Site News, Updates, And Notes
9/16: Updates: Inside The Game, Scrapping For Runs; Current News And Analysis, Mets' Mess.
9/6: Update, again: Current News And Analysis, Kevin Brown's Punch-out.
9/6: Update: Inside The Game, Picking On The Rookie.
8/17: Update: Current News And Analysis, No Relief in LA.
8/10: New Inside The Game update, A Royal Collapse.
9/16 - Mets' Mess
The Amazin' Mets never cease to amaze people. Just as the season winds down and the New York Mets once again find themselves buried deep in the standings, they begin "The Blame Game" and start finding scapegoat for their miserable season. And their manager -- er, soon to be ex-skipper -- Art Howe is their first victim. Wait, but the fat lady hasn't sung and the season isn't officially over, so what is the rush to fire Howe now?
My guess is as good as yours.
Sure, Howe is a very capable manager -- back-to-back 100-win campaigns speak loud and clear, but the Mets had a messy roster to begin with even when he just took over. The team had failed to land any impact player in recent winters despite the owners' willingness to open up their wallet. They opened up their wallet alright, but the "Kazuo Matsui experiment" has proven to be a failure, so far anyway; and Mike Cameron? Cliff Floyd? And as if that doesn't hurt the organization, the Mets traded away their top prospect pitcher Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. I know, I know, there was a time in the season where some actually believed the Amazin' Mets had a shot for postseason. However, if the Mets management folks weren't smoking pot and realized the team had no stinkin' chance to play in October, then Kazmir would still be pitching in Mets uniform. Then comes September, when everybody finally woke up from the comatose and realized the Mets were out of it, the team fired the manager, but effective at the season's end.
This has to be a dumb move, if not the dumbest. The move in no way can ever help the team. Art Howe gets put into a very precarious position, and while the players actually have something to play for -- padding their stats, Howe doesn't. Even when the Mets are heading to yet another fourth-place finish, it never hurts to begin building momentum for next season by, say, winning a few games and playing spoiler for contending teams. Now the Mets have truly nothing to play for, not even for next season.
9/6 - Kevin Brown's Punch-out
New York Yankees pitcher Kevin Brown won't be punching out (aka striking out) any more hitters for the next three weeks as he punched his ticket to the disabled list. Frustrated by the Yankees' recent slump, which had trimmed New York's lead over second place Boston Redsox to only 2 1/2 games from 10 1/2 in a matter of three weeks, Kevin Brown punched the clubhouse wall and broke his non-pitching hand. The injury requires surgery, which will put the Yankee ace on DL for at least three weeks. Amid the pennant race and with the season ending in about three weeks, the Yankees now lose a solid starting pitcher to their already shabby rotation, making their bid for AL East Title in great jeopardy as the Redsox surge from behind. Brown has broken his hand on numerous occasions, including during a missed bunt attempt when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Perhaps Brownie should have talked to Latrell Sprewell before he made that left-handed punch to a wall...
(Sprewell, a former New York Knick, also broke his hand when he punched a wall, causing him to miss significant amount of playing time.)
8/17 - No Relief in LA
Bases loaded, 8th inning, one out, Marlins and Dodgers both tied at two runs apiece. Mike Lowell comes to bat, and the Dodgers will bring in set-up man Guillermo Mota to face Lowell.
Rewind, rewind. If this was a game played on August 17th, 2003, Mota would have been available to come in and pitch; but in 2004, Dodger skipper Jim Tracy has only limited options. With the erratic, consistently inconsistent Darren Dreifort handling the set-up job, Tracy often finds himself facing a tremendously difficult task of keeping the team ahead and bringing leads to their dominant closer Eric Gagne. The importance of having a strong set-up man is tremendous. Having an exceptional bullpen can strategically help a team turn a nine-inning game into a seven- or six-inning game. The '02 Angels not only had a relentless offense but also a dominant bullpen, and these two strengths helped propelled the team to their first World Series championship in franchise history. As the Dodgers make their run for October plays, their GM Paul DePodesta must hope his bullpen is good enough to sustain leads and hand them over to Eric Gagne.
Anyhow, back to the Dodger-Marlin game on August 17th, 2004. Darren Dreifort struggle mightily in the 8th. He had a 10-pitch battle against Luis Castillo of the Marlins, who ended up drawing a walk from Dreifort. And after giving up the tie-breaking run-single to Mike Lowell, Dreifort made a wild pitch and the second run came to home from third. The Dodgers went on to lose 4-2. Also as a reminder, in the FIRST game as set-up man Dreifort promptly blew a lead against San Diego. A decent set-up man would have helped LA, don't ya think?
