Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken are happy to report they are in the swing of things …
More like a swing and a miss if you ask me.
Anyway, the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs are upon us. Once upon a time, the baseball postseason format was simple and pure. You had the National League and the American League, and never the twain did meet between April and October save in the mid-season All-Star Game. Whoever had the best record in each league would get together in the World Series. Like I said, pure and simple.
Things became a bit — just a bit — more complicated in 1969, when each league split into two more-or-less geographically based divisions, with the division winners playing each other to see who would advance to the Fall Classic. I say more-or-less, for in this first year of divisional play the National League West was won by that legendary stalwart of the left coast … the Atlanta Braves. Now that is a bit of gerrymandering sufficient to make even the Democrats pause.
Since then, it has grown far more Byzantine. In 1994, MLB split each league into three divisions, with whichever team finished with the best record yet didn’t win its division declared to be the wild card winner, thus engineering two rounds of postseason league play before the World Series and … wait, what, this meant more money coming in? You think baseball would set up such a system purely for financial gain? Perish the thought! It’s all for the FANS!!! Or something. Anyway, since there was no postseason in 1994 due to a players' strike, it didn’t matter all that much.
In 2012, MLB came up with the idea of having the two teams in each league with the best records, yet did not win their division, meet in a one-game winner-take-all contest to see who would be the wild card. This was greeted with massive waves of “are you kidding us,” so in 2020 — I’m amazed baseball fixed it that quickly — MLB changed the format to where the three teams in each league with the best records would make the postseason. The two teams with the best records, yet did not win their division, would face off in a best-of-three series, with all games held at the home park of the team with the best record. The final team with the best record that did not win their division would play the division winner with the worst record, again in a best-of-three series, with all games at the division winner's home park. There will not be a test on this in the morning, thankfully.
Said all that to set the table for this year’s postseason, played under the shadow of a certain player lockout by the owners come December 1. More on that in a bit. The first-round matchups are:
National League
Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves
Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres
American League
Chicago White Sox at Houston Astros
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
Second Round (Best of five; 2-2-1 format with the division winners that did not play in the first round holding home field advantage):
National League
Philadelphia-Atlanta winner versus Los Angeles Dodgers
Chicago-San Diego winner versus Milwaukee Brewers
American League
Chicago-Houston winner versus Cleveland Guardians
Boston-New York winner versus Tampa Bay Rays
From a strictly rivalry standpoint, the Red Sox and Yankees hold the most interest. Boston’s season was a study in contrast. After play on June 24, they were 14 games below .500. They then proceeded to win 27 of their next 30 games. The Red Sox cooled off somewhat in September, with their offense growing colder than a New England winter, but they were still good enough to snag a wild card berth. It is worth noting their pitching staff is averse to throwing the gopher ball. Meanwhile, the Yankees were streaky in the extreme all year, but nevertheless worked their way into the postseason. Aaron Judge may or may not play in this series; he is dealing with a strained right calf. Still, New York’s strength is in its pitching staff, and it has enough hitters to score even without Judge in the lineup. The counterpart to the Red Sox giving up the fewest homers in baseball this year is that the Yankees, despite Judge’s absence for much of the season, led baseball in homers. Something’s got to give.
The other American League first-round matchup is a classic battle of youth versus experience. Aside from Yordan Alvarez and an aging Jose Altuve, the Houston Astros no longer scare anyone and are fortunate to play in baseball’s weakest division, as evidenced by the team securing the division title despite finishing 81-81. The Chicago White Sox, after three consecutive years of utter ineptitude, have returned to relevance. The team is built on the long ball, which is a good thing, as neither its pitching nor defense are particularly impressive. In other words, expect scores of either 11-8 by the fourth inning or final tallies of 1-0.
To the National League we go. The Philadelphia Phillies are aging out of championship contention. Still, they’re not fully on the downside yet despite waiting until the final day of the regular season this year to qualify for the wild card round. They’ve got the hitting provided the Geritol kicks in. They’ve most likely got the pitching, at least to start and finish a game. Their weak spot is the bullpen aside from closer Jhoan Duran. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves are the Atlanta Braves. While the starting pitching varies widely in quality from spot to spot, the bullpen is strong, and the hitters, far more often than not, hit early and often.
The Chicago Cubs were beyond streaky this season. Their offense and defense were both top-notch. The pitching, particularly the bullpen, not so much. Still, with Pete Crow-Armstrong putting on an MVP-worthy campaign and plenty of accompanying firepower in the lineup, one cannot take the Cubs lightly. Neither can one dismiss the San Diego Padres. Their bullpen is fearsome, and Fernando Tatis Jr. along with Manny Machado lead an equally fearsome offense. Their weakness is starting pitching, so if Chicago can gain early leads, San Diego will have its work cut out.
As noted earlier, if you’re a baseball fan, savor every minute of this postseason, as it will be the last major league baseball you’ll see for quite some time. I’d say the players and owners are hemispheres apart on a new labor agreement, but that would be overstating the closeness. So buy me — okay, Sammy and Karl, I’ll buy them myself and get you some more fish crackers while I’m at it — some peanuts and Cracker Jack, as who knows when MLB will ever be back.