Does the World Series have a credibility problem?

[Marew]

With the Orioles, Rays, Braves, and Dodgers eliminated, we will have a World Series Champion that in no way represents the best baseball team in 2023

 

I know we can never go back to a single NL Champion playing a single AL champion in as 7 game series

 

But if we continue to add WC teams and short series, the World Series "champion" will become more and more irrelevant.

 

I think the redacted winning 101 games and redacted trumps this years WS pretend champion.

[Spanky99]

No.

[deanmike]

All of Shatkins' bootlicker cucks will swarm this thread to gleefully agree with this participation trophy premise.

 

My answer is f*** no it doesn't have a credibility problem.

[BigCecil]

HOU won last year and they were the best team. They hit well this year with layoff before their division series. There will always be anomalous results especially in short 3 and 5 game playoffs. So no it does not. In some ways it makes it more exciting for fans.

[connorp]

TV exec’s are thanking god TB and Baltimore fizzled.

 

It’ll be a good WS for baseball. Philly good LA sub and one of the major Texas teams

I would imagine the wizard wants to see Houston, but Seager and (now) Max would be an ok pivot

[jaysblue]

Houston Astros are still defending their title from last season. They have a rock solid team, probably best in the AL all around IMO entering the Postseason, even better than the Rays and Orioles.

 

Texas Rangers were in first place for most of the season. They struggled at the end of August and beginning of September but came back strong over the last 2-3 weeks of the season. They have a really exciting lineup. Rotation isn't anything elite, but it's solid. If they get Mad Max back, even better! Bullpen has looked shaky at times but they have some high K guys back there. If they made the World Series, I wouldn't say it was pure randomness or a fluke. They had a really good team during the regular season, played a different Rays squad than from May/June and then played a young and inexperienced Orioles team with a long layoff and weak starting pitching.

 

Phillies also were a strong WC team. They went to the WS last year, knocked out the Braves again two years in a row. They have some star power in Harper and Turner (who has been hitting better) along with some other solid contributors offensively. Rotation wise, they have Wheeler and Nola, along with a really good BP.

 

D'Backs are pretty much the only team that has sneaked through this far that wasn't expected to. They did play the Brewers and Dodgers at the right time in a short series. I'm not sure how they do in a 7 game series however against the Phillies or how they would do in a 7 game series against the Astros/Rangers. They are the weakest team remaining obviously.

 

Otherwise, I think both the Astros and Rangers deserve being in the World Series, and Philly as well. So 3 of the 4 remaining teams.

[jaysblue]

I think an important question we need to ask: does the layoff for the top seeded AL and NL teams play an effect? I know baseball is a game where consistency, routine and timing is important. Does that whole 5 day layoff from getting a bye in the WC round really hurt a team when they play in the DS? Also, factor in that those teams likely are even sitting their star players or pitchers the weekend prior if they've already clinched, so we're talking about likely even a longer layoff than the 5 days.

 

I think that is an issue with the current WC format. If there is anyway where a long layoff like that can be prevented, I think it could help somewhat.

[connorp]

Repeating myself, but this ALCS is best I can remember in recent years. To me anyways I’ll watch more innings than years past for sure.

Phillies win in 5, 6 if AZ gets lucky

[jaysblue]

Yeah this ALCS should be really exciting. The Battle of Texas! Actually better than seeing the Orioles or Rays playing the Astros, or the Twins playing the Rangers. Jays/Rangers ALCS would have been the best though if it happened haha.

[BigCecil]

I think an important question we need to ask: does the layoff for the top seeded AL and NL teams play an effect? I know baseball is a game where consistency, routine and timing is important. Does that whole 5 day layoff from getting a bye in the WC round really hurt a team when they play in the DS? Also, factor in that those teams likely are even sitting their star players or pitchers the weekend prior if they've already clinched, so we're talking about likely even a longer layoff than the 5 days.

 

I think that is an issue with the current WC format. If there is anyway where a long layoff like that can be prevented, I think it could help somewhat.