Ironically, ex-Dodger Paul LoDuca had a crucial single in the 8th to help his Marlins rally. Another ex-Dodger, Guillermo Mota helped put out a late Dodger rally by setting up a huge double-play. Now that is going to haunt Dodger fans for a while.
8/1 - LA Shake-up, and It Was Not An Earthquake
The baseball non-waiver trade deadline came and went earlier yesterday, but the biggest name amongst all trade rumors had actually decided to stay put. Other than this, the Dodgers have made the most massive splash before the deadline. In a nut shell, they shipped out all-star catcher Paul Lo Doca, relievers Guillermo Mota and Tom Martin, slugging outfielder Juan Encarnacion, and speedy rabbit Dave Roberts for Steve Finley, Brad Penny, Hee Seop Choi, and Brent Mayne. First off, I have to praise Dodger GM Paul DePodesta for landing this solid group of players. Finley, an all-star; Brad Penny, an established pitcher and will now be the ace on the Dodger staff; and Hee Seop Choi, a young slugging first baseman; these guys will surely contribute right away for the Dodgers. As much as I like the additions, the substractions have literally gutted the team inside and out.
First and foremost, Paul Lo Duca has earned a place in the heart of many LA fans. Trading him away is almost a publicity stunt. Moreover, backed up by his two all-star selections in the last two seasons, he is a very capable offensive hitter, while also a great stopper behind the dish. Set-up man Guillermo Mota, along with Eric Gagne, helps anchor the Dodgers' bullpen this season, which statistically is the best in all of baseball. Ironically, in Saturday's contest the pitcher who supposedly was to replace Mota as the new set-up guy promptly blew a Dodger lead in the 8th. In my opinion, the departure of my favorite player Dave Roberts will come back and haunt this team down the stretch. He is a spark plug whenever he gets on base. The Dodgers do not have a spectacular offensive lineup, and the speed of Roberts has time and time again given the Dodgers runs. Without him the team lacks one of the most crucial element in run manufacture -- speed. While Martin and Encarnacion aren't putting up eye-opening numbers this year, they have helped the Dodgers win many games this year. Morever, Finley and Choi are capable home-run hitters, but the baseball never carries far in Dodger Stadium, so then how would they be able to help the team's offense? The biggest fallout from these player movements, however, is in the shake-up of the team chemisty. Some say it is important, others say it is overrated, but you'll be the judge: what do the past two World Series champs have in common? Not pitching, because the Angels had little in '02; not hitting either, because the Marlins couldn't hit in '03.
However, GM Paul DePodesta deserves some heat for not acquiring a proper replacement in the catcher position. He heavily banked on Rockies catcher Charles Johnson's consideartion on waiving his no-trade clause, but as CJ opts to honor the clause, the Dodgers are now forced to go with Brent Mayne behind the plate. Mayne is a decent catcher -- heck, he calls a good game and has managed to stick around in the league for a long time -- but he is not the solution behind the plate as the team claws its way into postseason. Now the Dodgers are left with David Ross and Mayne as catchers, not exactly a potent combination.
Overall, I predict the Dodgers to falter down the stretch. The substractions simply overwhelm the additions. And when Dodgers do miss the postseason, GM DePodesta would have some serious questions to answer.
9/16 - Scrapping For Runs
Just how can one team cash in four runs without getting the big hit? The Anaheim Angels, known for their scrappy offense, know how to do just that.
Seattle's nightmare began in the eighth inning. With runners on second and third, Angels' Darin Erstad hit a one-hopper to Seattle's Bret Boone, who quickly fielded the baseball and threw to home plate to get the running Adam Kennedy from third base. On Boone's bad throw the baseball actually hit Erstad's bat after he tossed it onto playing field, the ball then skipped over Seattle catcher Dan Wilson's head and flew all the way to the backstop. Instead of making an out Kennedy scored, along with his trailing runner David Eckstein. Later in the inning, Garret Anderson hit a groundball right between Boone's legs and drove in Erstad from second, who reached to second base on Boone's error. For the fourth run, the Angels capitalized on Dan Wilson's throwing error when Dallas McPherson attempted a stolen base. When the top half of the inning was finally over, Anaheim cashed in four unearned runs on one hit, two walks, and three Seattle errors.
