Phillies are hammering the Braves pitching again today. I guess the new path to success in the NL is win 85-90 games, nail down a wild card spot and then get to work breaking hearts of the top of the NL.
All the regular season does is get you into the playoffs. They've set it up so you can earn some advantages but those advantages guarantee nothing.
Baseball is a sport where the term 'upset is almost never used. it's a sport where the winning percentages of the best teams are the lowest, (the Mets and Braves would be 10-6 teams in the NFL: the Dodgers would be 11-5: they'd be a 56-26 team in the NBA) and the winning percentages of the worst teams are the best, (MLB has had seasons where everyone played at least .400 ball - the '62 Mets would have been a 4-12 NFL team or a 21-61 NBA team).
The reasons?
1) The game is played in rotations You can't always put your best batter at the plate or your best pitcher on the mound. You use your closer tonight, you can't use him tomorrow night.
2) Physical contact, always minimal, has basically been eliminated from the game to reduce injuries for the players they are paying millions of dollars a year. You can't physically overpower your opposition with blocking, tackling or checking into the boards.
3) Defense doesn't produce offense, (even though it's the only game where the defense has the ball). There are no fast breaks or pic 6's.
4) The basic physical skill of the game - hitting a moving round ball with a round bat - is the hardest thing to do consistently in team sports.
Because of these factors, the expansion of the playoffs means it's more likely that a team that hasn't been the best team over the course of the season, or even one of the best teams, and still get hot at the right time and win the championship. Is that good or bad?
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