Texas vs. Arizona

[Morgan423]

Had kind of tuned out of the playoffs after we left; learned today that a three-games-over-500 team reached the World Series.  Fantastic.

[btdart20]

12 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

The Diamondbacks highest AAV this season....Madison Bumgarner, not retired, occupying about $17mm of their $115mm.

 

Anecdote A that proves small/mid-Market teams can miss on a contract and still be a WS contender!  

B, C, and Nick Ahmed, Carson Kelly, and Zach Davies for another $17+m.  

[Morgan423]

Although, I think a lot of the illegitimate feel of wild card teams will be removed when MLB expands again.

32 teams means 8 different four-team divisions.  So you can get rid of the WC teams entirely, and only let division winners in.  

If you want to be "super-drama" and keep the playoffs at the current 6 teams per league, how about: the two worst-record division winners don't even make it. 

That'll discourage the formation of weak divisions, and make division leaders play hard all the way to the near the season end, even if they have a stupidly large lead in their division down the stretch.     

[now]

On 10/25/2023 at 1:30 PM, ChangeRoadUnis said:

It is a great system if you want to have a fun little tournament at the end of the season full of excitement where anyone can win.  Yippee!  If you really want to crown the best team, you've got to put more emphasis on a 162 game schedule and less on best of 5 or 7.  

Right, there are basically two different seasons, long and short, likely with distinct winners for each. We want to think in the old way, Year XXXX Champions, yay! But now we have to divide our expectations and enthusiasm into two boxes, each with an asterisk: 

* Regular season (large sample size): Who's built for the long haul?
* Playoffs (small sample size): Who's hot and who's not? 

Even in the old system, fans gave disproportionate importance to the 7-game World Series winner, overshadowing the season-long records. For further nuance, teams like the 100-win 1980 Orioles are forgotten since they finished second that year. At least with the new system they get a fighting chance at redemption. (Same goes for the 1981 and 1982 O's which also missed pennants, by only 1 game each. Which is another kind of small sample size.)

So between the division or league's best record, and the playoff championship, which one is more meaningful and which is the consolation prize? Personally I give more weight to the former. But hey, we get to have a shot at both. They don't need to have the same outcome, since they are different ways of recognizing "the best."

Edited October 27, 2023 by now

[ChipTait]

I'll be sure to miss the ceremonial first pitch, I can promise you.

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, ChipTait said:

I'll be sure to miss the ceremonial first pitch, I can promise you.

I guess there is no chance he tops that time in NY.

Best first pitch ever?