“The last straw for a surgeon is to have the last name Lopera”… Anonymous.
A headline shocked me a few days ago, it said: “So-and-so wants to reach the World Series.” What journalistic nonsense! Because a player who does not want to “make it to the World Series” should go home and forget about baseball.
From training, and throughout the season, they work in search of the formula to reach the October classic.
It happens that many do not make it, even though they are extraordinary ballplayers.
Ronald Acuña could not participate in the 2021 game, when they beat the Astros, because he was injured in his knee. And now, the Phillies have cut off the Braves’ path to Fall glory.
Manager Brian Sniker had told Ronald a month ago: “This time, you’re finally going to play in the World Series.”
For some it is very easy to get there. Yogi Berra, who played for the Yankees between 1946 and 1965, appeared in 14, of which they won 10, so the remembered thinker collected 10 victorious rings.
Yogi hit 274 in his 14 World Series, with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs.
But Dave Winfield, one of the best big leaguers of his time, was even mocked by Yankees owner George Stienbrenner when in the 1981 Series, against the Dodgers, he hit 0.45, one hit single in 22 at-bats. . And Winfield wore a uniform again in the World Series, when in 1992, with the Blue Jays, he could only improve his average in the Series to 136.
The opposite was that of Reggie Jackson, whose power exploded in the Series, which is why Steinbrenner titled him “Mr. October.” Reggie hit three historic home runs in the 1977 Series against the Dodgers and two more against themselves in 1978, when he hit 391 with eight RBIs.
In the Dodger Stadium clubhouse, after the sixth and final game of that Series, I heard Reggie answer a question like this:
“That’s right, I come to the different stadium in the World Series! Because, to deserve these honors, we spend the entire year dedicated to the game. Nothing in baseball is superior to playing in a World Series. “I feel like another player in these games, I feel very superior to what I really am.”
Now, the obligatory question:
Does the fact that the Braves are out of the World Series rule out Acuña as a candidate for MVP of the year in the National League? I don’t believe it. It would be necessary to find someone with greater merit than him in the season, whose team would be the National Team in the 2023 World Series.
Thanks to the life that has given me so much, even a reader like you.
2023-10-14 10:00:00
#Acuña #history #World #Cup
