The Mets are officially eliminated from post-season contention as I write this, having lost to the Nats with 3 games to play, when they needed to win them all. They also needed a lot of losses by the Giants, Phillies and Brewers, so the odds were against them, but losing today sealed their fate. Last night though, I watched the little Miami Marlins beat the powerhouse NY Yankees to clinch their first post-season since that magical 2003 season I have droned on about at length for the last 17 years.
Now some may argue that in this COVID shortened 60-game season, with the expanded playoffs allowing 16 teams to get in to the post-season, that the Marlins’ accomplishment isn’t as significant as it would have been in a traditional season. I beg to differ. Consider the following absurd facts:
The Marlins had 18 players go on the Injured List with COVID-19, causing them to shut down their season for 10 days or so until MLB deemed it safe for them to resume play. They had to rotate players in, ultimately using 61 players overall and making 174 roster moves. Along the way they set a Major League record using 9 different Starting Pitchers in 9 games. One of those starters had not pitched above A ball.
As a result of the COVID postponed games, they had to play multiple double headers to get their games in, and play without a day off for long stretches of the summer. Also consider that this is a team that hasn’t had a winning season in a decade, and in 2018, lost more games than any other team in baseball.
I was so happy for the reincarnation of my defunct Florida Marlins, that when they clinched last night I went online and bought a Marlins hat. I won’t get the hat until the first week of October, and by then, the Marlins may have already been knocked out of the playoffs. But I think the hat marks my commitment to return to Fish Fandom. I won’t surrender my beloved childhood Metropolitans, after returning to them several years ago and feeling fully immersed in my support. But I think it’s possible to love both my childhood team and my adulthood team, at least that’s what I’m going to try to do.
For 2020 though, it’s now all Fish. Let’s Go Marlins!
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