There has been something gnawing at my psyche for the past week regarding the MLB Playoffs. It's been that tiny sliver in your hand that you can see but you feel it every time you brush against it. After watching game five of the Yankees/Angels game, I've finally realized what that sliver is:
Major League Baseball wants a new victor.
And not just a new winner from last year, no no. They want a new winner all together! And they are going to see to it that it happens. They've already engineered the removal of the Red Sox and the Yankees from the playoffs!
Some of you are saying, "Whoa, Marc, that's a pretty tough claim! How can MLB dictate who wins and who loses?" I'll tell you:
MLB has finally discovered that which the NBA exploits and the NFL attempts to curtail. The people who call the game, own the game. Where is my proof? How about this: Basketball. Every hoop in 10 feet high. Every court is identical. Every game is indoors. It's not like baseball where the outfields are different shapes, the infields are different materials, or some games are indoors, some are out. It is uniform. How is it possible, then, that the home team wins more than 65% of the time? The "home court advantage" is not the fans. These players are professionals! Crowd noise isn't going to throw them. It's the thing they can't ignore: the calls! The refs give the home team an advantage. The NBA encourages this. The NFL is trying to remove this by allowing instant replay. MLB has finally learned to use this to their advantage.
What do you think of these calls: Cano "interfering" with the play to first. Erstad safe at first on the ground ball to A-Rod. Johnny Damon's phantom swing with the bases loaded. and the most influential calls: the inconsistent strike zones for Johnson, Clement, Mussina, and Wakefield. (Some of the calls can be found on the Top Play archives of the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.)
So, for those of you who think I'm off my rocker here is why this is being done: Money! It's always about money. How could getting the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees out of the playoffs generate more money than if they were in? After all, Boston and New York are two of the biggest TV markets in the nation! Here is the difference: If the Red Sox and the Yankees are out, their fans will still watch! If the Angels or the White Sox were out, their fans would not.
But wouldn't more people tune it to a third consecutive Red Sox vs Yankees ALCS? No. It's analogous to when we were all sick of the Dallas Cowboys facing off against the San Francisco 49ers to see who would go to (and we all knew, win) the Super Bowl. There can be too much of a good thing. And as Michael Holley said on WEEI today, "I think the nation is worn out of the Red Sox vs Yankees. I mean, how many times can these teams play each other?!"
Well, MLB saw to it that they wouldn't do it again. If my theory is true. Neither series ends before game 6. The World Series is White Sox vs Astros and the White Sox win in 7.
But that's all just my opinion.
5 comments:
Marc, this is a good post. You know, I don't know a thing about baseball beyond the 101, nevertheless, watching the silly calls made against the Red Sox, [Damon is a professional, he either did nor didn't swing with so much on the line; and that strike zone may as well have been a rubber band!] and the "editorializing" way the White Sox were promoted as "hungry underdogs" in their games against the Yankees - even I had to wonder if there wasn't some MLB-massage going on.
it is certainly hard to prove without a shadow of a doubt marc's theory, but the motive and means are there to do it.
To tamper with the nature of the competitive atmosphere of the sport by having the league's supposedly impartial officials weigh the game in one team's favor is extremely dangerous. If it does not appear to be fair, you ruin the game itself. Witness the fact that in spite of Saturday's rainout forcing the Yankees/Angels to their tiring schedule, MLB refused to move tonight's game to tomorrow night. Instead the Angels play their 4th game in 4 days, while the White Sox have been resting an extra day. Sure, they don't HAVE to move the game and if the Angels swept the Yankees in 3 and the White Sox took the Red Sox in 5 games with a rainout, the situation would be reversed, but the point remains.
On the other hand, I would say Marc's theory is actually part of the NFL rulebook.
The Patriots are currently 3-2 in the midst of the most difficult NFL schedule in league history. They are in a stretch of 5 games (4 on the road) against all playoff teams who averaged at least 10-11 wins (Carolina had won their last 7 games at the end of last year).
In Sunday's game, Brady had 3 straight 3rd down conversions wiped out with various penalties.
It's not just the Pats who get screwed. Earlier in the seasson, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers were driving down the field with the clock running down on the road in Carolina going in for the winning score when the refs call an ILLEGAL MOTION penalty (a ticky tack call at that time of the game) which forced the packers into a 4th down situation. Their WR was clearly interfered on the 4th down play, but there was of course, no call and the home team won.
I guess the NFL wants a Colts/Giants Superbowl, MLB wants a White Sox/Astros World Series, NBA wants a NY/LA Finals and the NHL wants a Pittsburgh/Phoenix Stanley Cup matchup.
Well, at least the Olympics are fair, right?
I further my evidence. Bottom 9th, 2 down, 1 on, White Sox down by 1. Crede struck out twice before he actually struck out. Once on an identical check swing that rung Damon up and once on a pitch across the heart of the plate. It was only once Crede swung and missed a ball that the catcher caught that the ump behind the plate couldn't call a foul or a checked swing that Crede finished the game. Another call: Uribe getting back to second late. Dispite all the players (and umps) in black did, the Angels overcame it and won the game! Good for you!
This has been proven. The top three markets according to TV ratings were:
1)Chicago
2)Houston/Galvistion
3)Boston!
We watch even when we're not in it!
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