A Good Year for the Outlaw

Discussion continued from Billy’s blog.

Let me respond to you’re latest, Mouse: If you’re going to base the Cubs .667 record against the AL as “proof” of anything, let’s look at the facts: The FACT is the Cubs played 12 interleague games, the LEAST of ANY team in baseball. Further, the FACT is SIX of those 12 were played against the White Sox, not exactly playing their best this year, eh? But I stand by my statement that given a chance to be in the Comedy Central this year, they’d be in the hunt.

Further, there were 3 games against Texas (dead last in the AL West), of which the Cubs won only 1, and three games against Seattle (2nd in the West) of which the Cubs won 2. So big deal, they didn’t play ANYBODY of consequence in the AL. In the end, what does it all mean, that “.667″ record? Not a damn thing. We’ll obviously never know, but the best guess is the Cubs would be about a 75-77 win team AT BEST in the American league – more likely, a 69-71 win team in the AL.

Further still, when you take ALL interleague play, (a much truer representation of the competition) you get a 137-115 lead for the AL, a .544 winning percentage for the AL, a winning percentage, btw, that would be in FIRST PLACE in the NL Comedy Central right now.

For the record, last year was even much more one sided, with the AL winning head-to-head a ridiculous 153-99, for a .607 winning percentage. The Cubs 2-year record in interleague play is now 12-15. Oooh. The Twins, “MY Twins, as you call them) btw, are 27-9 in the last two years against the NL. The Twins are 66-42 since 2002 against the NL, mostly against the Comedy Central. It’s fairly obvious from looking at six years of recent history, the Twins and all their flaws this year would already have clinched the NL Comedy Central.

Regarding the Wild Card, I’ll take Bob Costas’ opinion over yours:

“Whatever excitement the wild card brings is not added to the pennant races; it comes at the expense of the pennant races,” Bob Costas, the noted television sports commentator, said. “The teams sometimes are deserving, but the cost is too high because you take away the high-end drama that only true pennant races produce. You’ve added a couple hamburger dishes to the menu but taken filet mignon off.“

Therein lies what TRUE baseball fans think about the Wild Card. They’ve just made it more like football, basketball, and hockey, and that sucks.

Regarding 1903 and John McGraw: As of 1901, there were two major leagues, with two different offices. The fans began to clamor for them to get together and start the World Series, and yes, it was ultimately for money, but it was just as much for bragging rights. In those days, players didn’t jump teams as much. Franchises stayed together and built their teams, instead of buying them as the rich teams (Yanks, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, etc.) do today. Against chickenshit McGraw’s wishes, they finally played one. Since then, except for 1914 and 1915, there have been two major leagues.

They had 8 teams each for over 50 years, and one winner from each league played for the World Series. The winner EARNED the shot at the series, buy winning the most games out of 154. No second chances. No do overs. Today, as you said, there are 30 teams. I will say that while I wouldn’t have a problem with it, is probably too many to put in two leagues. 16 in one league, 14 in the other. So instead of divisions, I say there should be four LEAGUES, with the winner of each LEAGUE going to a playoff. That’s it. No more.

The beauty of baseball has always been the survival of the fittest, and ONLY the fittest, while the NFL has now watered down their overrated league with 12 playoff teams, and the NHL and NBA have long watered their leagues down with 16, making the regular season even MORE meaningless. THAT is why baseball was the best sport. You had to EARN a playoff spot, not just be “in the top half” of your league, or in the case of hockey for several years, “in the top 75%”. What a joke THOSE years were.

Here’s another opinion from a friend of mine:

“I find the biggest problem with the baseball playoffs is that they render much of a six month season meaningless. There is a much finer line between the best and worst teams in baseball than there is in basketball of the NFL. The best NFL team will be 16-2 or 15-3 most seasons (greater than .800 winning percentage). There has never been an .800 baseball team.”

Well put, don’t you think? And notice the 16-2 and 15-3…that’s even more games than your precious 8-4 against the AL this year. 12 games out of 162 tells us NOTHING, other than they had a good couple of weeks.

Why don’t YOU go somewhere and cry and whine, and DON’T challenge me on baseball. Challenge me on, politics, child-raising, etc, and we’ll have good discussion. But not baseball. I’ve been there too much…just like you with hockey.