Baseball Playoffs are on the near horizon….let’s take a quick glance at some recent history of playoffs….
The MLB heard for many years about the “quick turnaround” of NFL teams…they head that it made the NFL exciting…ya never knew would this be the year of an unknown team catapulting to the top (like the Greatest Team on Turf)…no team …it seemed was certain to be in the NFL playoffs…so the MLB added a wild card …then another last year in an attempt to capture more fans and add excitement to the sport…
Well…maybe they’re very close…..using the last 5 years of playoffs for the MLB & NFL..the MLB has seen 70% of its teams reach the playoffs while the NFL saw 75% extend beyond the regular season….relatively close
One might actually argue that the MLB had better parity in its post-season teams then their NFL counterparts….NO MLB team made it to the playoffs all 5 years while TWO NFL teams …one in each division did so. Further, 5 teams in the NFL played in 4 of the last 5 playoffs while on 2 MLB teams did so….if you’re trying to elevate high fan support in a city…get their team in the Super Bowl…or in the World Series….it appears that the MLB has done a better job of spreading the wealth….listed at the bottom of this blog are the charts for the playoffs….it was kinda jarring to see that some of these baseball/football teams were in recent playoffs…I had forgotton all about their “Kreskin Like” (now you see me, now I’ve disappeared) showings of some of these Wild Card teams…
Some Cardinal Playoff questions…
Rotation? Manifesto Mike has indicated that he’ll go with a 4 man rotation…I suppose Lackey draws the game 1 & 5 assignments..
….Molina….this is the one that exposes the Redbirds least depth…Tony Cruz can catch…can’t throw as well…can’t hit as well…can’t handle pitchers as well..enough “can’ts….you have the idea…..now….it also impacts the roster
…..Roster…perhaps much tougher than usual due to the injuries…I’ve revised this myself 4X since writing it down the 1st time last Wed…the continual emergence of youthful contributors in the OF….this Cardinal team has the best record in baseball WITHOUT any player leading any category or having a career year (other than the rookies)
PROPOSED ROSTER
OF–Holliday, Grichuk, Piscotty, Heyward, Pham,
INF- Carpenter, Peralta, Wong, Adams, Reynolds, Garcia
C—Molina, Cruz 13 field players That omits Bourjos, Kozma, Moss, Jay
I think the Cards will go 4 man rotation—
Lackey, Wacha, Garcia, Lynn
Bullpen—
Rosenthal, Choate, Villenauva, Wainwright, Cisek, Maness, Siegrest, Belisle 12 pitchers
Omitted—Harris, Socolovich, Lyons, Twoey-twoey-talvia, Broxton
Several ??? arise…
Why Wainwright….I think you want him as a relief guy …believe it or not….we need to bridge it to Rosenthal….the excessive use of Siegriest (75 games), Manness (72 games), Choate (68 games) + Rosey (65 games) has left all of them …save Rosenthal…a bit frayed…..the current “King of Cardinal Moundsmen” also brings a presence
Why Garcia over Kozma? We don’t need a 3rd string catcher on the bench…I’ve never heard of TWO catchers getting injuried in one game…and if one does get hurt…use the DL and insert Kozma if there is an injury..Garcia can hit so much better and for a team that hits the ball like their bats are made out of Kleenex…any extra hitting is appreciate
Why not Bourjos? His abysmal hitting and Pham or Grichuk both bring more than just fast legs
Why not Jay? He has not been able to get the AB & playing time to regain is best form
Why Belisle? With his return seemingly complete…Belisle was extremely effective in April-May….Broxton has been good but not as good as Belisle demonstrated
Other baseball ramblings…
….NYY look in trouble in playoffs….ARod & Texiara are showing their age in the last few weeks
….the Mets will really have to work on the bullpen for 2016…so many of their youthful pitchers are being limited to 5 or 6 innings….the way that the game is played now with no relief pitcher ever thinking about…much less pitching more than 1 inning…it takes a toll and the current Met bullpen has their arms dragging as the season closes out
…for some reason I just don’t look at the Dodgers as a World Series team…they have the best 1-2 punch at the top of their staff… so…maybe in a short series they’ll prevail… but….I just don’t feel it.
