Watch it.
Well if you want to, but I'll remind you that this will be the last real baseball for 5 months.
I had the Cubs at the beginning so I'll stick with them. Seems like the smart way to go. If you want a length... I'll go with another 5 gamer. The pressure was about getting to the World Series. I had a pretty good playoff prediction set there. So far only miss was Indians over the Blue Jays.
Some various playoff factoids you might have missed
After the Cubs and Indians all the championship droughts are for expansion teams. Senators/Rangers, Astros, Brewers, Padres, Expos/Nats, Mariners.
It's pretty amazing though that if we don't count the Expos/Nats as one thing, the longest WS appearance drought is "only" 40 seasons (Mariners). Every avid baseball fan 45 and older has seen every team that has made a World Series in a World Series. In the past 10 seasons, 13 different teams have made the World Series. In the past 19 seasons, 20 teams have. So basically every adult has seen 2/3rds of the teams in baseball reach the World Series.
The Dodgers have now lost 4 consecutive NLCSs, accounting for 4 of the last 9. They were also the last team to lose back to back CSs (2008-09 to the Phillies) before Toronto took that crown from them this year.
Since it started 5 years ago the AL wild Card has featured 9 different teams, the Orioles this year were the first repeat team.
AL WC teams are 1-4 in the DS, the only exception being the World Series reaching Royals in 2014. NL WC teams are 3-2 in the DS.
The ALCS hasn't gone 7 games since 2008.
The last 4 World Series have gone 5 games (Road win in finale), 7 games (Road), 6 games (Home), and 4 games (Road). The last 5 before that went 7 (Home), 5 (Road), 6 (Home), 5 (Home), 4 (Road). That's a pretty good run of different types of series. We need a 4 game-sweep winning at home or a 6 game series, winning away to help complete the set.
If you're curious - last 6 game winner to do it away is the Marlins in 2003. Last 4 game sweep to end at home was the Yankees in 1999.
Now that "BELIEVEland" has won an NBA championship and now made a WS, it is safe to say that DC is the worst sports town with at least 3 major sports teams. It's not even close. There, my misery is justified.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I don't feel better...
OlePBN - if you go just on length since title - sure. If you go buy general recent success (say past decade) several cities can compete
ReplyDeleteA Cubs' championship almost--almost--seems like a foregone conclusion.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'll be interested in watching is how Francona maneuvers a Cleveland roster hampered by injury. (He certainly put on a show against Toronto.)
Here's hoping for good baseball.
I'd still rather be here than Minneapolis-St. Paul. The Vikings are like the Caps in the playoffs. At least we don't need tunnels in the winter.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good choice. Timberwolves, Wild are pretty terrible franchises and the Twins have been bad for a few seasons now.
ReplyDeletePhoneix is another good choice - since 2012 they've seen 3 playoff games in TOTAL among 4 franchises. All the Cardinals 1-2 ending with an absolute drubbing by the Panthers.
Buffalo, baby. Only two teams, both bad.
ReplyDelete(Their NBA team was so bad they crept away to San Diego . . . and had to sneak out of San Diego, too. So bad even Oprah Winfrey tried to buy the Clippers.)
This team is carrying two droughts simultaneously. The city and the franchise. Baseball is full of masochists and misanthropes. Let us have this privilege, Harper... we are entitled to (or not titled enough for) it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I could care less about the Caps n Skins... Let's go Alouettes!
@Anonymous... THAT is a good thought exercise. Would Cubs fans be happy if their team made the next FOUR World Series, but lost them all? Buffalo has serious loser cred, but were SO GOOD for so long... a loser dynasty.
ReplyDelete@Harper pffffffft... LOOK at all the National Championships Minnesota has won. Their ice hockey teams are unbeatable, eh?
ReplyDeleteMen's (13)
Baseball (3): 1956, 1960, 1964
Golf (1): 2002
Ice Hockey (5): 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002, 2003
Outdoor Track & Field (1): 1948
Wrestling (3): 2001, 2002, 2007
Women's (6)
Ice Hockey (6): 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
Was wondering how long it would take before Buffalo was mentioned (even though they only have two pro franchises). Arizona has a world series win... DC has multiple Super Bowls and an NBA title... the Twins have a WS win... now Cleveland has an NBA title. Buffalo is a far more accursed sports town than DC will ever be. (I can't really count the two AFL championships pre-merger.)
ReplyDelete@Z11: The Bills were bad in the 70s, briefly good in the early 80s under Chuck Knox, then horrid until the very late 80s... then great for more than half the 90s... and they've been terrible to mediocre ever since. In all, they've been much more often bad than good.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it's overly simplistic, but I think it shows the importance of a good GM in running these franchises. The Bill Polian years really stand out in Buffalo, as they did in Indy and Carolina. Theo Epstein in Boston and Chicago... and so forth. GM and head coach/manager being able to work together to create a winning culture vs one that plays to get paid and go home at the end of the regular season.
Cubs in 7
ReplyDeleteI like the Cubs being losers, Chicago had one drought go away with the White Sox and plenty of success in basketball lest we get carried away with LeBron's return. I have to root for Cleveland because they shouldn't win, even if Salazar can pitch about four innings in game 4, they don't have Carrasco and really, with that nickname they should be playing cricket. But the question becomes how much can Andrew Miller pitch and will it matter?
ReplyDeleteIf we can't depend on the Cubs sucking, there is nothing sure in this world.
ReplyDeleteLast night was a truly awesome night. Not only did the Weird Wuss take it on the chin, but Kevin Durant and the Warriors "superteam" got absolutely walloped at home by the Spurs.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be a drag but aren't AL WC teams 2-3 in the DS? Royals in 2014 and now Blue Jays this year, correct?
ReplyDelete