Outside The Confines: Freaky Friday

Whether you love or hate the new MLB postseason Wild Card round, no one can say it hasn’t been interesting (though a great deal of how interesting and/or miserable we think it is might depend on today’s Marlins/Cubs Game 2). But it has certainly spelled upset for a couple of top-seated teams like the (potentially cursed) Twins, or bested the pitching prowess of the Reds (in the longest scoreless game in MLB postseason history).

It has been a wild and wacky ride so far, and by next week it will take the shape of something a lot more familiar as the ALDS kicks off on Monday, followed by the NLDS on Tuesday.

Let’s see what the expert minds of baseball had to say about this strangest baseball timeline.

• It’s been said pitching depth and bullpens would get teams to the postseason, but the A’s and White Sox really put that theory to the test, reports Ben Clemens.
• Speaking of the A’s, let’s take a first look at the A’s-Astros ALDS.
• Jayson Stark shares the five wildest things he saw on the epic second day of Wild Card baseball. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Avert your eyes, Cubs fans, because Michael Baumann is writing about the Marlins unlikely push to make a big upset in the Wild Card.
• Emma Baccellieri has a live diary of watching Tuesday’s marathon of games.
• Michael Clair and Mark Bowman share the incredible, unique selfie celebration of Marcell Ozuna.
• You want bat flips, we got bat flips.

• Jon Tayler explores how the Rays depth was the key to their sweep of the Jays.
• And on that note, ESPN thinks the Rays and Yankees ALDS might be the can’t-miss series of the postseason.
• No one expected to see the Marlins in the postseason, but as Marc Carig writes, they are ignited by a fire to prove themselves. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Every good story needs a villain, and for the 2020 season it’s going to be the Astros, writes Zach Kram.
• Did Babe Ruth call his famous shot? Lou Gehrig says yes, in an article by Anthony Castrovince.
• Michael McKnight explores the unsettling and unusual feeling of baseball in a postseason amid a pandemic.
• Rachael McDaniel breaks down the Dodgers road to victory with eight photos of Clayton Kershaw.
• 18 winless games in the postseason is a new kind of legendary curse (something the Cubs know a little about), and the Twins are learning the hard way how tough a cursed postseason can be, writes Steve Richards.
• The Rays have had mammoth success in the posteason and Eno Sarris tries to explain what the special formula was to get them there. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Ben Lindburgh doesn’t think the loss of live fans has removed the concept of home field advantage.
• Ian Anderson was an enormous part of the Braves success. Tom Verducci takes a look at the rookie reliever’s postseason victory.
• Hey, look who’s back on Twitter.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.