The Unbearable Lightness of Tomáš Čása

The playoffs are starting!

In the Czech Republic, that is:

Krč Altron worked hard to hang on to the crucial third-place slot in the Extraliga baseball league, keeping them out of harm’s way, or rather, out of the path of Draci Brno during semifinal play. Now, as the playoffs begin, the team must contend with MZLU Brno — and likely without star right fielder Tomáš Čása . . .But the possible loss of Čása — a .313 hitter with five outfield assists — to graduate school in the Netherlands could weaken the chances of Krč’s modest lineup against MZLU’s Leoš Kubát (7-1, 1.01) and Vojtěch Jelínek (3-0, 1.60).

Far be it from me to disparage the quality of the Czech league, but if your star right fielder is going to skip the playoffs for grad school, you may not yet be a major league. You don't see Vlad doing that anyway.

But hey, relegation!

The playoffs pit 12-time champion Draci Brno against fourth-place Arrows Ostrava, while Krč tussles with MZLU. Winners of each five-game series advance to the Czech World Series in October. Meanwhile, the league’s bottom-dwellers battle it out to avoid being cast into next month’s relegation series against top teams from the second division.

Which frankly, I prefer to the single elimination play we have here in the States. After all, Einmal ist keinmal.