Why is the WS never competitive?

[JBH3]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

Yeah. One blowout game, and the other four games were decided by a total of five runs. Totally unexciting.

The games may have been lopsided at 4-1, but four of the five games were absolute nailbiters. I think the problem for a lot of people may have been that the Phillies won with a total team effort and you couldn't point to one or two "superstars" like Bonds or Pujols or Manny who took the whole team on their backs with incredible performances. Total team performances, especially those featuring low-scoring pitchers' duels, aren't all that sexy to the average joe.

Oh well. Sorry America!

Great post...This was a nail-biting series. The Rays were in practically every game so I don't know why people would say it was lopsided.

Good post. Shane Victorino doesn't inspire the same enthusiasm as Man-Ram. Still an enjoyable Series to watch IMO.

'Enthusiasm' and Manny Ramierez should never be mentioned in the same sentence...lack-of got him lifted out of Boston.

Maybe replace 'enthusiasm' w/ 'excitement' and I understand what you're saying.

Do not blaspheme the flyin hawaiian...

[snepp]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

I haven't even cared about baseball since the 98 chase for 62. Other than that I only checked Griffey's performance every day (me favorite athlete since I was 7).

[SpacemanSpiff]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

Just saying, but most of the people who thought the series was exciting in this thread are Phillies fans. Not saying that it wasn't interesting or whatever. Just saying that you guys may not be the most objective group to speak on the issue.

[ckarlic]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

I didn't think this one was great. The first few games, hardly anyone could get a hit w/RISP. They were mostly scored on groundouts. The winning run in game 3 was a HBP, WP, E-2, 2 BB's & a swinging bunt. And that was the game w/drama. Yawn.

I think it all depends on who you ask...For Rays and Phillies fans i can definitley see if being exciting..For me, I stopped watching after the Ray's beat the Red Sox in the ALCS. Now that was a great series in my mind.

[WazzuRC]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

I thought the series was great and that's coming from an unbiased observer. All the games could have gone either way, it just so happens the Phils had more toughness.

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

Just saying, but most of the people who thought the series was exciting in this thread are Phillies fans. Not saying that it wasn't interesting or whatever. Just saying that you guys may not be the most objective group to speak on the issue.

Agreed.

[fugazi]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

Actually the last WS to go 6 games was the Marlins/Yankees series in 2003, the Angels/Giants was the last to go 7.

In the past three seasons we have seen these "Cinderella" teams make it to the WS only to fall flat on their faces in the series. "Cinderella" is 2-12 in that time.

As a Red Sox fan i am more than happy that the Sox have won 2 championships in the last 5 years but as i baseball fan i am somewhat disappointed that we have not seen a truely competitive series since '02.

On the plus side the only good thing to come from these short series' is that we don't have to endure a full 7 games of the Buck/McCarver two-headed monster (moron?) that Fox insists on sticking us with.

If I recall, the BoSox were a cinderella...

Tampa might have been cinderella at the all-star break, but by the time the postseason came around, the slipper was gone, they are/were the real deal. give them some credit.

The Phillies were every bit as cinderella as Tampa...

How the **** can a division winner be a cinderella?

What is the record for division winners in the WS / Post-season? pointing out that someone has to lose is not an argument.

[rsox]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

The Red Sox played in the ALCS the year before they won the World Series so getting back to the post-season the following year should not have been that big of a surprise.

"How can a division winner be a cinderella?": once upon a time there was no Wild Card so when a team came out of nowhere to make it to the playoffs they had to do so by winning their division. There is no rule saying that the only way you can be considered a cinderella story is by winning the Wild Card.

I like the idea of a team coming out of nowhere to make it to the World Series. I just whish one of them could make a series out of it.

[Misfit]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

If I recall, the BoSox were a cinderella...

Tampa might have been cinderella at the all-star break, but by the time the postseason came around, the slipper was gone, they are/were the real deal. give them some credit.

The Phillies were every bit as cinderella as Tampa...

How the **** can a division winner be a cinderella?

What is the record for division winners in the WS / Post-season? pointing out that someone has to lose is not an argument.

The Red Sox were the favorite to win the World Series that year, the Rays weren't expected to win 70 games let alone a pennant.

The World Series being so one-sided is a problem for MLB. Last year I think the layoff cooled down the Rockies who were already playing with house money. This year I think the ALCS just wore the Rays down, they just looked flat in the World Series. I think getting rid of all of these off days will help and its something MLB is looking into.

[rsox]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

I think getting rid of all of these off days will help and its something MLB is looking into.

Which they need to do, badly. At the current pace they are going with dragging the post season schedule out they will be playing a World Series game on Thansgiving somewhere between the Lions and the Cowboys games. It's bad enough the NBA playoffs take almost 2 months, baseball's does not need to.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

Which they need to do, badly. At the current pace they are going with dragging the post season schedule out they will be playing a World Series game on Thansgiving somewhere between the Lions and the Cowboys games. It's bad enough the NBA playoffs take almost 2 months, baseball's does not need to.

On top of all this, they have ruined it (for me at least) by starting all of the games so late and then dragging them on with longer than normal commercial breaks (2:30 vs the standard 2:00).

Take this years series. Both teams were East Coast-ish teams, yet fans of these teams had to stay up past midnight to watch the games. I watched some of every game and so did a lot of people I know, but few actually stayed up to watch the end because they had to work the next day.

If I'm a fan of baseball and not actually the teams involved, I'd much rather miss the first three innings than the last three innings. So why not move the games up an hour, especially with an east coast series. The West Coast fans should miss the start of the game then the east coast fans missing the end.

Also, why not shoot for a weekend day game.

I know it's about dollars and cents, but this year the ratings were some of the lowest ever (no Yankee's had a lot to do with it, I'm sure), but why not try and mix in some different time slots.

[Crash Davis]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

ONE REASON AND ONE REASON ONLY - both leagues need to agree on one way of playing with or without the DH rule, I vote WITH the DH rule pitchers pitch thats enough for them to worry about plus the AL is awesome and is always better than the NL. (not games all the time but in terms of talent)

[Matteh]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

The Red Sox were the favorite to win the World Series that year, the Rays weren't expected to win 70 games let alone a pennant.

Obviously the Rays weren't expected to win a pennant, but I think most people around baseball expected the Rays to improve this year with baseball prospectus predicting them to win 88 games IIRC. Most previews I saw before the season had them near or slghtly above .500.

[fugazi]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

ONE REASON AND ONE REASON ONLY - both leagues need to agree on one way of playing with or without the DH rule, I vote WITH the DH rule pitchers pitch thats enough for them to worry about plus the AL is awesome and is always better than the NL. (not games all the time but in terms of talent)

i'm not buying this one.

[AlexBrady]

Re: Why is the WS never competitive?

The World Series is a joke right now. Ratings keep plummeting and the games are not very competitive. I would rather watch a regular season football or basketball game. This says alot about the state of the WS because I used to love baseball before 1994.