10.24.2007
World Series Thought
As John mentioned previously, it's quite easy these days to find yourself completely shut out of the MLB playoffs, something that once may have been considered mandatory viewing in these parts. Life without cable is a killer, at least if you have any affinity for watching the playoffs without racking up a bar tab for each game. Throw in some West Coast time difference and a spoonful of My Team Didn't Even Make the Playoffs, and you end up with a guy who spends his TV time getting his heart broken every weekend at the altar of college football.
So we'll limit ourselves to one little World Series Thought as we prepare for what should be a thoroughly watchable championship.
The story as you all know is the Colorado Rockies and their white-hot streak to end the season: they've won 21 of 22 coming into tonight's Game 1. Everyone realizes that the Boston Red Sox are probably baseball's best team overall, but Colorado's got a lot going for them. (King Kaufman lays out the dichotomy pretty well.)
The main thing in the Rockies' favor at this point -- even more so than Coors Field, or the fact that Boston will be putting Manny and maybe even Youkilis in the outfield there -- is that streak. Win something like 21 of 22 games and eventually the streak begins to take on a life of its own. It gets in your head, not to mention your opponent's head, and we all know that ninety percent of baseball is half mental. Game 1 is of the utmost importance in situations like this. Win, and the Red Sox will start to think they are up against something larger than an upstart team in black and purple. Lose, and the spell is broken.
Unless, that is, there is more to the Streak than the Rockies are letting on. Perhaps they're really doing something differently that has led to this unprecedented September-October success. I asked this question in a column I wrote about the postseason years ago, and it bears asking again now: if there were ever any hidden advantage, any bit of chicanery, any discreet edge you could gain with the LCS or World Series on the line, why wouldn't you take it? What would the most effective hidden advantage be? Sign-stealing? Creative groundskeeping? Advanced pitch-charting software? Some sort of humidity-altering device that changes the behavior of a batted or thrown ball? How about a well-documented proclivity towards Christianity in the clubhouse that might lead people to lower their suspicions re: your team's capacity for shenanigans?
When I made this point back in 2002 in re: the St. Louis Cardinals, people thought I was accusing the Cards of cheating. I wasn't, not exactly, nor am I accusing the Rockies now. Just pointing out that there is a lot more going on in a baseball game than you are going to find on the Fox cameras, no matter how many there might be. Enjoy the Series.
So we'll limit ourselves to one little World Series Thought as we prepare for what should be a thoroughly watchable championship.
The story as you all know is the Colorado Rockies and their white-hot streak to end the season: they've won 21 of 22 coming into tonight's Game 1. Everyone realizes that the Boston Red Sox are probably baseball's best team overall, but Colorado's got a lot going for them. (King Kaufman lays out the dichotomy pretty well.)
The main thing in the Rockies' favor at this point -- even more so than Coors Field, or the fact that Boston will be putting Manny and maybe even Youkilis in the outfield there -- is that streak. Win something like 21 of 22 games and eventually the streak begins to take on a life of its own. It gets in your head, not to mention your opponent's head, and we all know that ninety percent of baseball is half mental. Game 1 is of the utmost importance in situations like this. Win, and the Red Sox will start to think they are up against something larger than an upstart team in black and purple. Lose, and the spell is broken.
Unless, that is, there is more to the Streak than the Rockies are letting on. Perhaps they're really doing something differently that has led to this unprecedented September-October success. I asked this question in a column I wrote about the postseason years ago, and it bears asking again now: if there were ever any hidden advantage, any bit of chicanery, any discreet edge you could gain with the LCS or World Series on the line, why wouldn't you take it? What would the most effective hidden advantage be? Sign-stealing? Creative groundskeeping? Advanced pitch-charting software? Some sort of humidity-altering device that changes the behavior of a batted or thrown ball? How about a well-documented proclivity towards Christianity in the clubhouse that might lead people to lower their suspicions re: your team's capacity for shenanigans?
When I made this point back in 2002 in re: the St. Louis Cardinals, people thought I was accusing the Cards of cheating. I wasn't, not exactly, nor am I accusing the Rockies now. Just pointing out that there is a lot more going on in a baseball game than you are going to find on the Fox cameras, no matter how many there might be. Enjoy the Series.
Labels: colorado rockies, world series
