My Chicago White Sox just finished their 7th losing season in a row. But they won 10 more games than last year while losing only 89.
The White Sox had a 2019 winning season against the likes of the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians. Beating the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals fell to the White Sox as well.
But Tim Anderson won the MLB batting average title by upping his average by .095. Yoan Moncada turned up his defense and offense while cutting down on his strikeouts. Lucas Giolito became the team starting ace after being one of worst in the AL. Jose Abreu won the AL RBI title while continuing his elite offensive production.
Next year looks bright as the rebuild continues. I am really tired of losing.
2
Indeed, it has been amazing season.
I root for Dodgers and Astros. I started with Dodgers as I attended Caltech.
Then the oil patch took me to Houston for a few years. No remember Astrodome days when Lostros were so bad - folks were waiting at ticket windows to give you a ticket or two.
Them in a World Series - again - that will be an icing to the cake.
As to Twins - their catcher Jason Castro - an ex Astro who decamped for more money - not that there is anything wrong with it.
But Twins who have a magnificent stadium but open air - in Minneapolis.
I see that folks are already bundled up.
Can you imagine late October if they make it thru.
I have been to all MLB parks.
I think Twins were not thinking building an open air stadium - unless they thought they would never make it past September.
Brewers without Yelich - kind of doubtful. But Bob Uecker might finally get a ring and even a share like a couple of seasons back when they made playoffs?
1
Are the MLB attendance and tv ratings decline part of those "extraordinary numbers"?
1
I am a Yankees fan who believes they will likely not survive the Twins, but if they do will easily be defeated by the Astros. Yankees' strike out kings--Judge and Stanton and their team mates-- will be humiliated by Verlander, Cole, and Greinke.
6
Wins and losses are absolutely a zero-sum game. If many teams (four this year) get to 100 wins, there must be some big losers too.
Go Dodgers!!
None of this bodes well for the future of MLB.
Records become meaningless when the HR record is shattered by 10%. Ditto for the strikeouts. Feast or famine, HR or strike three. The RBI totals for the HR leaders are mostly abysmal by historical standards. Nobody's on base to drive in, the prior batters either struck out or hit it out themselves.
No professional league likes their bell curve with extremes at both ends. That's why there's the teams drafting in reverse order of their records, but in no sport is the draft as unpredictable in baseball. Not that long ago folks were worried about parity, while the league was thrilled that so many teams were battling to make the playoffs through the final series. Division winners barely over .500 were unpalatable, but mostly spoke to weak divisions. This is far worse IMO.
Attendance figures and TV viewership isn't keeping pace with the HR and strikeout all you can eat buffets. America's pastime is in decline, long ago surpassed by the NFL and now the NBA. While hockey won't catch baseball anytime soon, this is a sad reflection on the commissioner's office. Or maybe it's inevitable no matter who's in charge. The younger generation wants more action for their shorter attention spans. HRs and SOs are supposed to be exciting, but when that's all that's left to the game, it induces a collective yawn.
Asterisks for all these recent records please.
4
@telemachus sneezed It's not the commissioner's office that's at fault -- it's the adoption of sabermetrics. Billy Ball is really the death of baseball. Bunting for a hit, stealing a base, moving the runner over, swinging to make contact -- these have become lost arts. Yet they used to provide so much excitement. Nowadays everyone wants to hit a homer and swings up at the ball instead of a level swing. Rod Carew used to have a variety of different swings that he'd use depending on the situation. Sure he got a lot of singles - thus putting someone on base for others to drive in. Now they only know one way to swing - trying to launch it out. There's a great video on YouTube of a game in the 1952 Series between the Yankees and Dodgers. Watch it and see how the game has changed. Then, even the sluggers knew how to bunt expertly and didn't hesitate to lay one down either for a sacrifice, or in an effort to get a hit, when it would help the team. The way the game is now - all or nothing - is boring and nearly unwatchable.
3
Not really not surprised to see No mention of the St. Louis Cardinals clinching magically on the last day of the regular season. In fact, really never see any mention of this storied team and their accomplishments. Oh well, still love my Cardinals and always will. Hope some day you will find a reason to include them. Maybe when we win the 2019 World Series!!!
4
@Ann McMahon,
Don’t think your getting a raw deal,but will be glad to root for them in the NL.Joe D fan but love your franchise.
There are a few other stats I'd love the NYT to analyze next to these: a) the average and median age of a baseball ticket buyer and television viewer; b) the ratings for regional and national baseball games, as well as the age of, and income generated by, the fans who consume the game through digital packages; c) the total income generated by the top and bottom performing teams; and d) how baseball players and executives feel about the current records being broken, not to mention the fans.
I look forward to the quality baseball coverage in the Times continuing to investigate these themes in the larger frameworks of the game's numbers, finances, and history. After such a record breaking year, the attention seems warranted.
11
@X The great American pastime has become a pastime for the "haves" only.
MLB, in their greed to collect the most money the can, has limited baseball to only those that can come up with the money to pay for stadium seats and expensive pay TV channels .
Lower-income families can no longer watch a baseball game together in the evenings.
MLB is now trying to make up the resulting decline of fan numbers by such tactics as super-balling the baseball, and condensing the games.
Won't work. If you don't have the kids watching the games , collecting the cards of their heroes, and getting together to hit the ball around after school, baseball will fade into a pastime of the past.
11
@AnnieEm I appreciate your reply. And if you're right, and I'm quite sympathetic, then that's precisely why I'd like the Times to address those concerns in the context of data. In solidarity with you and the game -
Good pitching beats good hitting, so the Astros should be in good shape. Maybe an Astros-Dodgers series (again)?
4
@Michael Skadden The great thing about baseball is that there's always hope that your team can win. Or, better, the reality that the best team will win on a given day. My favorite World Series match-up for this October is the Nationals vs. the Rays, assuring that a new team will win it all for the first time. I'd also like to see a Cardinals-Twins final, a rematch of 1987.
1
This kind of disparity can not be good for the business model of the league. Perhaps MLB should look at the model of British soccer and drop the bottom four teams to the minors while bringing up the top four AAA teams. I know there is a problem with the fact that many minor league teams are owned by major league corporations but it should be worth thinking about.
3
@TH That's the great thing about the MLB, the parity changes all the time. Just like the article mentioned the Astros going 3 years with 100+ losses followed by 3 years with 100+ wins. In the past two decades, a truly diverse set of teams have made it to the World Series. Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers all ended decades long droughts. British soccer is the exact opposite. Leicester City was such a shock because of it.
1