The end of September brings the rise and fall of a baseball season, as teams triumph and struggle under pennant pressure
The conclusion of the baseball regular season evokes mixed emotions.
It happens at the end of September, as the last hot days of the year zip past us. One day, it’s 88 and sunny, and the next, snow is in the forecast.
Don’t get me wrong, I love fall. It’s one of the top four seasons in my book. I’d rank it a close second to summer, with spring a distant third and winter way, way, way back in last place.
For one reason, there is very little baseball or softball played in the winter. Sure, there are a few hardy souls who play softball in the snow with brightly colored balls — on the field. It’s to help find them if they land in snow. Keep your blue comments to yourself.
Where was I?
Anyway, the end of the regular season is sad if your team doesn’t make the playoffs. My favorite squad, the San Francisco Giants, failed once again to advance to the postseason. Not only that, Giants legends Willie Mays — the greatest player of all time — and Orlando Cepeda died. It was a rough year for the black and orange franchise.
The 2024 Giants didn’t score enough runs all season, and their defense was mediocre to bad. The pitching was good most of the time, but injuries kept them from hurling the team to October glory, as happened in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
As a longtime and long-suffering fan, I always hoped for a World Series championship, since the last Giants’ championship was in 1954 (a moment from that in game 2 – New York’s Dusty Rhodes homering in the 7th inning – is seen above in an image posted on wikimedia commons), when they were in New York and I wasn’t alive.
Winning three in such a short period should be enough to hold me for a decade or two, but once you have sipped success, you become used to the sweet taste.
Just ask Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, or Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, my favorite football team. After KC played in two of the first four Super Bowls and defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV, it seemed like the winning would continue for a long time.
Instead, it took the Chiefs 50 years to get back to the big game. Once there, they enjoyed it so much, they returned three times. Now, Kansas City has played in four of the last five Super Bowls, winning three.
The Chiefs are 3-0 this season. Another title is definitely within their grasp.
But that’s for late fall and winter. It’s still time for baseball, the summer game, even as the days grow cool and dark.
The Kansas City Royals, the team of my youth, and Minnesota Twins appeared to be headed to the playoffs, but both suddenly struggled in the season’s waning days. The Royals lost seven in a row, and the Twins had been bombed in a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox.
They still may make the playoffs, but it’s been ugly to watch. It might be a long, cold winter for both teams and their fans unless the Twins and Royals can awaken their bats and settle their pitching staffs. Both seem unlikely.
The Royals were a model franchise in their early years, going to the playoffs seven times in 10 seasons from 1976-85. Then came three decades of disappointment, defeat and, in some seasons, disaster. They returned to the World Series in 2014 and 2015, winning it all in 2015. Then, KC slunk back into the basement.
They have talent now, led by slugging catcher Salvador Pérez and the brilliant young shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Maybe they will awaken at the end of the season, invigorated by the cool fall breezes. Even if they fail to make the playoffs, better days appear likely.
I follow the Twins because it’s a family tradition. Dad, my brother and so many other family members, friends and neighbors cheered for the Minnesota squad that I have lasting memories of their teams, good, mediocre and dreadful.
This year, the Twins were fairly good, and revealed some promise during the hottest months of the year. But as fall beckoned and injuries befell stars again — Byron Buxton is a superb talent but he is made of glass — they slipped back in the standings.
Minnesota hasn’t been in the World Series since winning the second of two titles in 1991 behind the power and personality of Kirby Puckett. It’s been a third of a century since those glory days, and that streak will continue for at least another year.
Of course, some Twins fans will say there is always hope. But that’s a spring emotion, when all teams are 0-0 and anything seems possible.
This is fall baseball, the time of greatest ecstasy and agony for fans, as they live and die with each game, every inning, pitch by pitch.
Since the Giants have been looking to 2025 for several weeks, my emotions will be in check this October. I just hope for thrilling games with great plays, memorable moments and fantastic finishes. My sentiments will vary from series to series, game to game.
That’s why the end of the regular season is so bittersweet. Most fans are disappointed, as their team falls by the wayside and others advance. Still, we relish the drama of the postseason, the chance to see stars perform at their highest level, and obscure players enjoy a moment in the autumnal sun.
As September slips away, October baseball awaits. That is enough for now.
Fourth-generation South Dakotan Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The London Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets. Republish with permission.
