Wednesday BP, 10/10/18

It’s Andrew McCutchen’s 32nd birthday. Let’s see how he’s cele —

— berating himself for the Yankees’ playoff exit, is he? Well, I’m sure we can all relate to feeling frustrated after coming up short in a pursuit. He went 2-for-15 in the series and didn’t play particularly well on defense. In baseball years, he’s positively ancient, but he should still land on his feet this offseason as depth for a good team or as a regular on a rebuilding team.

Andrew McCutchen deserves his every success and more and it’s a shame his season ended this way. Then again, he got farther than he ever had before.

While the Wild Card Game provides the strongest version of this feeling, elimination games in a best of 5 or best of 7 have the same effect of quickly ringing the bell for a season’s end. It can all be over in an instant. The Giants’ 2016 playoff exit felt a lot more like watching a slow train wreck and being powerless to stop it, but there’s something about watching these other games that makes the feeling of emptiness come up more abruptly.

Maybe it’s because the Giants don’t have the mental or physical ability to score a bunch of runs, and so any late-game deficit is a disaster. The Yankees nearly pulled off a comeback last night because of walks, a hit by pitch, and some timely hitting, and the game takes on a different dimension when both teams have the chance to deliver a knockout punch before the final out.

Have to imagine that McCutchen will be back to the postseason at least once more before his career is over and that the Yankees will be right back at it in the AL East when next season begins. Last night’s series also made me excited for the day in 2074 when the Giants finally get back to the playoffs. What a time that will be.