MLB Playoffs Tale of Two Cities: Astros ascend, Dodgers fall
The Divisional Series and Wild Card games are done. Six teams have been eliminated in the MLB playoffs, leaving four clubs to fight it out for the Championship, although the Cardinals aren’t currently showing much fight against the surging Nationals in the NLCS.
In the Divisional Series, however, we saw some fantastic competition. Three of the four matchups went five games. Are these remaining teams the best representatives? You might get an argument from Los Angeles or Atlanta. I can’t emphasize this enough: Other than for seeding purposes, the regular season doesn’t count anymore. Sure, the regular season is important for determining strengths and weaknesses, and establishing team identity. However, once the playoffs start, the slate is wiped clean.
It’s difficult for some people to realize this. This means fans, local media and, oftentimes, even the organizations themselves. They can all be blinded by what I call “The Homer Syndrome.”
I don’t include players, though. Fans put constant “expectations” on the clubs to perform. Many times, the expectations during the MLB playoffs can be unrealistic. Players learn to deal with this pressure differently. Some really don’t feel it. Some say they don’t feel it, but actually do. Some are consumed by the pressure. Some ride the high and low roller coaster of emotion.
Still, others walk a fine line around it. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” This Tale of Two Cities doesn’t involve London or Paris, but rather Los Angeles and Houston. Both have had recent success in the playoffs, and each had record-breaking regular seasons in 2019 in terms of wins. The similarities end there.
I live in Los Angeles, so I hear almost everything concerning the Dodgers. They have won the National League West seven straight years and played in the last two World Series, losing to the Astros in 2017 and to the Red Sox last year. According to many fans, nothing short of winning the World Series is good enough. Think about it, that’s a lot of pressure, especially for young players.
As the regular season progressed, talk radio programs pontificated about how great the Dodgers were in every facet of the game. Even their own extended broadcast team helped fuel this feeling of superiority and entitlement. The team did have a great regular season, driven by excellent talent. Both pitching and hitting stack up to any team in the league. Los Angeles stormed through the regular season with a record-breaking 106 wins. The 2001 Seattle Mariners hold the record of 116 regular season wins. They didn’t even make the World Series that year.
There’s some loss of objectivity when you’re surrounded by “The Homer Syndrome.” The biggest problem: Other clubs have the same realistic goal in the MLB playoffs of being World Series Champion. Fans believe theirs is the only club of destiny. Some players buy into the public adulation heaped on them. Relief pitching has been a challenge all season for the Dodger’s. Starting pitching is excellent, but the same can be said for Washington’s.
Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock did next to nothing in the NLDS. Clayton Kershaw let his team down once again. Many players under performed. The only players to perform were Justin Turner, Max Muncy and Russell Martin who played in only one game. If the Dodger’s want to compete with the big boys, it can’t be with this set of players. Changes need to be made.
Let’s give credit to the Nationals though. They have tough pitching (ask the Cardinals) and timely hitting, and they played together. They proved to be the better team.
The Houston Astros had 107 wins during the regular season. Justin Verlander won 21 games, Gerrit Cole won 20 and Zack Greinke had 18 wins. These are mature players who will, no doubt, perform during the playoffs. Tampa Bay played the Astros tough in the ALDS, taking them to five games. Offensively, the Astros know how to come through when it counts. George Springer, Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman all know how to handle themselves in the postseason.
Having Carlos Correa healthy again at shortstop will make quite an impact (his 11th-inning home run in Game 2 of the ALCS may have saved the Astros season). Houston prevailed with some superb pitching and timely hitting in the ALDS. Mostly they know how to deal with the “expectations.” Ironically it’s the home team which faces the most pressure in a final, winner take all game. The Astros know how to handle the pressure.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had an impossible job this year. And despite some head-scratching moves and non-moves against the Nationals, Roberts will return to manager the Dodgers in 2020. For Dodgers fans, hopefully, there were some lessons learned that can be applied during next season’s MLB playoffs (assuming the Dodgers can repeat in the NL West).
What I do know is that there are four excellent teams competing for the World Series. And while the Nationals can punch their ticket to the Fall Classic today, the ALCS is still a toss-up. Houston and Washington appear to have strong pitching, hitting and the necessary intangibles, but the Yankees bats are alive and the pitching has been a surprise, so far.
The Cardinals are on life support, and the Nationals look strong enough to be a worthy opponent for the Astros or Yankees. It’s about to get really interesting now.
