MLB 2022: The Long and Winding Thread

What did Robert’s do wrong? Ok not sending Turner in Gm 3 was questionable IMHO. But Hader slamming the door with control wasn’t his fault. Or guys not hitting. Or guys giving up a 3-0 lead.

 

Dave Roberts is Bobby Cox 2.0 in the making. If the Dodgers are happy with their one title in a shortened season, cool.

 

I don't like how random the MLB playoffs are and I don't think it's good for the game when all the top seeds lose. However, the problem is less with MLB and more with North American sports turning the season into 162 near-exhibitions.

October is a stupidly small sample size that measures the Best Team Right Now but not the Best Team, but that's been the case for decades in this country. We only exacerbate it by adding more trap doors for high seeds to fall down in the name of creating high-value TV inventory.

 

This isn’t nuclear weapons policy. It’s entertainment. Use the format that creates the most drama. It’s sports.

 

Look at the Dodgers' ABs in the eighth and ninth. Three up, three guys swinging for the fences, three down. One swing of the bat doesn't win in that situation.

 

If Fox ends up with Padres-Guardians that’s too damn bad
I think it’d be kinda cool
Rocky Colavito, age 89, has to throw out the first pitch if Cleveland makes the Series

 

Except he'll get traded for Harvey Kuenn just before the National Anthem.

 

Eh, Neyland Stadium says, "Hold my mustard."

 

It wasn’t about level of sound. We always get that angle of a football stadium from blimps. We never get that angle of a baseball stadium. And moments of insanity are much, much rarer in baseball. It was a creative place to turn a camera phone on.

 

Would the division series be different if they had reseeded instead of bracketed? Dodgers would have played Phillies and Braves would have got the Padres.

 

The Dodgers' longest losing streak all year was four games. They lost three in a row three times, including the season-ending series against Colorado. They found the worst possible time to play their worst baseball of the season.

I am fascinated by the FanGraphs playoff odds, and in a 12-team playoff, no team is more than a 1:6 or even 1:5 chance of winning the championship at the end of 162 games. You can be the best team over the regular season by far, but five out of every six rolls of the playoff dice, you don't get the trophy.

And that's basically the same situation for the Braves, Yankees and Astros. Even now, the Astros are just a 36 percent favorite to win the World Series. That means they won't in almost two of every three scenarios. The Phillies and Padres have approximately a 1 in 4 chance, with the Padres having slightly better odds because of home-field advantage.

 

Phillies are hot right now, it may have ended the same way. But there is something to be said for reseeding. Last year we had 107 vs 106 in a best of 5 in what should have been a best of 7 given everything involved. This year, they got lucky it wasn’t because they collapsed off days because of the lock out. But regardless, reseeding is more fair for teams who go through 162 and earn the right to the easiest road to the series.