The three best teams in baseball reside in a single division in the National League, meaning one team with favorable World Series title odds will see its “postseason” last barely more than two hours thanks to Major League Baseball’s wild-card format.
Much has been said about how it’s not fair that the Pirates and Cubs, owners of the second- and third-best records in baseball, respectively, will be forced to play single-game roulette in the wild-card game for a shot at the real playoffs, while the far less dominant Mets and Dodgers get to walk right into a first-round, five-game National League Division Series.
And it’s not fair. (Nor is the system that forces a single game of chance after six months and 162 games likely to change any time soon.)
But at least the Pirates and Cubs get a shot to extend their seasons, and as much as the wild-card games losers may feel robbed when their season ends on 7 October, their injustice isn’t quite on the level of the last great team to be truly done wrong by the MLB post-season: the 1993 San Francisco Giants.
The 1993 season was the last full-season played without a wild card, with only the champions of the East and West divisions advancing to the league championship series – and the Giants had the second-best record in all of baseball that year, finishing 103-59, a single game back in the NL West.
The depth of how much the 1993 Giants were screwed is hard to even describe. Not only did they win 103 games – this year’s unstoppable Cardinals aren’t even on that pace – but they closed the season 14-3. They were clearly baseball’s best team as September became October. They had NL MVP Barry Bonds with a 1.136 OPS and a dangly earring. They had slugger Matt Williams, then a star of the hot corner and not a manager on the hot seat. They had two 20-game winners in Bill Swift and John Burkett. They had Rod Beck’s mullet and mustache at the back of the bullpen. They had Will Clark. They had the incomparable Willie McGee. The team was loaded.
Worse still, the Giants had never won a title in San Francisco at that time, the franchise’s last coming in 1954 as the New York Giants. Worst of all? They lost the National League West to the Atlanta Braves. Of Atlanta, Georgia. A state on the Atlantic Ocean. The East. What.
If baseball had a wild card in 1993 or even if it’s geographically-based divisions were simply arranged in a geographical way, San Francisco would have barreled into the postseason as the odds-on favorite.
Pirates and Cubs fans have every reason to be upset, but they can at least find solace in knowing they won’t be on the end of anything like that Giant screw job.
Quote of the Week
“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.” – Yogi Berra
Berra’s funeral is going to be as star-studded as any in history: Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio. An amazing turnout for an amazing man.
Stat of the Week
0.86 – Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has an 0.86 ERA in 13 starts since the All-Star break. If he can finish the season at this pace, he will be the first pitcher in history to have a sub-1.00 ERA after the break while making at least 13 starts. Now for a reminder that Arrieta, the clear NL Cy Young favorite, didn’t make the All-Star roster. But that’s okay. The All-Star Game decides nothing beyond homefield advantage in the World Series.
This Week’s Horrible Fantasy Team That Crushed Your Team
Tommy LaStella, 2B, Cubs -- 7-for-13, 5 RBI
Mikie Mahtook, OF, Rays -- 8-for-16, HR, 2 RBI
Tom Murphy, C, Rockies -- 6-for-12, 3 HR, 8 RBI
Ketel Marte, SS, Mariners -- 10-for-21, 4 RBI
Matt Moore, P, Rays -- 13.2 innings, 16 strikeouts, 1 win, 1.32 ERA
Williams Perez, P, Braves -- 11.2 innings, 8 strikeouts, 1 win, 2.31 ERA
Reader Twitter Question of the Week
@DJGalloEtc Can a pitcher be his own DH?
— Mike Wanhatalo (@TomPellvis) September 23, 2015
If I understand your question correctly, you’re asking if an American League pitcher can be on the lineup card as the starting pitcher and also as the DH, allowing him to stay in a game as a hitter even after he is removed as a pitcher.
I ... don’t know. This is a really good question. I did some research and didn’t find a clear answer. So I will dig more over and have the answer to this question for you in next week’s column. (Oooh, how exciting! A cliffhanger!)
Phillies-ness of the Week
The Phillies removed the interim tag from Pete Mackanin this week, a deserved promotion for a man who has done good work as the interim manager for three different teams in his career. After accepting the full-time job, Mackanin said he is “so grateful for Ruben Amaro to put me in the spot that enabled this.” Mackinan was attempting to sound gracious, but in doing so essentially said: “I am grateful to Ruben Amaro for creating a team so awful it got a man to quit, opening up the job for me.”
Cubs World Series Odds: Holding steady
It was more of the same for the Cubs this week: they couldn’t lose, but they also couldn’t catch the Cardinals and Pirates.
