Texas vs. Arizona

[Bahama O's Fan]

So...is this what MLB wants? #6 seed Arizona vs. #5 seed Texas (actually #12 and #9 se

[Bahama O's Fan]

Sorry, #12 and #9 in all of MLB fighting for the championship?

[maybenxtyr]

3 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

So...is this what MLB wants? #6 seed Arizona vs. #5 seed Texas (actually #12 and #9 se

They earned it. I don't see a problem with it.

[StottyByNature]

It's a fair question.  The expanded playoffs keeps more teams in the race.  The flipside is that the best teams are penalized.

I would guess we will see some sort of change to try to give the top teams more of an advantage but the truth is the answer to your question is "yes" because the MLB wants more money and this is one way to get it.  (Obviously it will be a relatively low-rated Series but that is part of their calculation.)

[oriole]

I don’t see what’s so wrong with it? I sense lots of malfunctioning from people when they don’t see Yankees, Dodgers, or Astros in the WS. Baseball is better when the underdog wins. Not that I consider Texas an underdog with their fancy acquisitions, but compared to Houston they certainly were.

[Frobby]

It’s bad and it’s good.   On the one hand, it’s a farce that an 84-win team couid be considered the champion.   Even with all their postseason wins, the DBacks still wouldn’t equal the overall win totals of the Braves, Orioles, Dodgers or Rays even if they won the WS.  They’d be at 97 wins.  

On the other hand, it adds a lot of meaning to the wild card races to know that if you can get in the tournament, you can win it.  

I’ll be rooting for the DBacks just to make the outcome as absurd as possible.  
 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Frobby

[dystopia]

The '06 Cardinals had 83 wins and won the WS and I don't remember folks kvetching about it, granted they did win the division. 

[Sports Guy]

It’s also why people were upset about the Os trades last year. Just get in and you never know what happens.

[Moose Milligan]

13 minutes ago, dystopia said:

The '06 Cardinals had 83 wins and won the WS and I don't remember folks kvetching about it, granted they did win the division. 

They did.  They absolutely did.

Two things that offset it a little bit though:  It was the Cardinals and they're a classic team with a large fanbase and steeped in history.  A lot of people of a certain age still view the Diamondbacks as an expansion team for lack of a better explanation.  That, and they had prime Albert Pujols...so anyone that was annoyed with their presence couldn't be annoyed at seeing a player that great getting a chance at a WS ring.

The Diamondbacks aren't the Cardinals on any level and there's no player on that team as good as Pujols was.

[Just Regular]

The Mets and Red Sox had better run differentials than the Diamondbacks this season.

[Moose Milligan]

Also, MLB absolutely has to hate this.  They're going to pretend like it's great, of course...but not having a marquee team in there, not having any real superstars in there...they're hating this.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Also, MLB absolutely has to hate this.  They're going to pretend like it's great, of course...but not having a marquee team in there, not having any real superstars in there...they're hating this.

You don't think they are excited about having the AZ market represented?

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

You don't think they are excited about having the AZ market represented?

Nope!

[Moose Milligan]

Can we also bathe in some Philly tears right now?  

 

 

NSFW, language, even though the F-bombs have been cut out.  

"Wait, where'd you get that banana?"

"From a homeless guy."

I can't stop laughing.  I love seeing Philly fans being miserable.

 

[Can_of_corn]

Mad Dog said he was going to "retire on the spot" if the Phillies lost, so we have that going for us, which is nice.