Official Postseason Discussion Thread

[The Dane]

Or something is right. My wife and I were watching the game last night, and when they were down 4 to 3, my wife expressed dismay that they were losing. I told her that this is the Giants' way. They have the Cardinals right where they want them. I was half-joking, but I was not surprised at all when they pulled it out. On the other hand, tonight they can win it at home with Bumgarner pitching. They SHOULD win this... which means they almost certainly won't. We're used to this.

[Hornsby]

While interleague play probably mitigates this a little bit, sometimes the talent level on the different sides of the bracket are extremely unbalanced. I would posit, although we can never be certain until we see it, that in 2014, the NL is quite a bit better than the AL. I think the NL team that gets out, wins.

How do you figure this? For the 11th year in a row, the AL has won more games in the inter-league series, they won the ASG as well, so home field goes to the Royals. I think the best team in baseball is in the NL, but they're not playing for the title this year...otherwise, you're going to have 2 teams playing that are flawed in different ways. And I like the Royals bullpen and defense better than either of the NL teams...

[onejayhawk]

The Giants have scored 9 runs in the last 5 games without getting a hit. Clearly their experience is paying off, or something.

Very Royal-like.

J

[The Dane]

How do you figure this? For the 11th year in a row, the AL has won more games in the inter-league series, they won the ASG as well, so home field goes to the Royals. I think the best team in baseball is in the NL, but they're not playing for the title this year...otherwise, you're going to have 2 teams playing that are flawed in different ways. And I like the Royals bullpen and defense better than either of the NL teams...

I'll respond to this, but my reasoning is purely anecdotal and I'd be happy to hear contradictory -or supporting- evidence:

First, interleague play is a small sample size. There are not enough games of top AL teams against top NL teams. How many times did this year's playoff AL teams play this year's playoff NL teams? I don't know, but I'd guess it's too small a number to learn anything. (I only know the Giants who played Oakland, KC, and Detroit and went 3-7 and yet are one game for the Series. KC, on the other hand, played LA, StL and SF and went 5-5, but three of those wins were against the Giants, which I think is the best predictor in favor of the Royals over the Giants, assuming the Giants get by St. Louis.) Year-to-year data is meaningless, especially because, while the AL has the definite edge in interleague and All-Star games, that edge disappears in the World Series.

Second, AL teams have a slight advantage in interleague play. AL teams in NL parks merely have to have their pitcher hit, and the NL pitchers are presumably better at it, but that's just varying degrees of suckiness. NL teams in AL parks have to conjure a ninth bat that they likely don't have. Their benches are not built for a DH, so they usually end up giving the extra ABs to a handy role player, not a professional everyday hitter like what the AL teams have.

I thought the best team in baseball this year was Washington. I wasn't sure they could win it all, but be assured that I will be very high on them next year. After them, I had the Cardinals, the Giants and the Dodgers. I thought the best AL team was the Angels and I had them in 5th. But that is THIS YEAR. I don't think one league is inherently, year-in-and-year-out better than the other (although I prefer the style of play in the NL), but I think this year, the top NL teams are much better than the top AL teams.

[TranaGreg]

Of course the only thing that matters tho is who is the best team right now. or next week to be more specific. I see the Royals bullpen, defense, and speed continuing to be major factors - assuming SF comes out of the NL I see a 7 game series with the 7th game going into extra innings.

[The Dane]

Of course the only thing that matters tho is who is the best team right now. or next week to be more specific. I see the Royals bullpen, defense, and speed continuing to be major factors - assuming SF comes out of the NL I see a 7 game series with the 7th game going into extra innings.

Which gets us back to the original premise of the Royals never losing another game. I don't think this Series will be a walk for either team, but the Giants really do know how to win post-season series. I know their streak is a strong one. But the Royals did take 3 of 3 against them during the season.

[Hornsby]

I'll respond to this, but my reasoning is purely anecdotal and I'd be happy to hear contradictory -or supporting- evidence:

First, interleague play is a small sample size. There are not enough games of top AL teams against top NL teams. How many times did this year's playoff AL teams play this year's playoff NL teams? I don't know, but I'd guess it's too small a number to learn anything. (I only know the Giants who played Oakland, KC, and Detroit and went 3-7 and yet are one game for the Series. KC, on the other hand, played LA, StL and SF and went 5-5, but three of those wins were against the Giants, which I think is the best predictor in favor of the Royals over the Giants, assuming the Giants get by St. Louis.) Year-to-year data is meaningless, especially because, while the AL has the definite edge in interleague and All-Star games, that edge disappears in the World Series.

