Flashback to the beginning of the postseason tourney.

[PARAM]

Growing up a NY Yankee fan sucked. But it was all about the timing. I started playing LL ball in 1964 and following MLB but that was the beginning of the NY Yankees decline. Bought by CBS, it was run like a business (before it was business) instead of a franchise. I still remember the assclown CBS put in charge. Michael Burke. He was an idiot and he and CBS ran them into the ground prior to Steinbrenner buying them. But back to the first playoff expansion.

In my early days of watching MLB, it was easy. To win the pennant you had to have the best record among 10 teams. There were some close races too. In 1964 the Yankees (99-63) won the pennant by 1 game over the White Sox and 2 games over the Orioles. On September 15th, down 1.5 g to Baltimore with Chicago in 2nd place, they went on a run winning 12 of 13 games. They lost 3 of their last 5 to make it close. St. Louis won the National League by 1 game over Cincinnati. It wasn't the postseason but the end of the regular season could be just as exciting.

For baseball fans, it was pretty disheartening to have your team miss out by 1 or 2 games (that hasn't changed but the number of teams qualifying has increased). The 1967 season saw the Red Sox, Tigers, Twins and White Sox finish within 3 games of each other. So MLB decided to make it more exciting. Expand and split into 2 divisions and have a best of five League Championship Series decide it. Brilliant! Except in the first 3 years, the 6 LCS were swept 5 times. In 1972 and 1973, they all went the full distance. It created great rivalries that didn't otherwise exist. The Yankees and Royals. The Dodgers and Phillies.

Then in 1985 it was changed to a best of 7. The first 3 years half went the full distance. Then over the next 5 years just 2 of 10 made it that far. More expansion with a wild card and four best of 5 Division Series made a little more exciting. It was supposed to force teams to battle down to the wire, despite being out of the division race and it did. But it didn't make the postseason much more exciting. Of the first 24 Division Series, only 4 went the distance. And during that period just 1 of the 12 League Championship Series went 7 games. But from 1985-1993, 4 of the 9 World Series went the full 7 games. And after all, isn't that the desired goal? Now they've gone even further, creating 3 wild cards and two Wild Card Series, then the LDS, LCS and World Series. It's exciting and it still isn't the 70's and 80's NHL when 85% of teams made the postseason.

Here's how the series have faired with respect to going the distance or sweeps.

1940-1968 (29 yrs)
15 7-Game World Series
4 sweeps

1969-1984 (16 yrs/ Best of 5 LCS)*
10 5-Game LCS
13 LCS Sweeps
6 7-Game WS
1 WS sweep

*4 "Division Series" due to 1981 strike (3 went 5 games, 1 Sweep)

1985-1993 (9 yrs / Best of 7 LCS)
6 7-Game LCS
2 sweeps
4 7-Game WS
2 Sweeps

1995-2011 (17 yrs / Best of 5 LDS / Best of 7 LCS)
17 5-game LDS
26 LDS sweeps
8 7-game LCS
3 LCS sweeps
4 7-game WS
5 WS sweeps

2012-2021 (10 yrs / 1 game WC playoff / Best of 5, 7 and 7)*
17 5-game LDS
10 LDS sweeps
5 7-game LCS
4 LCS sweeps
4 7-game WS
1 WS sweep

*2020; Wild Card best of 3; 4 Wild Card series

2022-2024 (3 years, Wild Card Series best of 3)

2 3-game WC series
10 WC sweeps
3 5-game LDS
3 LDS sweeps
2 7-game LCS
1 LCS sweep
0 7-game WS
0 WS sweeps

So by my math and attempting to figure the probabilities, this year is either going to be a 7 game World Series or a sweep.

 

[PARAM]

Previous 15 World Series:


Houston (4) 2-2
San Francisco (3) 3-0
LA Dodgers (3) 1-2
Texas (3) 1-2

Boston (2) 2-0
St. Louis (2) 1-1
Kansas City (2) 1-1
Philadelphia (2) 0-2

NY Yankees (1) 1-0
Atlanta (1) 1-0
Washington (1) 1-0
Chi. Cubs (1) 1-0
Arizona (1) 0-1
Tampa Bay (1) 0-1
Cleveland (1) 0-1
NY Mets (1) 0-1
Detroit (1) 0-1

5 times it went to 7 games.
5 times it was a 6 game series
4 times it was a 5 game series
Once it was a sweep.

How many games will we see?

 

[RhodyRams]

Vegas has best odds of 6 games LA over NY

 

[PARAM]

Vegas has best odds of 6 games LA over NY

Well I don't agree with that, surprise, surprise!
I'm expecting the Yankees to continue their pattern of losing just 1 (game 2 in LA).

 

[PARAM]

Pretty good article, even though Passan always struck me as a overdramatic dweeb.

Ohtani vs Judge. "Once in a lifetime matchup of superstars" ?? Like Snider and Mantle? Or Aaron and Mantle? Or Mays and Mantle? Or Mel Ott and DiMaggio? Or Jackie Robinson and DiMaggio? I guess it depends on how old the author happens to be. Ted Williams and Stan Musial was a good comparison but Passan saw neither in his lifetime.

I had to think long and hard but in my lifetime, the biggest matchup of Superstars (in their prime) in a World Series was probably 30 year old Mike Schmidt vs 27 year old George Brett in 1980. Schmidt hit 48 homers and drove in 121 runs that season, while Brett hit .390 and drove in 118. Ohtani is 29 and Judge is 32 and both are in their prime. That certainly qualifies. Schmidt hit .381, with 2 homers, 7 rbi and a 1.176 OPS. Brett hit .375 with a homer, 3 rbi and a 1.090 OPS. (Bob Boone, Aaron's dad, hit .412 with 4 rbi and 1.029 OPS ). Will Judge/Ohtani out-do Schmidt/Brett? If they do, we're in for a treat.

How about it? What was the biggest matchup of Superstars in their prime, in your lifetime (before Ohtani/Judge)?

Ohtani vs Judge