9/6 - Picking On The Rookie
For a team that is leading the major league in stolen bases, it is no surprise that the Anaheim Angels were up and running wildly on the basepath in their game with the Cleveland Indians (on Sept 4th). The Halos swiped six bags off the Indians, and a couple of which had been directly responsible for a number of Angels runs. All of the stolen bases had been pulled off of the Indians' rookie phenom catcher Victor Martinez, who possess a solid throwing arm as praised by many baseball scouts. However, his throwing accuracy had apparently decided to take a day off on that day. The first two throws by Martinez had both been short (both had skipped in the dirt in front of second base), which allowed the Angels base stealers to reach safely. Since then, the Angels had picked on Martinez four times on the basepath, including a double steal. However, not to place full blame on Martinez, the Indian pitchers had failed to pay much attention to the Angels baserunners all game long. Indians starter Jason Davis has virtually no pick-off move to speak of, and his delivery time (from pitcher mound to home) is longer than average, thus giving the catcher more pressure to make an accurate throw to second base. Lefty reliever Cliff Bartosh even allowed a double steal by the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero and Casey Kotchman, and both of whom are not fast runners.
8/10 - A Royal Collapse
In the series finale on Monday, the Anaheim Angels once again made another heroic comeback on the Kansas City Royals, and the win helped cap off an Angel sweep on the Royals. Leading 3-1 into the 9th inning, KC reliever Jaime Cerda allowed a lead off single to Angels' Robb Quinlan, who was riding a 20-game hitting streak, and that signaled the beginning of a "Royal" collapse. Having already scored a run off Cerda, the Angels tagged him for the game-tying run when KC reliever Scott Sullivan made a wild pitch. With runners on second and third, Sullivan then got Angel slugger Vladimir Guerrero to hit a soft ground ball to rookie second baseman Ruben Gotay, who tried to nail down the runner from third base. However, his low throw caused the baseball to go past the catcher at home plate, which allowed the Angels to score two go-ahead runs. Strangely, the Angels also beat the Royals on Sunday on their last at-bat after two KC errors. And on Saturday, the Royals tried a comeback in the 9th inning, but the rally ended on Mike Sweeney's groundball double play, which turned out to be a missed call from the first base umpire. In frustration, Sweeney slammed his helmet on the ground. The last three game in the four-game series had all been come-back wins for Anaheim. And when a team is 32 games under .500, breaks never come their way.
7/25 - The Good and the Bad...Luck
The first game I saw on tv featured the red hot St. Louis Cardinals and the damned, hated, cursed San Francisco Giants. To cut the crap short, the game was tied at three runs a piece in the 10th inning, and with a runner on first zero outs Giant third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo came to the plate. San Francisco manager Felipe Alou then called for a sacrifice bunt, but instead Alfonzo fouled off two bunt attempts. With two strikes the next foul bunt attempt means an out, so Alfonzo "squared" up to hit with two strikes on the count, and he promptly took Cardinal southpaw reliever Ray King for a ride -- he hit a go-ahead two-run home run off the pitcher. The Giants went on and won the game 5-3. The second game was a matchup between two division rivals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Well, the Dodgers had been fortunate on numerous occasions in which little fly balls would drop for base hits. It was a frustrating night for the Padres but no more so than this play that I'm going to talk about. In the 4th inning, with two men on base Dodger hitter Paul Lo Duca hit a routine, soft come-backer to Padre pitcher Ismael Valdez. When Valdez cut to his right in attempt to field the baseball he slipped and ended up failing to record the out. That was when the floodgate opened up on him. The next hitter, slugger Adrian Beltre, grand-slammed Valdez out of the game. The Padres also had a three-run home run taken away by the Dodger defense. LA won the contest in a rout 12-2.
6/28 - Who's Pitching, Who's Hitting?
Switching to a completely unrelated subject, in Friday's Dodgers-Angels game Anaheim pitcher Scot Shields faced LA batter Robin Ventura in the ninth inning. A typical pitcher-versus-batter match-up, is that not what baseball is all about? Except this time, it was Shields standing in the batter's box, with Ventura throwing "lobs" to him. Ventura has never pitched in his life, and he was throwing nothing but 70-mph "change-ups" to hitters, as legendary broadcaster Vin Scully joked about during the telecast. Funny, because a change-up needs a complementary fastball, which Ventura does not possess. Of course, as ill-equipped as Ventura in the world of pitching, Shields was even worse in batting. The unorthodox match-up ended with Shields making an out. In fact, Ventura's "change-ups" were so effective that he managed to dispose three of the four hitters he faced and turned in a scoreless inning of work. Robin Ventura the pitcher now owns a career 0.00 ERA, as shown on the stadium TV screen after his scoreless inning! Who needs Curt Schilling or Mark Prior when Ventura is the man on the mound?
