Okay, that’s obvious hyperbole. But it did wake me out of my posting slumber, so that’s something, right?
Here it is:
Classic requires drama, not biggest, best teams
I think I understand what Gammons is trying to get at with this headline: great games don’t require great teams. And I’ll agree with that one. I don’t know who wouldn’t.
But he’s writing this about the World Series, which is supposed to be baseball’s two best teams squaring off for the mantle of “best in baseball,” right? And while I’ll fully agree with the implication that the Cardinals are not one of baseball’s two best teams this year (their record places them 8th), I think there’s a problem with a championship series that doesn’t involve the two best teams.
Gammons goes on to state the following:
The World Series has never been about the best team in baseball winning; it wasn’t in 1960 or 1988, 1985 or 1987.
And that’s funny, because I always thought that’s exactly what the World Series was about. It was supposed to be the definitive point of argument on the best team in baseball. I realize that it doesn’t always work out this way, but if the system for determining a champion isn’t about the best team in baseball winning, then I’ll say again that something should be done about the system, or we should reclassify what to call the winner of the World Series.
Joe Posnanski has a longer, and admittedly more thought out post on a similar subject which shows the winner of the World Series since the wildcard was introduced averages the fourth or fifth best record in baseball. It’s not longer about finding the best team, but finding the team that gets hot at the right time. He calls it “the spark of surprise,” and the Cardinals certainly qualify for that one. And I guess if that’s what you want the postseason to celebrate, then you loved the 2011 World Series.
I love baseball. Maybe not as much as Posnanski does, but I do love the game and envision a time when my son and I sit and watch the World Series together. Even with his rooting interest in the Cardinals this year (don’t ask, ’cause I don’t know), he still chose to watch Yo Gabba Gabba when given the choice. And while I love the idea of different teams and different fans getting their taste, I’m not sure how I feel about the watering down of the meaning of World Champion.




















