Random baseball thoughts: playoff edition

Last night was a fantastic night for baseball, even with Major League Baseball’s Golden Goose, I mean the New York Yankees, out of the playoffs What more could any baseball fan ask for: two tight Game 5 elimination games, one of which went into extra innings after a surprising blown save while the other game featured the underdog shocking the world by being the heavy favorite. I’m usually rooting for the underdog whenever the Yankees are out of the playoffs, but I can’t bring myself to root for Tony LaRussa & Co. Go Brewers!

• I couldn’t be happier for Robin Ventura, who was the surprise pick to manage the Chicago White Sox. Though it was a curious choice given his lack of managing/coaching experience, I was happy to see him get the chance. Ventura is one of the genuinely good guys of baseball and he quickly became a favorite of mine when he was with the Yankees because of his superb defense and quick wit. Ventura, along with John Olerud and Todd Zeile, was one of the few guys on the New York Mets that I actually liked.

• You gotta love Jim Leyland, even though his team just bounced the Yankees from the playoffs. He is smart and has a fantastic sense of humor (unlike his Yankees counterpart). I disagree with his stance against the one-game wild card playoff scenario, but he is an old-school manager and I admire his willingness to speak his mind (even if it does get him in hot water with Major League Baseball). I also admire that he makes a decision and sticks to it no matter what anyone says, namely not using Justin Verlander in a do-or-die Game 5. That worked out for Leyland pretty good, didn’t it?

• I appreciate that Curtis Granderson takes his job as a union player rep so seriously, but I really don’t want to hear him talking about the chances of reaching a new labor deal this soon after his team was bounced from the playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, I like Granderson a lot. He’s a good guy and had a phenomenal, Most Valuable Player worthy year for the Yankees. But I would rather hear him talking about what he is personally planning to work on this offseason to make sure that the Yankees don’t suffer a hasty exit from the 2012 playoffs.

Thanks to Cbl62 via Wikipedia for the Leyland photo.