5/12 - Closers Who Couldn't Close
Ah, speaking of Yankees, they rallied against my Anaheim Angels and beat them 8-7 in 10 innings. Believe it or not, neither K-Rod, Rivera, and Percival could hold onto the lead! And those guys have been lights-out all season! What agonizing defeat.
4/18 - Yankess Versus Redsox: Prime Time Flops And Bloopers
Most of you probably didn't know but the first game between the heated Yankee-Sox rival actually went prime time on Fox on Friday. Obviously, neither team exactly see each other eye to eye, therefore it was reasonable to expect a well-played game between the two teams, right? Wrong (buzzer!). The game turned out to be very sloppy, thanks to veteran players making rookie mistakes. The Yankees were down the entire way, but in the fifth inning (if I remember correctly) they had a rally. With two outs, first and second, Yankee shortstop A-Rod attempted to steal third base on a 3-1 count (which turned out to be a strike and therefore no walk), and he was promptly nailed at third, ending the Yankee rally. I have heard baserunners stealing at 3-2, but 3-1? Later in the game, Yankee first baseman Jason Giambi hit a harmless fly ball to Boston's Manny Ramirez into shallow center field. Unfortunately for Ramirez, he bobbled the ball when it came down to his glove and the ball dropped for a hit. Had Giambi been running hard on the bases he would have gotten to second base with ease, instead he ended up on first because of his lack of effort. Eventally, the Redsox won the game. Who knows what would have happened if the Yankees had a man at second instead of first? What would have happened if the Redsox didn't get lucky in that fifth inning? Perhaps the Yankees are not so mighty afterall. Huge egos are to blame, maybe?
4/4 - Welcome, MLB 2004!
Wouldn't you know it, it's baseball season again, you dimwit! Teams were surely busy last offseason, especially for the damned, hated, and cursed New York Yankees and the, well, Cursed Boston RedSox (they deserve a cap C in Cursed!). Anyway, in the past two seasons baseball has produced well, somewhat surprising champions. A year ago today, were the Marlins favorite to go all the way? Sure, if you had to randomly pick a winner from a hat. How about those Angels from '02, did they get any respect in the beginning of that season? Did Halo fans, including me, have faith in them for a World Series title? Not in April of '02 we didn't! So who will be THAT surprise team this year? Will there be THAT surprise team at all? How about those Cubs and Redsox from last year? They almost shattered their respective historic curse last October! Will baseball be kind to them this year, or will there be a new goat in Chi-town? (hello, Steve Bartman!) I can't wait.
A Funny Sidenote In A Giant-D'Back Game (Summer 2003)
Arizona Diamondbacks' ace Randy Johnson was not exactly too happy with some of the calls (and non-calls) made by home-plate umpire Larry Vanover, particularly with his alledged inconsistency in umpiring.
Their feud started when Giants third baseman Edgardo Alfonso took a 2-2 pitch from Johnson. The pitcher initially thought his up-and-in fastball was the third strike, but umpire Vanover ruled it ball three. Alfonso, however, grounded out in the same at-bat. When Johnson came to bat later in the game, Giants rookie pitcher Jerome Williams threw a locationwise identical (up-and-in) fastball to Johnson, but this time the umpire called Johnson out on strike. The irate Randy Johnson then had a few words with the umpire but managed to keep his composure. A few innings later Jerome Williams came to bat. On a 2-2 count Johnson pitched a slider (it should have been strike three even on replay) that was ruled a ball. Even the hitter Jerome Williams himself thought he had struck out and actually began walking back to the Giants dugout! Surprised at the non-call, Randy Johnson then turned his head in disgust. The Diamondbacks eventually lost the game.
An Ulcer Or A Cornerstone?
