2017 MLB Championship Series Email Exchange

2017 MLB Championship Series Email Exchange

The MLB playoffs are an emotional time for all Padres fans. I started emailing with Nicholas Burmeister AKA @PadresHaiku about it. We talked about our feelings through out the entire process. 

NICK MCCANN – Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 3:54 PM

Dear Haiku,

It’s been a while since my last letter and for that I’m sorry. Not seeing Austin Hedges’ face for a few weeks has left me in shambles. The spells have been rougher than usual. The NL and AL are starting their championship series’ and it’s very exciting. Tonight the Yankees and Astros start it off. The team that swept us away from a ring in 1998 is facing the team we want to be. It feels like the Astros are our spirit animal of sorts. I’ve made me picks.

If Houston wins does our own rebuild feel more legitimate? I hope you’re well. We’ll get to Clayton Kershaw and Cobra Kai later.

Sincerely,

@Nicholas_McCann on Twitter

NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 4:48 PM

Yeah, I miss Hedges too. I’d text him but you know… restraining order. Hang in there. February is right around the corner. Super excited to see if AJ Preller can vulture some of the Braves international signing players. This Atlanta scandal is a big deal and it seems like only seam heads are really following it. This is a story of two rebuilds.

One team had money and the other didn’t. It’s not like Houston has a small market, but tanking that deep for that long will definitely hurt the bottom line. The Yankees print money so they don’t care.

New York rebuilt quick while Houston took a long time. Fowler wants the Yankee build (not rebuild), but Preller wants the Astro route. The Padres are going to end up in the middle. I think the long time plan might last longer, but we’ll see if Houston can hang on to their free agents in a few years. If Houston wins, it makes the Padres blueprint more clear. I made my picks for these series as well.

Houston seems special and the Yankees shouldn’t have beat Cleveland.

The Houston Astros beat the Yankees 2-1 in Game 1. Then on Saturday Houston beat the Yankees 2-1 again in Game 2 and the Dodgers beat the Cubs 5-2 in Game 1.

NICK MCCANN – Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 9:03 AM

Corey Seager not starting worked out for Dave Roberts. Taking out Clayton Kershaw when he did was also the right decision. The Dodgers look great and their manager is clearly avoiding landmines that usually destroy managers in the postseason. While Joe Maddon was busy getting ejected, Roberts looked like he had everything under control. Maybe we should’ve given him an interview.

The Astros broke the Yankees. I don’t see New York coming back from that. The Correa hit to score Altuve was thrilling and made me wonder if the Padres will ever land that level of talent during this build (not rebuild). It is possible Mackenzie Gore could be the pitching version of that, but he just went to prom. Correa is now a clutch postseason performer. The Houston dream is being fulfilled.

P.S. Kershaw doesn’t have it anymore. He’s done.

NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 11:20 AM

It helps that the Cubs bullpen is a heaping pile of Elephant dung. They should have traded for Brad Hand.

How’d you feel when the Posey rule came back to bite the Cubs? I want to know how Austin Hedges celebrated. I thought they could have left Kershaw in but Roberts didn’t have to. Dave looks like a good manager, but he’s got a lot of great weapons. It’s probably a little of both: his managing ability and just having good players. I’d like to watch him manage a bad team and see how he does without a net.

The Yankees are just happy to be here. Like Michelle Williams and Meryl Streep both being nominated. However, this Houston team seems special. They’ve never won the World Series and until now I always wanted the Padres to win the title before anyone else got their first, but this year is different.

Dodgers beat the Cubs 4-1 in Game 2.

NICK MCCANN – Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 3:10 PM

I’ve been struggling all day with last night’s Dodgers game two win. These guys might not actually lose a game this postseason. That probably won’t happen, but right now it feels completely on the table. Justin Turner created a big memory for the LA fan base with his walk off home run. If this is the team Dodgers fans have been waiting for, that home run will live on for ever.

Despite the obvious geographic proximity, LA’s nightmare with Frank McCourt ended roughly at the same time as our own Moores/Moorad/Moores cycle of uncertainty was supposed to be over. They were given all the money in the world and a competent front office. We were given a loud mouth, two wet noodle brothers, and a socially awkward scouting wizard GM who may or may not know what he’s doing. We get to wonder if Brad Hand will get moved and they get to watch Justin Turner round the bases and essentially break the World Series Champion Cubs.

NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 6:05 PM

Nick…Nick!! Come off the ledge, Nick! Breathe, just breathe. The Doyers are a very good team with a young nucleus to be sure, but not all of them will be this good forever. Remember when we thought Joc Pederson was supposed to be the next Mike Trout? Same thing with Puig…

This team is likely winning the pennant but we’ll see from there. Last night was special for them. Just wait a couple days for the NBA to start. Then we can forget all about baseball and focus on that soap opera.

