"AIG: The Strength To Be There"
If you were watching the Mets-Cardinals Game 7 of the NLCS on thursday, you understand the title. In a tense 1-1 game's 6th inning, Mets left fielder Endy Chavez lept for a ball off the bat of Scott Rolen, snatching it from over the wall to rob Rolen of a home run.
It was a great play... but ultimately it amounted to nothing. The vaunted Mets offense could do nothing against Jeff Suppan (for the second time) and Randy Flowers. Even in the ninth against a young pitcher so geared up that he showed flashes of Rick Ankiel (appropriately in Cardinal red), the Mets couldn't plate any runners after two leadoff singles and an eventual bases-loaded 1 out situation.
So what did the Mets in this year? What did the Yankees in? Why has almost every series gone against prediction? Let's recap: Minnesota picked over Oakland in ALDS, loses; NY Yankees (unanimously on ESPN) picked over Detroit, lose; San Diego picked over St. Louis, loses; NY Mets picked over Dodgers, win; Oakland push with Detroit, Detroit wins; Mets picked over St. Louis, lose. Basically, besides the evenly-picked Detroit-Oakland ALCS, the only series that followed predictions was the Mets over the Dodgers in the first round. What I see here is not so much a surprise, if you look at it within the scope of the regular season. The "experts" designated to pick the correct winners evidently weren't paying too much attention during the regular season. The parity in the MLB was incredible this year. No team won more than 97 games, and only two teams lost 100 or more games, Kansas City (62-100) and Tampa Bay (61-101). It's baffling that 19 people hired as "experts" on baseball could UNANIMOUSLY pick a 97 win team to beat a 95 win team.
But most importantly, this postseason (as every postseason does) presents us with a new team to rally behind. After Detroit beat the Yankees, they suddenly became the team of the minute. Right now, 78% of users on ESPN.com believe that Detroit will handle St. Louis in the World Series. On paper, it might seem that way. I think the only aspect of the game that St. Louis has in its favor right now is the talents of Cards manager Tony La Russa over Tigers manager Jim Leyland (and that is a slight advantage). But the fact that Detroit is the clear favorite to win should be warning sign enough for this postseason... go ahead and put your money on Cardinal red.
It was a great play... but ultimately it amounted to nothing. The vaunted Mets offense could do nothing against Jeff Suppan (for the second time) and Randy Flowers. Even in the ninth against a young pitcher so geared up that he showed flashes of Rick Ankiel (appropriately in Cardinal red), the Mets couldn't plate any runners after two leadoff singles and an eventual bases-loaded 1 out situation.
So what did the Mets in this year? What did the Yankees in? Why has almost every series gone against prediction? Let's recap: Minnesota picked over Oakland in ALDS, loses; NY Yankees (unanimously on ESPN) picked over Detroit, lose; San Diego picked over St. Louis, loses; NY Mets picked over Dodgers, win; Oakland push with Detroit, Detroit wins; Mets picked over St. Louis, lose. Basically, besides the evenly-picked Detroit-Oakland ALCS, the only series that followed predictions was the Mets over the Dodgers in the first round. What I see here is not so much a surprise, if you look at it within the scope of the regular season. The "experts" designated to pick the correct winners evidently weren't paying too much attention during the regular season. The parity in the MLB was incredible this year. No team won more than 97 games, and only two teams lost 100 or more games, Kansas City (62-100) and Tampa Bay (61-101). It's baffling that 19 people hired as "experts" on baseball could UNANIMOUSLY pick a 97 win team to beat a 95 win team.
But most importantly, this postseason (as every postseason does) presents us with a new team to rally behind. After Detroit beat the Yankees, they suddenly became the team of the minute. Right now, 78% of users on ESPN.com believe that Detroit will handle St. Louis in the World Series. On paper, it might seem that way. I think the only aspect of the game that St. Louis has in its favor right now is the talents of Cards manager Tony La Russa over Tigers manager Jim Leyland (and that is a slight advantage). But the fact that Detroit is the clear favorite to win should be warning sign enough for this postseason... go ahead and put your money on Cardinal red.
posted by Brian Doty at 3:16 PM
1 Comments:
Doty, i really enjoy reading these articles. you seem to express what i feel exactly, but i just don't have the talent or patience to get them out on paper (or web space). keep up the good work and keep me lolotdfijhso (laughing out loud on the dirty floor i just had sex on)
-Trav
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