at any moment with the single swing of the bat, it's almost torture. The fact that your emotions can be so easily toyed with through the actions of nine different men on a diamond is a sick thought, but at the same time a sick pleasure.
A dominant pitcher that shuts down an entire line-up, a walk-off home run from an unlikely hero, an extra-inning battle that teeters back and forth, or just a clash of wits and pure skill that may be simply waiting for the first team to catch a break, you never know what you’re going to get from the Fall Classic, but you will get something to be remembered.
At the risk of sounding like a played-out Dane Cook ad, there truly is only ONE October.
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