Manager Joe Maddon made enemies with both the Cardinals and Pirates, however, first joking that Jung-Ho Kang’s season-ending knee injury – sustained on a takeout slide by Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan – was “plantar fasciatis”, and then ripping the Cardinals for throwing at Anthony Rizzo in response to an accidental plunking of Matt Holliday. I think Maddon thinks people won’t punch him because of his fancy glasses. I think he is wrong.
A-Rod-ness of the Week
Make sure you don’t miss out on this “Reflections on Business and Baseball” seminar featuring Alex Rodriguez.
Excited to join @steinersports w Mo at Carnegie Hall on 9/24. Tickets » http://t.co/aeeUtF0Mmt pic.twitter.com/agEp6U0jTB
— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) September 14, 2015
Business Tip No1: Hit baseballs very far so teams give you hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ten Things I’d Think I’d Think To Think
1) Yogi Berra was a man before his time. Imagine the retweets he’d get today with some of his musings. Among his many baseball records would be the all-time mark for Twitter followers by a major leaguer.
2) This video of Cubs rookie third baseman Kris Bryant serving as an undercover Lyft driver was on a lot of sports sites this week. It’s a fun video, but it doesn’t exactly seem positive for baseball. Bryant is one of the biggest young stars in the sport and he plays for a name brand team in a huge city. And no one recognized the guy. MLB shouldn’t be promoting this video, it should be the one video they remove from the Internet instead of taking down every Vine and YouTube video of awesome plays that could risk marketing the sport.
3) Astros rookie shortstop Carlos Correa has only been in the majors for part of the season, but his 19 home runs are just one short of the team record by a shortstop, set by Dickie Thon in 1983. Of course, Correa’s 19 long balls are good enough for the modern record. (Note: I consider the modern era in sports to be the time when no one would go by the name Dick or Dickie. For example: Is there a player who goes by “Dick” in the majors right now? There is not. Why? Because it’s the modern era.)
4) Atlanta’s win over the Mets on Tuesday at Citi Field was their first win in a city other than Atlanta or Philadelphia since 26 July. So it’s no surprise that the Braves have the worst road record in baseball outside of the Phillies. The Phillies also have the worst home record in baseball. The Phillies aren’t good, OK?
5) The Mets keep getting conflicting messages from Matt Harvey on how many innings he can pitch and how often. But I think everyone is focusing too much on innings. What if Harvey has no innings cap, BUT ... throws the ball only half-speed? The Mets get their ace as much as they need and Harvey doesn’t tire out his arm. Win-win. (Except for all the games the Mets would lose when he pitches.)
6) Stephen Strasburg has a 2.24 ERA in his last eight starts. The Nationals famously shut Strasburg down late in the 2012 season during a playoff push, similar to what New York is weighing with Harvey now. So let this be a lesson to the Mets: if they err on the side of caution with Harvey now, they can suffer a crushing playoff defeat and in three years, after some up and down years from their ace, see him get back to dominance for short period on an underachieving team.
7) The horrid Marlins close their season with the terrible Phillies and awful Braves at home and then go on the road to play the lousy Rays and terrible Phillies. I’m a baseball fan. You’re a baseball fan. But I can’t imagine why anyone would attend a single one of those sad games outside of maybe interviewing people to see why they’re attending such a game.
“Hi. Can I ask you why you’re here?”
“I came to ask people why they would possibly attend this game. What about you?”
“Same.”
8) David Ortiz has tied or bested many of Ted Williams’ Red Sox career marks this season. But let’s not forget that Williams lost three entire years in the prime of his career to World War II, and then parts of two more seasons in Korea. Of course, Williams once crash-landed in Korea. And if we have learned anything from Donald Trump, that means he was a failed pilot. So forget what I said earlier. Big Papi is the greatest player and fighter pilot in Boston history.
9) Congratulations to Cardinals backup catcher Tony Cruz on winning National Player of the Month for September. (Cruz will get the bulk of the catching duty now that Yadier Molina is injured, and since it’s the Cardinals, I assume he’ll step in and hit .975 with 15 home runs over the final two weeks of the season. Anyway, congrats, Tony.)
10) This is an important public service announcement: Bartolo Colon may only have two starts left this season. He could retire after this season. Or he could be signed by an American League team next year. We don’t know. But what I do know is that you must watch his final at-bats of the season and cherish them. Hold them in your mind’s eye so they are always there when you need a little pick-me-up when you’re feeling low.
