The upcoming World Series

The World Series begins tomorrow much to the delight of Astros & National fans. They managed to navigate their way through two tough playoff series (and in the case of the Nationals – three).

But for the losing teams, now the outrage begins. Now comes the hate, blasting managerial decisions, turning on players, declaring the entire season a failure.

Before the playoffs these same fans were convinced their team in its current configuration was destined to win. Now they spot glaring holes in the offense, the pitching rotation, you name it. Now they blame Joe Buck.

It used to be fans of losing teams were disappointed. Now they’re angry. MLB does nothing to discourage that. In fact, their new slogan is “We play LOUD.”

Social media provides an outlet for everybody to vent. It’s not just three angry letters-to-the-editor anymore.

I hosted Dodger Talk for eight years, taking listener calls after games. I often needed to be in riot gear. Can you imagine the calls to New York sports stations over the last 24 hours?

So here are some of my observations.

I prefer to save my hate for Trump and anyone who supports him.

The final game of the ALCS was spectacular drama, whoever you rooted for.

For all the notes and stats Fox gave out, they missed that this was the very first post-season game in history where two wife-beater closers gave up two-run home runs in the 9th. 

Fox desperately wanted the Dodgers vs. the Yankees and instead got the Astros vs. the Nationals. Don’t expect big ratings, despite two teams that are the best in baseball.

Baseball has become a slave to analytics but the playoffs prove that they don’t work during the post season. It makes no difference that you win 100 games during the regular year. You don’t face this level of competition every game, you don’t face 3rd, 4th, and 5th starters, hitters don’t see the same relief pitchers day in and day out, slumps get magnified, and unlikely heroes emerge that analytics can’t predict.

And don’t forget the choke factor. Some players rise to the occasion and others just do not.

With this new style of baseball everyone is trying to hit home runs. So the number of strikeouts is shameful. Yeah, you can hit 40 home runs during the season when a bunch are off of rag arm pitchers, but in a seven-game series with the season on the line and future Hall-of-Fame pitchers facing you, only the truly great ones hit two or three.

I am very much looking forward to this World Series. Both teams play with a lot of heart. (Do analytics have a category for that???) Both teams have great starting pitching and starting pitching wins series. The Nationals are a Wild Card team. They’ve had to battle and scratch the whole season. They’re used to pressure games. And they’re giant killers – toppling the mighty Dodgers. The Astros are a cohesive unit with zero quit and they too knocked out a heavyweight in the Yankees.

To me the big question is which team is balanced enough to win? Which team will score runs other than with home runs? Which team will put the ball in play more? Which team will whiff only ten times a game instead of sixteen? Which team will drive in more than two runners in scoring position? Which team will have angry callers in about a week?