Play Ball! It’s baseball playoffs season
Major League Baseball’s postseason gets underway Tuesday and Wednesday with the Wild Card games. The Divisional rounds start Thursday.
The Midwest is represented by two Missouri teams for the first time since 1985. The St. Louis Cardinals won the National League’s Central Division championship. The Kansas City Royals are one of the two American League wild card teams. Detroit is the Midwest’s third team, having won the AL Central title for the fourth consecutive season.
The Royals last made the playoffs in 1985, when they beat the Cardinals to win the World Series championship. Kansas City failed to make the playoffs again until this season. The parent team of our Omaha Storm Chasers minor league team suffered a 29-year postseason drought.
Kansas City hosts the Oakland A’s Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium in the one-game wild card series. The winner takes on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a best-of-five series. The Detroit Tigers start their AL series at Baltimore Thursday.
In the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates host the San Francisco Giants in the Wild Card game Wednesday. The winner travels to Washington, DC, to face the Nationals in a best-of-five divisional series starting Friday. The Cardinals start their series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
The winners of the divisional rounds advance to the League Championship series. The American League Championship Series starts Oct. 10th, with a best-of-seven format. The National League Championship Series starts Oct. 11th.
The World Series kicks off Oct. 21st in the American League champion’s city.
With the playoffs underway, I thought it might be fun to share some of the baseball-related posts I’ve written the past few years.
A Bucket List item was crossed off in 2013, when Lisa and I visited the Field of Dreams movie set in Dyersville, Iowa. The owners of the farm used as a set for the movie – starring Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones – kept the field intact. It has become a major tourism draw over the past 25 years. The story can be found at this link – http://thewalkingtourists.com/realizing-the-field-of-dreams/.
I always enjoy a visit to the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City. The history of that chapter in baseball is embarrassing. But, the success enjoyed by African American baseball always remains impressive. We have visited the museum multiple times. Please see the story at this link – http://thewalkingtourists.com/negro-leagues/#.
Staying in Kansas City, a visit to the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame and Museum is worth a trip to Kauffman Stadium. I grew up following the Royals, since their farm club is in the Omaha Metro area. I became a Minnesota Twins fan while living in North Dakota. I still follow the KC Royals, though. Please see the post at http://thewalkingtourists.com/kansas-city-celebrates-present-past-in-baseball/.
While in St. Louis earlier this year, Lisa and I visited the new Busch Stadium. The field was covered with snow, but the tour definitely got us in the mood for Cardinals baseball. Our stadium tour review can be seen at http://thewalkingtourists.com/busch-stadium-tour/.
No matter which team you support, grab some peanuts and Cracker Jacks and root, root, root for them. Enjoy the playoffs. Play ball!