 

I have no issue with the layoff. There are so many net advantages for teams that miss the wildcard like more time to rest and heal up injuries. They avoid the loss potential in the series and they avoid the IL risk of playing a wild card series and getting hurt in the 2-3 games. They get time to set their entire pitching staff up etc.

 

Before they make any changes they need a good sample size to review the impacts of long layoff for top teams to see if there is any real correlation to performance Division Series results. I suspect its pretty....dun dun dun..."random" over a large sample size.

 

This year the layoff didn't seem to hurt Houston a bit, as an example. Maybe they find a way to keep a timing edge during the layoff. If so, other teams onus on them to figure it out.

[Marew]

I personally like adding more teams to playoffs. It is funny seeing a lot of comments from smoltz mostly on broadcasts and YouTube - “if they played this series 10 times”, or “if this happens the next 4-5 years something has to be done”. Considering he was on those Atlanta teams that kept getting knocked out.

 

This post was from orioles hangout obviously.

 

I’ve been reading a lot from braves and orioles fans about supposed advantage the teams facing them had. Not so much from dodgers, they have no excuse.

[Governator]

If any team or player is worried about a layoff, then go ahead and simulate games and keep fresh, while minimizing injuries. There is nothing wrong with the format, the fact that 3 of 4 teams in the division series are wild card teams just creates more excitement and gives teams, like the Jays, a chance to actually make the post season.

[Spanky99]

 

I think that is an issue with the current WC format. If there is anyway where a long layoff like that can be prevented, I think it could help somewhat.

 

No.

[John_Havok]

With the Orioles, Rays, Braves, and Dodgers eliminated, we will have a World Series Champion that in no way represents the best baseball team in 2023

 

I know we can never go back to a single NL Champion playing a single AL champion in as 7 game series

 

But if we continue to add WC teams and short series, the World Series "champion" will become more and more irrelevant.

 

I think the redacted winning 101 games and redacted trumps this years WS pretend champion.

 

No, not to anyone who understands what the WS actually is.

[L54]

No, not to anyone who understands what the WS actually is.

 

You’re the arbiter of the definition of World Series Champion?

[Masterbather]

With the Orioles, Rays, Braves, and Dodgers eliminated, we will have a World Series Champion that in no way represents the best baseball team in 2023

 

I know we can never go back to a single NL Champion playing a single AL champion in as 7 game series

 

But if we continue to add WC teams and short series, the World Series "champion" will become more and more irrelevant.

 

I think the redacted winning 101 games and redacted trumps this years WS pretend champion.

Nope, that's the way the playoffs works, in all sports.

Does the Superbowl have a credibility problem? Do the NBA finals have a credibility problem? Does the Stanley Cup have a credibility problem?

 

At the end of the day the champion is the one holding the trophy. Nobody questions that, if you want to have a private celebration for the team that won the most games have fun. It'll be a lonely celebration.

 

Besides, the point of sports ultimately is entertainment. Nobody really cares if the team with the most wins in the regular season wins the championship. Every team enters the season knowing full well that the winner of the playoffs is the champion.

[connorp]

I'm not really a fan of the post season for baseball since baseball is more of a grind over a long period. Get rid of divisions, revamp the schedule so that everyone plays everyone an equal amount of times and ditch the post season. Team with the most wins, wins.

 

Not to bring up “randomness” again, but you still have varied outcomes and a team that won 100 on the field, but 90 on paper and vice versa. So there’s nothing too much more definitive there.

 

I think this transcends team sports and applies to combat and single sports as well. I think when you put together a good fight, I’m not sure one person wins 10 out of 10 times if you rewind it to the start. There’s always the chance the “better” fighter loses a couple, or more. Take the loss, work on anything that may have been exposed. Come back stronger for the next fight. Holding on to “I have a better record, lucky punch, or I beat this guy he didn’t beat”, is lame stuff coming from someone that just got beat, even if there’s some truthful reasoning to it

Edited October 15, 2023 by connorp

[jaysblue]

No.

