Once you weed through the normally-abnormal one-game Wild Card playoff we see in run of the mill seasons, there are eight teams that really, truly make the playoffs each season. Despite the twists and turns baseball has ducked, dodged, dipped, dived, and dodged during the pandemic this year, there are now just eight teams remaining in the playoffs, the first real glimmer of normalcy I think we’ve truly reached this season.
The Cincinnati Reds are, again, not one of those eight teams, something that’s been true in each of the last eight years. This year they got closer than usual to being one, at least, and did so with the kind of roller coaster emotions that at least had us on the edge of our seats down the stretch, which was refreshing.