The Top 5 Questions Leading up to the 2023 MLB Playoffs

The MLB Playoffs start sometime this week. Here are the top 5 most important questions that people are asking.

1) Will they make a movie about one of these teams one day like they did with “Moneyball” and if they do, who will they cast to play the Jonah Hill fat slob character?

Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

“Moneyball” is one of my favorite movies and I really hope Hollywood makes a sequel or a reboot, but based on a different team from this year’s playoffs. Many people seem to agree with me and are asking the following question: “What team will they make a movie about from this year’s playoffs and which actor will be cast to play the fat slob role that Jonah Hill played?” I think it could be the Baltimore Orioles since they came out of nowhere and had a good season, and, as for the Jonah Hill role, I think Kevin James could play that role nicely since he has that slob-type quality about him, or possibly they could cast a girl with slob-like qualities like Melissa McCarthy.

2) Are any players secretly hoping they lose so they can stop playing baseball for the year and have more time to catch up on “Monk”?

Photo courtesy of www.amazon.com

I know I’m not a professional baseball player, but this question really hits home for me. My wife and I have been going through some difficult times for the last few years, so we signed up to play in a softball league this past summer as a way to bond with each other again. It didn’t really work, but a funny thing happened: one of our teammates told us about a show called “Monk” starring Tony Shalhoub and suggested we give it a try. So we did. And we loved it! We watched the first 4 episodes in one night and didn’t scream at each other once.

The problem? We both found ourselves hoping our softball team (who went undefeated in the regular season) would lose in the playoffs so we could have more time to stay home and watch “Monk.” We ended up losing in the first round and we didn’t even care because that meant we didn’t have to go to softball anymore.

And this got me thinking: are there any MLB players who are secretly hoping their team loses in the playoffs so they can stop going to their baseball games and catch up on “Monk”? This is something to keep an eye on this postseason.

3) Can the Atlanta Braves keep winning games?

A lot of the baseball experts that I talk to keep texting me some variation of this same question: “Can the Atlanta Braves keep winning games?” Or they’ll say something like: “Are the Braves really just going to keep winning games that they play?” Or something like: “I think the Braves could win the whole thing, what do you think? Do you think they will just keep winning games?” One guy even called me on the phone and when I answered he said: “Can the Atlanta Braves continue to win games?” and before I could even answer, he hung up and texted me “Can they?” I texted back “I dunno.”

4) What if the World Series is so good this year that, just for a moment, it transcends sports, culture, art, politics, race relations, science, technology, and religion and everyone is just happy?

Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This is a question that keeps coming up in conversation with baseball folks but, what if the World Series ends up being so good that—just for one moment in time—it actually transcends sports, culture, art, politics, race relations, science, technology, and religion and everyone is happy and peaceful? Could you imagine? Could you imagine living in such a world?

5) Are there any other shows out there similar to “Monk” that could help repair a marriage?

Photo courtesy of www.amazon.com

We are on track to finish “Monk” by the end of this weekend, and I’m a little worried because I overheard my wife telling our 4 year old son that “once mommy and daddy finish ‘Monk’ you may not see much of mommy anymore.” So, I’m thinking about suggesting “Burn Notice” as our next show since that’s 7 seasons long, and could maybe extend my marriage by another month or so.