The Phillies Have Gotten Too Good, And They're Robbing Philly Fans Of Precious Wild Card Playoff Baseball Games

For the 2nd year in a row, the Philadelphia Phillies are NL East Champions. For the 2nd year in a row, the Philadelphia Phillies have earned themselves a 1st round bye in the playoffs, and booked themselves a trip directly to the NLDS. They clinched that spot last night after lighting up the Marlins for 11 runs off of 8 homers. The bats are searing heading into the playoffs. 

But Philly fans are going to have to wait an extra few days to be able to truly enjoy postseason baseball. In theory, a 1st round bye is great. It automatically gives your team a better chance to get to the World Series. 

However... there's almost nothing better than Red October in Philadelphia. I guess the Eagles winning a Super Bowl is better. But Red October is the most wonderful time of the year. You have the Phillies in the playoffs. You have the Eagles fully underway. You have the Sixers and Flyers starting up. The entire month of October is a bender. You wake up every morning not knowing what day it is. All you know is that you'll be at the bar later that night to watch at least one of the teams. I mean just look at the way this postseason is starting down at the Sports Complex. 

That weekend is going to be nuts. But 8 other fanbases will get their fun started a few days earlier during the Wild Card round. They don't have to wait until the weekend to get that sweet, sweet rush of playoff baseball coursing through their veins. We went so many years in Philadelphia without even sniffing playoff baseball, and now we're at the point where we're just fast forwarding past the wild card round. 

It might be for the best, though. You don't want the bats to completely cool off, but there's a chance they are coming dangerously close to overheating right now.  

You don't want to waste ALL of your home runs before the calendar flips to October. 4 more games left in the regular season for Kyle Schwarber to chase Ryan Howard's record. But after that, they'll have a few days to hit the reset switch. 

@JordieBarstool