There was a time when there was no such thing as bullpens and closers. In fact saves! weren’t even an official statistic until 1969. Starting pitchers were expected to pitch the whole game, and relief pitchers were used for spot starts and multi-inning relief appearances when a starter would struggle or get injured. Things changed however… starters went from pitching
Read moreI only considered competitive series with ideally rivalries. ALDS 2001 NEW YORK YANKEES 3 OAKLAND ATHLETICS 2 NLDS 2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS 3 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 2 ALCS TIE BETWEEN 2003 NEW YORK YANKEES 4 BOSTON RED SOX 3 AND 2004 BOSTON RED SOX 4 NEW YORK YANKEES 3 NLCS 1992 ATLANTA BRAVES 4 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 3 WORLD SERIES 1956 NEW
Read moreThe Washington Nationals are world champions for the first time ever. During the series, Washington batted .241/.320/.419 compared to .265/.342/.454 during the season. The Houston Astros batted .272/.342/.452 during the series and .274/.352/.495 during the season. On the pitching side, Washington had a 4.29 ERA during the series and a 4.27 ERA during the season. Houston had a shockingly identical
Read moreGood start to the offseason by the Los Angeles Angels. Great love by the Philadelphia Phillies, as they get an experienced manager who should make it easier for them to make the playoffs. Questionable hire by the San Diego Padres, that seems pretty risky and could work out or be a disaster. A move that can go either way by
Read moreNLCS WASHINGTON NATIONALS 4 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 0 The sheer dominance by Washington was a surprise, but their win was not. They had the better record, the better Pythagorean record, better starting pitching and better hitting. They were simply the better team. ALCS HOUSTON ASTROS NEW YORK YANKEES Another unsurprising result. Houston were the favorites going in because they had
Read moreWhat if teams finished according to their Pythagorean W-L records? What changes would take place? I’m only looking at the playoff years. 1969 The Chicago Cubs win the NL East instead of the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants win the NL West instead of the Atlanta Braves, one of them loses to the Baltimore Orioles in the
Read moreALCS NEW YORK YANKEES VS HOUSTON ASTROS Hard to say which is the better team, though most likely it’s Houston. I think that the Bronx Bombers will be more motivated due to overcoming all of their injuries and not wanting to lose to Houston in the playoffs again. They also swept Minnesota, who were better than Tampa Bay, who Houston
Read moreALDS NEW YORK YANKEES 3 MINNESOTA TWINS 0 New York had the better team and dominated accordingly. HOUSTON ASTROS 3 TAMPA BAY RAYS 2 Houston were the better team and should’ve won easier. NLDS ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 3 ATLANTA BRAVES 2 Atlanta were the better team but it was close and luck was the deciding factor, as St. Louis won
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