In a not too distant past, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was hailed as the building block, the cornerstone of the storied but cursed franchise of the Boston Redsox. Then came Aaron Boone's home run last October, and since then Nomar's -- along with Alex Rodriguez's -- trade rumor swirled around the Majors like a good ol' Kansas tornado. Now, amid a heated playoff race, the Redsox unloaded their talented shortstop for virtually a bag of potatoes and some loose change again (see Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell). Okay, so Nomar's replacement Orlando Cabrera, speedster (and one of my fave) Dave Roberts, and Gold-glover Doug Mientkiewicz aren't so worthless, but how could a team trade away its superstar and receive this little in return?
It is true the Redsox cannot play defense, even to save their butts from piranas, and this deal brings the team two premier defenders. However, they will also sorely miss Nomar's offensive production. Although playing with the depleted Montreal Expos doesn't help anyone's offensive numbers, but Cabrera is hitting only .246 through July with a paltry four total home runs. Mientkiewicz's numbers are almost a carbon copy of Cabrera's -- .246 average, five round-trippers. Dave Roberts does bring his 33 steals from LA, but also the team will have to live with his .250 average and his lack of power. Also, his role now becomes severely diminished with a crowded Boston outfield. Morever, Cabrera will become a free agent at the end of this season, and it would leave a hole at shortstop if the Redsox could not retain him.
Back to Nomar. Fans of the Boston Redsox have already driven away a once-in-a-lifetime hall of famer Roger Clemens, now they have just repeated a similar tragedy with Garciaparra. From the moment the Redsox began negotiating for Alex Rodriguez, Nomar knew his days in Boston were numbered. An Achilles heel injury kept the star on the shelf, but Garciaparra battled and worked hard toward his speedy return. Doesn't that speak for something? When Nomar sat out a crucial series against New York last July, Bosox fans were quick to blame their star for not playing, but they forgot Garciaparra needed rest on his heel. The fans never appreciated their star and gave him the benefit of the doubt when he needed.
When the A's or the Angels snatch the last Wild Card berth away from the Redsox, the team and the fans will be in even more pain.
Yet, More On Boston's Chance Of Winning (October 2003)
Wahhh! These Sox came from three down and snatched the LDS victory from my Oakland A's! Such unforgivable act! But you can't deny their victory in Game 5 of ALDS this year, they earned it. And perhaps, with a really really long shot, the Sox may just be able to pull this one off and go all the way. Or am I just getting WAY ahead of myself? Who knows, perhaps the Redsox can at last break their infamous curse and I finally can erase my articles on the Sox's futility for the last oh, 80-plus years?
More on Boston's Chance of Winning...(September 2003)
Recently, a friend of mine made a few comments about my article on the Boston Redsox. He made a very solid point about my negligence to include a discussion on the hefty contracts of Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez. I perhaps did neglect to mention, but that is because I believe both players are in fact worthy of their contracts; on the other hand, Pedro is overpaid. Argue with me on this if you must, but players who perform once every FIVE days don't deserve a 20-mil-per-year contract. Starting pitchers, without a doubt, are keys to building a successful baseball team, but the idea of paying ONE pitcher at an astronomical price is absurd. Moreover, it is almost impossible to enjoy great success in postseason with only ONE ace in rotation, so why continue to overpay Martinez? Trade him and get something in return while his right arm is still intact with his body. Pedro Martinez is approaching 33, and based on his previous health record it is doubtful he still has many healthy years left.
Nonetheless, thanks for the valuable input. Much appreciated. ...
Boston's Chance of Winning...(August 2003)
I came across a news headline just recently and it almost made me laugh to see some people were actually thinking about Boston's Chance to win the World Series. On many MLB message boards I see Bosox fans rave about Nomar, Manny, Pedro, even Brandon Lyon and his quote-unquote brilliant numbers so far this season...then, of course, they really think their RedSox will go all the way! Rave and hype all you want about the players, but the Curse will still plague Beantown until we have gone through 10 Ice Ages. Well, maybe not for that long, but the Sox are not strong enough to win even a single series in the postseason; at least not with their current nucleus of players. No opposing pitcher enjoys going through Boston's batting order (which by the way is leading all of baseball in team batting average, runs scored, and hits as of July 1), at least not when Manny and Nomar are still stationing the middle of the lineup. Boston's rotation, however, is still full of loopholes.
Yes, Pedro Martinez is a well-established, dominating, lights-out type of ace...nobody will question this; but ironically, he is also the factor that keeps Boston from becoming an elite team in baseball. Managers have been reluctant to use Pedro more than 7, sometimes 6, innings in the past because of concerns over his health (arms, shoulders, you name it). So what typically happens after Pedro leaves? The Sox bullpen gets tattooed by opposing hitters and many times the team ends up losing the game.