 

At least explain why you provided a "no" response. Guys like BigC and Governator actually provided their reasoning without coming off as condescending. You need to explain yourself more Spanky instead of these one or two word answers.

[Spanky99]

At least explain why you provided a "no" response. Guys like BigC and Governator actually provided their reasoning without coming off as condescending. You need to explain yourself more Spanky instead of these one or two word answers.

 

Can't happen Sil, it's that simple, having players rest is a plus, there's cages guys can work on with timing, it's literally a few days. You can stick your condescending comment up your ass by the way.

[jaysblue]

Can't happen Sil, it's that simple, having players rest is a plus, there's cages guys can work on with timing, it's literally a few days. You can stick your condescending comment up your ass by the way.

 

Thanks for a detailed response and explanation!

[John_Havok]

You’re the arbiter of the definition of World Series Champion?

 

No. And I didn't attempt to define what a WS champion is. Read it again and see if you can figure out what I said, then if you'd like ask a question if you actually want to know.

 

If all you want to is start an argument using strawmen, don't bother.

[Brownie19]

At least explain why you provided a "no" response. Guys like BigC and Governator actually provided their reasoning without coming off as condescending. You need to explain yourself more Spanky instead of these one or two word answers.

 

I didn't think an explanation was necessary. This is a pretty dumb question with an obvious answer (literally everyone has responded that there is no issue)

[CrackerJack]

I think that the division series should be best of 7 (rather than a best of 5.)

[glory]

Yeah the only change I'd make is have the WC round back to a single elimination game again, and push the DS round to best of 7. This season's WC round was pretty boring, and having games on in the early afternoon on weekdays isn't the best idea anyway. Put all the WC games on prime time, winner take all, and then have the DS be a longer round.

[connorp]

Yeah the only change I'd make is have the WC round back to a single elimination game again, and push the DS round to best of 7. This season's WC round was pretty boring, and having games on in the early afternoon on weekdays isn't the best idea anyway. Put all the WC games on prime time, winner take all, and then have the DS be a longer round.

 

Then as Jay fans we would only get one playoff game every year instead of 2

[John_Havok]

Then as Jay fans we would only get one playoff game every year instead of 2

 

Solid double to the gap with that comment. Just need a bit better launch angle

[Krylian]

With the Orioles, Rays, Braves, and Dodgers eliminated, we will have a World Series Champion that in no way represents the best baseball team in 2023

 

I know we can never go back to a single NL Champion playing a single AL champion in as 7 game series

 

But if we continue to add WC teams and short series, the World Series "champion" will become more and more irrelevant.

 

I think the redacted winning 101 games and redacted trumps this years WS pretend champion.

 

None of the other sports has a credibility problem with respect to their championship...why should baseball? Comes down to getting it done when it counts the most. Winning 100 games during the regular season is a wonderful accomplishment...but it's more important to be able to perform when the heat is at its highest.

[Marew]

I agree the postseason is just a tournament. But I think if people in general are thinking back on the “best team” they remember the World Series winner and unless it’s like the 01’ mariners, reg season records are forgotten.

 

It’s really just the fan bases of the top teams who have the issue with it.

 

The jays were very competitive against teams like dodgers and braves during the season and it was very easy to see if Mookie and Freddie were contained that’s all you really had to do. Everyone thought the braves would walk all over them but obviously if the stars go cold you are screwed.

 

I would like to see 7 game series considering baseball is such a long season and NBA/NHL use that format with seasons half as long as MLB.

 

But the statistics don’t change a huge amount from 3-7 game series. As soon as you go behind a game you have a huge disadvantage.

[bigshot84]

they are series talking about who win first place at division should get 1 automatic win to start

no more advantages to win division

[JaysAllMighty]

they are series talking about who win first place at division should get 1 automatic win to start

no more advantages to win division

 

dumbest proposal ever