…the removal of Greg Holland as the KC Closer seemed like an abrupt knee-jerk reaction…not so…KC has been concerned for weeks about the decline of the fastball velocity and the spin rate of his breaking ball…when a 10 day layoff did not change the drop in these areas, KC made the move to Wade Davis as closer..he moves up from the 8th inning man to the 9th inning man….seemingly no difference….don’t kid yourself….the toughest OUTS to get …by far…are the last 3 winning outs
….I’m somewhat concerned about Mike Shannon….for him to “be on assignment” in September with the Cards closing in on post-season…just doesn’t seem right to me….I’m hoping that there isn’t some type of physical issue here…Ol’ Moon Man has been a long-time fixture in that booth
….Houston is staggering to the finish …will they hold on for the 2nd playoff spot in the AL?
…I’ve modified my thoughts…it happens about every 10 seconds…anyway….Jake Arrieta (Cubs) has pushed his way into the NL Cy Young Award considerations….I thought a few weeks ago that Zach Greinke (Dodgers) had locked it up
Football blurbs…
…Plato said, “What are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is a habit not an act”…with that in mind…Mizzou has not demonstrated that excellent habit to this point of the season so one should not be really surprised by the Kentucky defeat. Without an offense that can consistently move the ball, it puts too much continual pressure on the defense…gee…that sounds very familiar with another area team…one that plays on Sundays J
…Scoring in HS football has gone crazy…I covered a game Friday night that finished 69-21(SM over rival DB)…there were other wild scores this week like 72-65, 41-25, 63-37 (those were the close ones..there were plenty of 63-6, 45-8, 52-0 blow-outs)… generally new offenses jump ahead of defenses temporary and then the defenses “catch up” in time…not so with these zone reads (same blocking schemes), multiple plays called in huddle & QB chooses one or audibles….year round workouts now enhance the offensive skill development of skill playes i.e. QB, WR, RB and also provide many more reps for the less glamorous but most essential…blocking skills & assignments
….Michigan football is on the way back while Texas dropped to 1-3 as they lost to Okie State 30-27…are they the Short Horns now? Funny…it was Texas that sowed the seeds of discontent in the Big 12 by initiating & flaunting their own network…some schools thought it was an unlevel playing field so began to “look around”
….surely not the best team but probably the most exciting team to watch is Texas Tech…they really score on offense while constantly being plundered defensively
Yogi…can’t ignore the passing of the great one from the hill…..think of this …he played on 10 world series championship teams, was the league MVP 3X, Hit 358 HR#84 All-time —3 less than Joe DMaggio, 2150 hits, 18X All-star….some say now..he was the glue of the NYY…he was a part of the D-Day invasion….a strong family man…..had an incredible relationship with Derek Jeter….but….more important than all of that…at least to me…is not his humorous malapropisms that smacked of truth and irony at the same time but…..one as one person recently said…when you think of Yogi…you smile…how many people can you say that about? We need more Yogi’s …even if they can’t play baseball J
NFL POST SEASON
2014
NE Patriots Cin Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers Indianapolis Colts Denver Broncos Baltimore Ravens
Dallas Cowboys Green Bay Packers Det Lions Car Panthers Seattle Seahawks Arizona Cardinals
2013
NE Patriots Cin Bengals Indianapolis Colts Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs San Diego Chargers
Green Bay Packers Car Panthers Seattle Seahawks Phil Eagles New Orleans Saints SF 49ers
2012
NE Patriots Cin Bengals Indianapolis Colts Denver Broncos Houston Texans Baltimore Ravens
Green Bay Packers Seattle Seahawks Wash Redskins Minn Vikings Atlanta Falcons SF 49ers
2011
NE Patriots – Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers Denver Broncos – Baltimore Ravens Houston Texans
NY Giants Green Bay Packers Detroit Lions SF 49ers Atlanta Falcons New Orleans Saints
2010
NE Patriots Pittsburgh Steelers New York Jets Indianapolis Colts KC Chiefs Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears Phil Eagles Green Bay Packers New Orleans Saints Atl Falcons Seattle Seahawks