Also consider this scenario: let's say the Redsox are in a 7-game series with the Oakland A's in the postseason. After Pedro, who is going to trot to the mound and start for Bosox in the next game? Casey Fossum? John Burkett? Outside of Pedro, there is not a starting pitcher who is at least good enough to be a #2 starter (Kim can be but for the remainder of this season he will likely be used as a closer). While, let's say, the A's put up Hudson/Zito/Mulder, the Sox have no starting pitcher strong enough to counter the Big Three. Winning one game is easy whenever Martinez is on the mound, but taking a series is not.
Furthermore, Martinez's hefty contract leaves Boston unable to notch solid starting pitchers and bullpen help. Last year, the Sox once again were trying to make a splash or two by attempting to land Bartolo Colon from the Montreal Expos. Their lack of financial flexibility, however, did not allow the Sox to take on a portion of Colon's salary. There is no question Pedro Martinez is worthy of every penny in his huge contract, but perhaps the time has come for the Sox to consider a change of scenery or plot a different mode to structure the team. Look at some of the recent championship teams, such as the Angels, the Diamondbacks, and *gasp* the Yankees, these teams have at least three or four solid starting pitchers, if not only one dominating starter.
Lastly, the unforgivng and impatient Redsox fans keep Boston from developing players in farm system; imagine if the Redsox had kept Curt Schilling and Jeff Bagwell (whom the Redsox traded to Houston for a bag of potatoes and some loose change). The fans want the Sox to be competitive year in and year out, but yet they are never willing to let their beloved Redsox to go into a rebuilding mode. There is hardly a quick-fix kind of way to built a team and make it competitive every year, especially in this sport we call baseball...unless, of course, we are dealing with the New York Yankees, who can never cease throwing money at players. The Redsox organization is deficient in young, talented prospects, thus making the organization reluctant to part with its prospects in trades. Going back to last year, the Redsox almost landed Colon from the Expos. But when Expos GM Omar Minaya asked for Boston's young stars Shea Hillenbrand and Casey Fossum the Redsox quickly rejected the proposal. Even the Yankees had had their down times in the 80s and early 90s, so why can't these Sox fans see through this?
Boston fans, don't let your naivete get to you, but nonetheless keep supporting your team. They might actually go all the way after 5 Ice Ages. ...
Five Games Or Seven?
To have five or not to have five, that is the question.
Many have been arguing as to the number of games should be played in baseball's opening round of playoffs, namely the League Division Series. Supporters of 7-game series argue that this format can allow the better teams--also in their opinion, more deserving-- the luxury of a greater chance to advance, therefore, yielding better match-ups in later rounds. In a short series, one badly played game can ruin the entire series and abruptly end a team's season. They also dislike our current 5-game format since the League Championship and the World Series are both played in 7 games. Why have a shorter, more compact opening series in which often times the "better" team gets bounced because a) one or two bad games, b) its opponent unexpectedly goes on hot streaks for a few games?
I am not entirely against a 7-game round in opening series, but neither am I convinced by the argument put forth by these "7-gamers." Let's be realistic, teams need to go on "hot streaks" in order to advance deeper into playoffs. The 2002 Anaheim Angels went on an incredible streak before finally capturing their first championship trophy. The Atlanta Braves can't buy any decent streak since their championship year in 1995. With the Braves' performance in their 2003 postseason play, it would have made no difference the number of games they played against the Cubs--they would surely get pounded in a 5-game or 7-game series. Furthermore, if a team is truly "better," then it should still have the upper hand over its opponent in a short series. Does having a 5-game series take away the "better" team's edge? No, it doesn't. What a 5-game series does give is a higher steak in each and every game, and what inherently is negative about this? Why should we lengthen our opening rounds just so the favorite teams can be protected from upsets? The chances of seeing an upset in a short series are much greater, therefore each game becomes even more important (as though each game in a 7-game series isn't) since there is more at steak. And what sport fan objects to watching competitive series where upsets are possible? We love upsets, don't we? If baseball absolutely insists on getting the game right, then leave our current playoff format alone.
You've Got To Be Good And Lucky To Win
There's an old saying that it's better to be lucky than good. Well, in fantasy baseball it's better to be lucky and good. There's no question that you need a lot of skill to win a fantasy-league title. You can't just walk into any draft and win a competitive league by picking names out of a hat... More
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