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Friday, October 9, 2015

A disagreement over the Wild Card

A good friend, Rose City Wobbly - (who is, nevertheless, NOT a Yankee fan, so he cannot understand) - writes:

El Duque ----- 

I feel for your guys impotence lately. You had a nice run this Spring and summer until ... well you didn't. But I think you got it all wrong about the Wild Card.

Wahhh .... wahhh .... wahhh - hey chumps take a look at the wiki page on the history of the wildcard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_wild_card

Hello - the SUCCESS of wildcard teams is really unprecedented. Over the years Wild Card teams are 47-42 (includes best of 3 series pre-2012). It's just that the Yankees choke come game time (1-5 overall record) while others have shown up and thrived. The Marlins are (6-0)and won two World Series. Cards are (5-2) with a ring. The Angels are (3-0) with a ring. My Giants are studs (6-1) and last year's ring. Six World Series winners have come out of the WC series since 1994 - six in twenty years. And eleven teams have made the World Series in that time.

It just so happens that you guys each and every year lately ... have been going in the wrong direction - crapping the bed - as opposed to the Stros and Cubbies this year and the Royals and Giants season.

So because the money men want a 162 game season it is an insane endurance race and yes you guys won the spring/summer but fizzled out at the end. Is that solely because of the draft and owner socialism? ... Nah - MLB in the fall is about momentum and confidence - first and foremost. Than luck/health, clubhouse chemistry, management of talent and hot pitching. Has there ever been a hotter pitcher than Bumgarner last fall. And granted has there ever been worse management of a team than your Bombers lately? And losing Tex - you weren't healthy. And you didn't have anything resembling a hot pitcher.

Get over the Wild Card woe-is-me narrative - it will take care of itself if and when you get younger, more athletic and smarter and let the freaking kids grow facial hair. Erase the ghosts of the past. I know many of us dread it but it is the freaking 21st century. You play in a bandbox with a rightfield porch .... adjust to it and stop your bawling. And yeah get rid of the tools in the front office and start anew.

Try to enjoy the post-season as will I ... watching healthy, young teams having fun ... lucky teams performing in the most perfect game known to humankind - as the leaves begin to fall.

6 comments:

ceeja said...

He's right. There is nothing wrong, and a lot right, with going for the wild card slot every year IF you have a team that's built for the post season. This team was not built for the post season because they lacked a true number 1 pitcher and had no offensive punch.

The solution is to try to develop some no. 1 pitchers because by the time they hit free agency they suck and want ten year deals. Maybe Severino will be the guy next postseason. I think you can pick up some big bats on the free agent market. Davis is 29 and can hit 40-50 homerruns for the new few years, though he also strikes out 200 times. Or you can look to land a star bat in a trade, the way the Tigers did with Cabrera.

In the meantime, you play your best players. That means more time for Murphy, Heathcott, Refsnyder, Bird. That means promoting Judge. That means guys like McCann, Teix, A Rod, Ellsbury, Gardner, A Rod get fewer at bats (and Drew and Ryan get cut). This last point is what pisses me off more than anything else. Why do you keep trotting out guys who are not doing the job? Yes, you have to give the vets a chance to work out their problems, but there is a limit to such things. Girardi is too much a players' manager. He's got to be the bad guy more.

ceeja said...

p.s., this should be in all caps because I'm really pissed off. It's not the players I hate or even Girardi, who at least errs on the side of supporting his players and seems fundamentally decent and committed to winning. It's Hal and his undeserved tax free money; its the sycophantic dead ass front office; its the intellectual and moral laziness of a franchise that takes its fan base for granted and who could give a shit about trying to win a pennant.

Why do I root for these Republican, Trump, tea party, 1% bastards? I should become an Oakland A's fan.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

RALLY CAPS FOR CEEJA, I AGREE WITH YOU 100000000000000%, ESPECIALLY CONCERNING OWNERSHIP!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I'M STILL TOO DISGUSTED TO PARTICIPATE TODAY....

Anonymous said...

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE WILDCARD IDEA...IT'S THE 1 GAME PLAYOFF THAT'S WRONG!..AFTER 162 GAMES, AT LEAST MAKE THE WILD CARD A "BEST OF 3 GAMES" (WHOEVER WINS 2 GAMES FIRST)...AND THE RICH-PRICK OWNERS SHOULD LIKE THAT EVEN MORE (MORE GAMES=MORE REVENUE)...THEY JUST HAVE TO START THE SEASON A LITTLE EARLIER (IN LATE MARCH)...YOU HAPPY YA RICH PRICKS?...I JUST MADE ALL OF YOU MORE MONEY...

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