Michael Wacha of St. Louis has a playoff ERA of 81.00. Poor guy. Saw the fireworks from my house here. Listened to that amazing game on the radio while doing work here. Really pretty fun, and I love that it was Ishikawa.
Is it really? The great teams of the regular season just get destroyed like bums? Great players choking like no tomorrow? Baseball is the only sport where homefield doesn't really matter, with a few exceptions. And regular season/seedings don't really matter. The best teams can get swept like they are the Diamondbacks or Rockies.
Yes, it is. You play those long 162 game seasons to separate the best from the best.... then you figure out which team can survive the pressure of the post-season (which is an entirely different sort of pressure than what they've faced all season). The regular season very much matters in baseball as you can't make the playoffs without the cream rising to the top over that long haul... and on the flip-side, you get to see how these "great" teams/players really respond when the pressure ramps up. Even the wild card teams make it in on "merit"... there are no flukes that make the baseball playoffs, unlike the NBA or sometimes even the NFL. Yes, the "best" teams could get beat by anybody in a short series... if the Astros were granted an exemption to be in the playoffs, they too could possibly steal a series here or there, despite being a mediocre to awful team during the regular season. However, they're not in the playoffs because they didn't prove it over the long season that separates the haves from the have-nots.
Depends on what you like, I suppose. I think it's pretty awesome that a city whose team had a 50/1 shot to win the World Series before the season started will be playing it to close that season.
It's not just getting "beat"; these top teams are getting swept. I don't find that fascinating at all. Gives little meaning to watching the regular season basically.
You act like none of these teams were ever swept during the regular season as well.... of course, there it doesn't matter... they have 159 other games to prove their worth. They've only been doing this for over 100 years... getting through the very long regular season at or near the top is the necessary requirement to make the winner-takes-all playoffs. The playoffs have always been a crap-shoot of sorts... hell, as of 20 years ago, only 4 teams total made it. To me, it adds to the excitement of the playoffs... as opposed to the NBA where you pretty much know the "better" team will win a 7 game series. In baseball, its all about which team can now handle the increased pitch to pitch pressure, the sold out crowds (that are never this full or rabid during the regular season), the second-guessing of every single move.... Its why I do believe there are such things in baseball as guys who are more conducive to have playoff success, and guys who are apt to put up big regular season numbers but could possibly not handle the increased pressure of the playoffs. And lastly, while none of these series went the distance... there were some damn exciting games (nearly all of them), with some damn exciting moments.
There were a couple #6 seed teams in the NFL playoffs that won the Super Bowl. The L.A. Kings won the 2012 Stanley Cup as a #8 seed.
I'm not talking about lower seeds advancing, which is great. "Upsets" are great. When the Mavs beat the Heat, now that's awesome. But that was competitive. When the Giants won the Superbowl, that was awesome b/c it was truly a competitive game. Those were upsets. My disappointment is that all the "great" teams during the regular season flopped hard in the playoffs. You would think the Dodgers, Angels, Orioles, Nats... would be more competitive than they were. But they were swept like the bottom feeders.
Getting swept during the regular season is different. It's a long season. Teams purposely stack their best starting pitchers in the playoffs, along with their best hitting lineups. Therefore, you would think the "best" teams would pose more of a challenge or at least make the series more competitive. The playoffs are fun b/c teams go back and forth. The truly great series in all of sports are like that (outside of football where it's just one game). A series doesn't really get fun until the opposing team wins a game in the other team's home field, and vice versa. The back and forth drama is what makes the playoffs fun. That's all I'm asking for: a competitive series. A back and forth series. But this postseason: no series have been competitive at all in terms of momentum shifts. No back and forth drama. And that's extremely disappointing coming from the teams with the best records in the league.
Both the Orioles (Machado, Davis, Wieters) and the Angels (Garrett Richards and I'll even throw in Skaggs) weren't at full strength by any means. This hurt the Orioles' everyday lineup and the Angels' rotation. The Nationals and Dodgers had their bullpens fail them. The Dodgers' bullpen was extremely expensive which made this failure stand out even more. It's probably one of the main reasons why they brought in Friedman. They want him to build a good bullpen on the cheap like he's done every year in Tampa.
Very cool. From what I read, it was mostly all good enthusiasm, with nothing too stupid, aside from some of the normal sideshow stuff.
I just love competitive games, and the NLCS had that in spades. Yes, maybe it would have been more fun with 7 instead of 5 games, but those 5 were pretty crazy.
Talking more about those teams making the playoffs in the first place. In the NBA, more teams make the playoffs than not. In the NFL, there's been seasons where teams with a losing record make the playoffs. In baseball, the BEST teams make the playoffs because those teams have proven they are the best over 162 games (which eliminates all flukes). Yes, what can then happen in the playoffs is entirely unpredictable.... which is another reason why the baseball playoffs is entirely unique.
Anyone complaining about a lack of drama in these playoffs is, I dunno, something something. There have been walk-off games left and right. I love it. Vamos los Royals!
The Giants aren't scared of these punch and Judy hitting Royals. The next game is basically the season for KC.
