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Baseball 2007 – The Big Letdown…
By Brian | October 29, 2007 | Share on Facebook
One month ago yesterday, I wrote about how the end of the 2007 baseball season was the best end of a baseball season ever. Three days later, I was not disappointed.
Which is why it’s such a shame that the 2007 post-season was such a dud.
Now, it’s no secret to those who know me that I’m a lifelong Yankee fan, but this isn’t about the Yankees losing in the first round of the playoffs again. Well, it’s a little bit about that. But not all about that.
Mostly, it’s about good teams losing badly. After such a fantastic September, where four of the six divisions came down to the final weekend (and the other two had wildcard implications), the ALDS and the NLDS resulted in three sweeps, and one series that went four games (my beloved Yankees). That’s four good teams – the Yankees, Angels, Phillies and Cubs, who fought valiantly right up until the last weekend of the season, and then simply collapsed in October, completely deflating the end-of-season drama balloon.
Then, in the NLCS, the Rockies took the Diamondbacks in four straight games as well. This was at least mildly interesting, since it gave the Rockies an unbelievable 21 wins in 22 games. But then, they waited around for eight days, while the only series worth watching, the ALCS, reached its dramatic conclusion.
At that point, though, all of the enthusiasm and adrenalin that had carried the Rockies to that point was gone, and the Red Sox rolled over them in the World Series, four games to none. It’s almost as if, given all the other sweeps, the World Series would have been more interesting if the Red Sox had swept the Indians too.
Mind you, I’m not suggesting any sort of change to the process (although some are suggesting the Wildcard system needs tweaking, so that winning your division means something again, which is a valid point, I guess). The simple fact of the matter is that after 162 games, the championship goes to the team that can win eleven games the fastest. So it’s always going to be a bit of a crapshoot. Some years (1986 comes to mind), it’s wonderfully dramatic. Other years, like this year, it’s all a big letdown.
In the end, I’m left saying what I always say this time of year – just 18 weeks until pitchers & catchers report for spring training! Go Yankees!
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