Yankees beat the Astros 8-1 in Game 3

NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Tue, Oct 17, 2017 at 8:14 AM

Look, no one would care about Cobra Kai if they were the little dojo that could. They’re little entitled blond headed brats that only know winning. That’s why everyone roots against them in the All Valley Championship.

The Dodgers are cementing their place as the heel.

NICHOLAS MCCANN – Tue, Oct 17, 2017 at 1:03 PM

The Yankees would come back hard in game three. It kinda felt like one of the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones where the showrunners remind the audience that winter is coming. This isn’t the Yankees team that starts a run of championships, but that seems around the corner. Now that they are a “smart team” who is putting together a core, it’s totally inevitable they will start throwing money around. I had Astros in 6. I still feel really good about that.

NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Tue, Oct 17, 2017 at 5:36 PM

CC pitched well enough at home. The Yankees are like the Cubs: they have enough money to support home grown players if they land them. I think every team is “smart” now at least to some extent. The difference between the teams going forward is going to be money and exploiting some area of the game that no else has gotten to yet. Whether it’s pitch framing, pitch tunnels or pitching yeast, when the Yankees sign Mike Trout for a quadrillion dollars they’ll be ready for several deep playoff runs in a row. I think Houston pulls it together and rips off two in a row to end it. Hendricks vs. Darvish should be good.

Yankees beat the Astros 6-4 in Game 4. Dodgers beat the Cubs 6-1 in Game 3.

NICK MCCANN – Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 2:18 PM

Bob Manfred just must be tickled at the potential of the Dodgers vs Yankees World Series. Maybe it’s best for baseball to have this play out a few times for each generation. If those two teams- coupled with the Red Sox, and Cubs are always in the mix- it clearly will strengthen the league’s leverage in the next media rights negotiations. That being said, Houston deserves a World Series. Expansion teams unite!

P.S. We’re doing a pod with Craig Elsten tonight. I need to talk some puck to distract myself from the Dodgers success.

NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 11:52 PM

I’ve never been more wrong in my life. Jeez the Astros look like garbage. Houston is such a feel good story that casual fans might tune in to support them. Houston is also the fourth biggest city in the US so ratings would still be pretty good. The nightmare scenario for the MLB is a Tampa/San Diego World Series. I hope it happens sooner than later. Yankees/Dodgers is the perfect match-up for Trump’s America. No matter who wins we all lose.

The Dodgers lost tonight 3-2, so we get at least one more chance to see Maddon get tossed from a game and the Skankees are doing the damn thing. I don’t like the idea of a top heavy MLB. It’s fine in basketball to have a few superteams, but having like six power teams in baseball just seems wrong.

Baseball needs underdogs to succeed.

Dodgers lost Game 4 and then closed the Cubs out in Game 5. Yankees beat the Astros 5-0 in Game 5.

NICK MCCANN – Fri, Oct 20, 2017 at 1:52 PM

I can’t believe they actually did it. The Dodgers are back in the World Series. I did my part. I said mean things about Clayton Kershaw and it did nothing.

I hate this world (series).

This is my Dad and I calling the Gibson HR at 1992 All Star Fan Fest.

I post that video probably twice a year. Also, I hate myself.

NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Fri, Oct 20, 2017 at 6:44 PM

This is the worst.

Astros beat the Yankees 7-1 in Game 6.

NICHOLAS MCCANN – Sat, Oct 21, 2017 at 4:56 PM

Jose Altuve is the light of the world. I don’t believe the Yankees will be able to destroy it with their darkness. This has become some Old Testament shit.

Even though Altuve isn’t technically part of Houston’s tanking strategy, his smile represents the hope that our patience will pay off.

The Yankees can’t be back. Not yet.

Astros close out the Yankees 4-0 in Game 7.

 NICHOLAS BURMEISTER – Sun, Oct 22, 2017 at 1:31 PM

 Just got back from Mexico. I missed the game, but an Astro fan at the wedding I was at said the Astros won, staving off what could have been a national nightmare. I wonder if we’ll see shots of Paul Wall, Beyonce’, or Hillary Duff in luxury boxes. Who gets more screen time: Magic Johnson or J.J. Watt? Gonna, set the line at Magic +1. Seeing Lonzo Ball in a Dodgers jersey pretty much cemented my hate for him. This is a shame because I grew up loving the Lakers. I guess nothing gold can stay, Ponyboy.

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Nick was born in San Diego in 1980. He started The Kept Faith on blogspot in 2008.

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