I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

[mjb2124]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

I've always disagreed with this thinking.

If a team is so dominate during the regular season, why can't they duplicate that performance in the playoffs, considering no traumtic changes (injuries, etc.).

Simple. When the sample size shrinks, anything can happen. It's like trying to pick a number between 1-162 or between 1-7. Which is easier? The 1-7 obviously.

Like I said before, I'm not taking anything away from any team that didn't dominate the regular season and then won the championship of said sport. That team STILL won in the end and that's all that matters. I watched the Steelers dominate the playoffs and win the Super Bowl last year despite backpeddaling into the playoffs.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

Like I said before, I'm not taking anything away from any team that didn't dominate the regular season and then won the championship of said sport. That team STILL won in the end and that's all that matters. I watched the Steelers dominate the playoffs and win the Super Bowl last year despite backpeddaling into the playoffs.

The team that still won in the end is still the best overall in my opinion.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

Simple. When the sample size shrinks, anything can happen. It's like trying to pick a number between 1-162 or between 1-7. Which is easier? The 1-7 obviously.

It's not as blunt as it seems. Obviously other factors come into play, whether it would be pressure, gameplaning, etc.

[mjb2124]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

I guess we just have a differing opinion. I always lean the way in which the sample size is greater - probably due a lot to my math/stat background. Less room for error and for fluky occurences.

[cjonesfan921]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

I guess we just have a differing opinion. I always lean the way in which the sample size is greater - probably due a lot to my math/stat background. Less room for error and for fluky occurences.

That's my thinking. Obviously I won't take anything away from the Cards but 5 errors on the pitchers for the Tigers, I mean seriously 5. Anything can happen and it did happen. Congrats to the Cards but imo they weren't and aren't the best team in the league. Again though, what does that matter if they won it all?

[Rainey]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

I guess we just have a differing opinion. I always lean the way in which the sample size is greater - probably due a lot to my math/stat background. Less room for error and for fluky occurences.

The sample size of one baseball season isn't the greatest measure either...

I know people love stats and such, but sometimes there just isn't enough data to make an accurate correlation.

[dkgojackets]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

Maybe a better team would have pitchers that can throw the ball to third base. Errors are a sign of a bad team, not to mention the absence of hitting.

People knew all season that the Tigers record was a fluke and that they were just riding the high side of variance, but were wondering when it would finally end. We have an answer.

[Rainey]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

Maybe a better team would have pitchers that can throw the ball to third base. Errors are a sign of a bad team, not to mention the absence of hitting.

People knew all season that the Tigers record was a fluke and that they were just riding the high side of variance, but were wondering when it would finally end. We have an answer.

The Tigers are talented, there is no reason to attempt to dispute that. They have an excellent young staff with a few great hitters. The best team in baseball? Debatable. Good team? Without a doubt.

[skitch]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

Maybe a better team would have pitchers that can throw the ball to third base. Errors are a sign of a bad team, not to mention the absence of hitting.

People knew all season that the Tigers record was a fluke and that they were just riding the high side of variance, but were wondering when it would finally end. We have an answer.

I disagree with the Tigers being a fluke-team. Did they not beat nearly everybody's WS picks, the Yankees, in the first round? Not only did they beat them, Detroit wiped their feet with the Yanks. They go on to beat the A's, a hot team, in 4 games. Sure, they didn't show up to play in the Series. Again, that was FIVE GAMES... You don't make the World Series if you're a bad team like you say they are. Even if you have the most luck in the world, bad teams don't make it that far.

[dkgojackets]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

They aren't a bad team, poor choice of words on my part. But committing so many errors IS a sign of a team not as good as its competition.

And if everyone is going to say STL's win in this series was just luck and variance, why couldn't the same be said for Detroit over the Yankees?

[Chip Douglass]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

That's my thinking. Obviously I won't take anything away from the Cards but 5 errors on the pitchers for the Tigers, I mean seriously 5. Anything can happen and it did happen. Congrats to the Cards but imo they weren't and aren't the best team in the league. Again though, what does that matter if they won it all?

Again, the playoffs, as you pointed out with the 5 errors from the Tigers pitching staff, call for an A+ performance, especially against better competition. If you don't bring your A-game at the most important time of the year against the best teams avaiable, I have a hard time believing your the best team overall or the most deserving.

If we played the playoffs all over again, the Cards probably wouldn't survive past the 1st round, but the point is there's only one shot to accomplish your goals and there's no margin for error. In the one oppurtunity given, they proved they were the best team in the playoffs. I wouldn't call the MLB playoff series format as much as a crapshoot as the NCAA tournament or the NFL playoffs, as 7 games are plenty enough to justify your belonging there.

With all of that aside, I have to call the Cardinals the best team in the league.

[skitch]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

They aren't a bad team, poor choice of words on my part. But committing so many errors IS a sign of a team not as good as its competition.

And if everyone is going to say STL's win in this series was just luck and variance, why couldn't the same be said for Detroit over the Yankees?

I don't think committing errors like the Tigers did says that they're not as good as the Cardinals. Have you ever played sports? If so, then you would know that pressure and flat-out excitement can lead to mental/physical errors. I don't necessarily think that because a few pitchers choked, you can rightfully say that the entirety of the team is not as good as the competition.

[dkgojackets]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

I would expect a championship-caliber team to handle the pressure.

And its not like the offense did anything to bail the pitchers out.

[mjb2124]

Re: I hate to root for the Cardinals but......

The sample size of one baseball season isn't the greatest measure either...

A 162 game measuring stick is surely better than a potential 7 game measuring stick IMO.

I'm only looking at 1 season because when we start talking about 2-3 years, many variables can change (ie: payroll, players, coaches/manager, GM etc...).