The Baseball Post-Season

As I have alluded to in recent posts, recent events in my life have kept me away from The Grandstand.  So, before another game gets played, allow me to share some thoughts and opinions on the.....

MLB Post-Season

The Post Season for Major League Baseball began two weeks ago, and it has mostly been with whimpers and not bangs.  To review....

1. All four Wild Card Rounds ended in 2-0 sweeps.  A distinct lack of drama.
2. Two of the four Divisional Rounds ended in 3-0 sweeps, and the other two series were 3-1 wins.  The most exciting play of all eight rounds might well have been the 8-5-3 double play that ended Game 2 of the Phillies-Braves series and gave the Braves a win over Philly.
3. Three of the four teams that received byes into the Divisional Round lost their series by 0-3, 0-3, and 1-3.  All three of those losing teams won at least 100 games in the regular season.
4. In the League Championship Series, both the Rangers and the Phillies hold 2-0 advantages.  While I don't think it will happen, the possibility exists that these two series could also result in sweeps.  The possibility also exists that we could see ten rounds of Playoffs without a single one of them reaching an ultimate Win-or-Go-Home game (3, 5, or 7).

Of the four points above, it is #3 that is causing the most wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Not so much because the three 100 win teams - Braves, Dodgers, and Orioles - lost, but that the one week layoff that they earned from winning their  divisions is what caused them to be out of sync and at a disadvantage when playing teams that had to play actual games to get to the Divisional rounds.  The old argument of "Rest vs. Rust".  I am not sure what the answer is to this conundrum. One thing for certain is that MLB is not going to reduce the number of teams and/or rounds of playoffs.  It is or likely that they would add teams and have no team get byes.  MLB Playoffs will then turn into the NBA and NHL when it comes to the post-season, if it hasn't already.  I get a huge kick out of Michael Wilson on Pardon The Interruption continuing to scream about how MLB has opted to "delvalue the regular season."  This coming from the guy who staunchly defends just about everything that the NBA does, and if ever there is a sport with a devalued regular season, it's the National Basketball Association.

However, let's leave all that behind and concentrate on what we now have before us.

ALCS 

First off, I confess to knowing next to nothing about the Texas Rangers,  but they have been most impressive as they have stormed through the AL bracket.  They are now 7-0, including a sweep of the 100 win Baltimore Orioles.  They have an old school manager in Bruce Bochy, who was last seen winning three World Series titles with the Giants, and some really, really good young players, led by veteran Corey Seager.

The Astros, astonishingly, are playing in their SEVENTH consecutive ALCS, and we all know about the cheating scandals that engulfed them in the last decade, so it's easy to root against them.  However, they also have an Old School manager in Dusty Baker, and in Jordan Alvarez, and amazing player who seems to do nothing but hit home runs. They may be down 0-2 in the current series, but I am not selling them short in this series.

Hey you kids, GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!

Speaking of Bochy and Baker, I are the comment on Facebook two nights ago that they look like two old guys that you would see pushing a buggy by themselves at Sam's Club at 10:30 on a random weekday morning.   I make that statement with some authority because I, too, am an old guy who pushes a buggy by himself at Sam's Club at 10:30 in the morning on random weekday mornings.

NLCS 

Far be it from me to sell the Diamondbacks short.  They earned their way into the Playoffs and were 5-0 as they headed into the LCS.   However, they have run into a real buzzsaw in the Phillies, who appear to be unstoppable on their way to the World Series Championship that eluded them last year.   Players like Kyle Schwarber, Trey Turner, Nick Castellanos, and especially Bryce Harper, combined with a 1-2 pitching punch like Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola appear to be just too much for the D'backs, and perhaps for whatever team they face in the World Series.

A word about Harper.  The world became aware of him when he made the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was 14 or 15 years old.  The accompanying article described a cocky kid that, combined that an insufferable father who was the baseball equivalent of a "Show Biz Mother", made you want to root for him to fail.  He has, however lived up to the billing. Overall Number 1 draft pick, in the Majors at age 19, a two time MVP, and a $300 million dollar man.  He may be the kind of player that you root for only of he plays for YOUR team (Steelers Fans, think Hines Ward here), but he is the real deal, and he is showing it throughout these playoffs.  The only thing that has eluded him is a World Series ring, and I am guessing that that quest will be fulfilled by the end of the month.

Prior to the LCS, I wagered that the Phillies would play the Rangers in the World Series.  I also made separate wagers on both the Phillies and the Rangers winning the Series.  I am liking my chances to cash a couple of tickets after all is said and done.

The "stare down" may well end up being the 

most lasting image from the 2023 Playoffs