Second, AL teams have a slight advantage in interleague play. AL teams in NL parks merely have to have their pitcher hit, and the NL pitchers are presumably better at it, but that's just varying degrees of suckiness. NL teams in AL parks have to conjure a ninth bat that they likely don't have. Their benches are not built for a DH, so they usually end up giving the extra ABs to a handy role player, not a professional everyday hitter like what the AL teams have.

I thought the best team in baseball this year was Washington. I wasn't sure they could win it all, but be assured that I will be very high on them next year. After them, I had the Cardinals, the Giants and the Dodgers. I thought the best AL team was the Angels and I had them in 5th. But that is THIS YEAR. I don't think one league is inherently, year-in-and-year-out better than the other (although I prefer the style of play in the NL), but I think this year, the top NL teams are much better than the top AL teams.

Winning the interleague play for 11 years in a row is pretty convincing evidence...not coincidence. This season, they won it by a 163-137 margin...a .543 winning percentage, again, not anecdotal, just hard facts. That says the AL is a better overall league, based on what occurs on the field when the 2 teams meet. Now, your eyes may tell you one thing, but the statistics tell quite a different story...and there have been well over 4000 interleague games since the series started, again, NOT a small sample size.

And since the AL won the AS game, they will have that advantage that you talked about with the DH...

[The Dane]

Winning the interleague play for 11 years in a row is pretty convincing evidence...not coincidence. This season, they won it by a 163-137 margin...a .543 winning percentage, again, not anecdotal, just hard facts. That says the AL is a better overall league, based on what occurs on the field when the 2 teams meet. Now, your eyes may tell you one thing, but the statistics tell quite a different story...and there have been well over 4000 interleague games since the series started, again, NOT a small sample size.

And since the AL won the AS game, they will have that advantage that you talked about with the DH...

Well, I've been talking about the World Series here. I think the AL is the better overall league, but THIS YEAR the best teams are in the NL. And while the AL has a better record in interleague play (because of the reasons I gave you, and others probably), it has not translated into more World Series wins, especially lately. Regular season really means very little here. Hell, both of the teams we've been talking about are wild cards.

[onejayhawk]

The question is which of these wild card teams is better.

For two teams with very different composition, they seem to be a lot alike.

J

[Mithrandir]

Are they starting on Tuesday because of the NFL? Seems like a long time to wait to begin the WS.

[Judge Jude]

this was amusing:

Bernie MiklaszVerified account @miklasz

Matheny, when asked about not using closer T. Rosenthal in 9th: "We can't bring him in, in a tie-game situation. We're on the road.”

.........

I can't think of a better reason to send a team home for the year. iirc, the Pirates blew Game 161 and then lost the division by 1 game using the exact same genius reasoning. the consolation is that Rosenthal has given up a ton of runners this year. but that comment there may be the dumbest I've read all year.

The Yankees won 4 WS in 5 years in no small part due to MGR Torre not putting on a straight jacket in terms of Mariano Rivera usage. "We can't" wasn't at the top of Torre's mind regarding when to use Rivera, and for how long, in the POSTSEASON.

[Fresno Bob]

here's was the best Fox Sports coverage of the whole game, well, the best after Buck realized his best move was to finally shut the fuck up after the Giants won....

[joncarlos]

Are they starting on Tuesday because of the NFL? Seems like a long time to wait to begin the WS.

Because the schedule is made in advance. They need to make sure the stadiums are available, the networks have timeslots, etc. In other words they have to plan as if the ALCS and NLCS will go 7. If they go shorter, they can't move it up.

[Judge Jude]

Don't know if they still do, but the NBA used to have some leeway in the Finals.
For instance, they might play Finals games on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. If both conf finals only went 5, they could start on Wed. Otherwise, they'd start on Sun. Not a perfect example, but you get the idea. They were set up to prevent a full week off. I don't know that MLB could possibly do that, though.

[Moonlight J]

Are they starting on Tuesday because of the NFL? Seems like a long time to wait to begin the WS.

they had to schedule in the days if both series went 7 games. They can't logistically move them around because of the hotels, TV equipment, etc that is needed to make it all happen.