Never in playoffs 2010-3014 – 8 teams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers St. Louis Rams Oakland Raiders Tennessee Titans Jacksonville Jaguars
Cleveland Browns Buffalo Bills Miami Dolphins
….slow NFL starts usually doom YOU…even a 0-2 start…only 3 super bowl champions began their season @ 0-2 and “righted the course to win it all”…1993 Cowboys (lost 1st 2 games as Emmitt Smith held out); 2001 NE …Brady replaced injured Drew Bledsoe; 2007 NY Giants come on strong to defeat NE in super bowl
Btw….Tom Brady is the only 3X MVP of the Super Bowl
ALL 5 years– New England Patriots Green Bay Packers
4 years playoffs – Cincinnati Bengals (last 4 straight years)
Seattle Seahawks Indianapolis Colts Baltimore Ravens Denver Broncos
3 X Pittsburgh Steelers New Orleans Saints Atlanta Falcons San Francisco 49ers
2x Kansas City Chiefs Houston Texans Carolina Panthers Philadelphia Eagles Detroit Lions
1x San Diego Chargers New York Jets Arizona Cardinals New York Giants Dallas Cowboys Washington Redskins Minnesota Vikings Chicago Bears
MLB Playoff teams 2010-2014
————-4 playoff appearances————
StL Cards Detroit
2014 lost to SF Giants in NLCS 2014 lost in ALDS to Baltimore
2013 lost to Red Sox in World Series 2013 lost ALCS to Boston
2012 lost to SF Giants in NLCS 2012 lost World Series to SF Giants
2011 Won world Series over Texas 2011 lost in ALCS to Texas
——————————3 playoff appearances——————————-
Texas SF GIANTS
2012 lost AL WC to Baltimore 2014 won World Series over KC
2011 lost World Series to StL Cards 2012 won World Series over Detroit
2010 lost World Series to SF Giants 2010 won World Series over Texas
Cincy Tampa Bay Rays
2013 lost NL WC to Pittsburgh 2013 lost ALDS to Boston
2012 lost NL DS to SF Giants 2011 lost ALDS to Texas
2010 lost NLDS to Philly 2010 lost ALDS to Texas
Oakland A’s Atlanta
2014 lost AL WC to KC Royals 2013 lost NLDS to LA Dodgers
2013 lost ALDS to Detroit 2012 lost NL WC to StL Cards
2012 lost ALDS to Detroit 2010 lost NLDS to SFG
————————————2 PLAYOFF APPEARANCES——————————
NY Yankees Washington Nationals
2012 lost ALCS to Detroit 2014 lost NLDS to SF Giants
2010 lost ALDS to Minn 2012 lost NLDS to StL Cards
LA Dodgers Baltimore
2014 lost NLDS to StL Cards 2014 lost ALCS to KC Royals
2013 lost NLCS to StL Cards 2012 lost AL WC to Texas
Pittsburgh Philly
2014 lost NL WC to SF Giants 2011 lost NLDS to StL Cards
2013 lost to StL Cards in NLDS 2010 lost NLDS to Cincy
———————————–1 playoff appearance———————————
Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels
2013 won World Series over StL Cards 2014 lost ALDS to KC Royals
Milwaukee Minnesota
2011 lost NLCS to StL Cards 2010 lost ALDS to NYY
Arizona Kansas City Royals
2010 lost NLDS to Milwaukee 2014 lost World Series to SF Giants
Cleveland
2013 lost AL WC To Tampa Bay
21 teams have made at least ONE playoff series in the years 2010-2014
Which 9 have not …… it looks like 3 of these teams will make it this year)
AL—Toronto, Seattle, Houston , White Sox
NL—Cubs, Mets, Miami, San Diego and Colorado
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Regarding the 25 man post-season roster, I could not carry Randy (one-batter) Choate; would rather have Lyons who could go several innings if necessary.
If he is healthy,Wainwright is fine, but I do like Harris. Your other choices are good.
For non-pitchers I am still not an Adams fan (for much the same reasons as Moss:
too many K’s and not trying to beat the shift), so I think Jay could be more helpful
(he can play anywhere in the outfield,could pinch run, can bunt, and probably could play 1st base in an emergency). Your other choices are good.
These choices are, of course, based upon no one else getting hurt.
By the way, is there any way Matheny could be excluded from the post-season?
Rich Judd
Bob,
Great job of doing the research and posting all of those Stats. On the Cardinal Post season roster, I would add Jay and Bourjas and drop Villinuava and Belisle. Yes, I would only have 10 pitchers on the roster, as they won’t use them all anyway and the Cards could use two extra position players on the bench
I too have seen the high school football scores. In my opinion, I see many boring lopsided games. Where’s the parity? How many good games happen every Friday? (Not too many). You and I are pretty close on the roster but Choate? Talk about a wasted spot…..