The Memphis Redbirds are, as of this moment, engaged in a fight for their baseballing lives. The Pacific Coast League championship series is now tied at two, as the Redbirds have dropped two straight to the El Paso Chihuahuas after winning the first two games of the series in Memphis. The series will wrap up tonight, for good or ill, with a decisive game five in El Paso. (Yes, that’s three in a row in the team without home field advantage’s ballpark, and yes, the minor leagues are kind of weird sometimes.)
There have been several players who have put together excellent playoff performances this September, but for Memphis the single biggest story has been the breakout of Tyler O’Neill, slugger par excellence and utterly inexplicable trade pickup at the deadline.