Red Sox, then Pats.
WS 2018:
Yankees v Rockies.
Yanks win in 6.
Enjoy the playoffs, everyone!
I am shocked about Braves over the Dodgers.
As a life long dodgers fan - to say the least - I am offended.
Luckily, like the weather forecaster - 10% right 10% of the time.
The sportswriters may be slightly better 15% right 15% of the time.
When Judge hit the DL this summer, the Yanks lost a lot of momentum. I said then, and say again (now that he and his swing are back in town) that he's the heart of the team. Watch out, Beantown.
Boston in 4
1
Why am I not surprised that the NY Times would pick the Yankees over the Sox. This is the only bit of "fake news" the Times has ever reported, but don't make a habit of it
@R.F. I'm a Yankees fan, but yeah -- that was funny.
Go Dodgers!
The Mighty Yankees with their infinite resources and massive payroll just won the WC by beating the team that started the season with the lowest payroll in baseball. MLB has such a ridiculously unfair playing field. Great to see the richest teams in the playoffs as usual.
- An Oakland A’s fan.
Tony, you do realize that the Yankees had the sixth highest payroll this year and haven’t had the highest in five years. The team has hardly any big name free agents. It was built through the farm system, which is one of the best in baseball, and good trades. So stop your whining.
1
I'll predict Astros, Sox...Dodgers, Rockies.
Why not?
Thanks for the pick of the Yankees I hope your right.
Of course you picked the Yankees.
Of course they picked the Yankees. Aaron Judge is back, making the entire lineup better througout. Voit has been an incredible acquisition. They can put up a killer lineup of 8 righty batters to face Price and Sale (and the latter's bad shoulder) in righty friendly Fenway. And, all the pressure is on the Sox, who, except for 2004, have choked against the Yankees in the playoffs.
Boston would have to be favored except this is the NY paper. The last series meant almost nothing to Boston and its home record is phenomenal.
How could it not be mentioned that Milwaukee finished the season on a tear, as did Houston, and that Houston has one of the best away records in the history of baseball.
Houston, Milwaukee, and Boston are the cream of the crop. Any of those teams would be a worthy champion. The American League should win the World Series. I'd love to see Boston, but I'd give Houston a slight edge, due to Verlander and the team's astonishing record away.
4
Two thoughts, and a question:
Playoffs are why "money ball" doesn't work. There is simply too much uncertainty in a (relatively) short series for a significantly better team to have a significantly better chance to win.
A World Series with ANYBODY but the Dodgers, Red Sox and/or Yankees, in alphabetical order...
If NHL hockey, a much more physically and mentally demanding game than baseball, can have four rounds of best of seven, why cannot MLB?
@HapinOregon
Because of the weather. NY, Boston, Cleveland in November makes for bad baseball. What they need to do is go back to 154 games and make the divisional round best of 7 and not best of 5 but ........money. 8 less games means less money for the owners.
1
The problem with picking Division Series winners is it's such a crapshoot. A long season's slog and all you earn is a best-3-of-5? Well, at least it beats 100 wins and a wildcard matchup (like this year's Yankees). My Cubs can tell you that they got little reward for having the best record in the NL (tied with Milwaukee). No pro league beats MLB for craziest postseason format (unless you count MLS).
The postseason needs major reform. Get rid of numerous elimination series so that it's a fair competition among all qualifying teams, however you pick them. Make all postseason teams--at least in one league--play ea other, instead of having these artificial matchups. Make them play a round robin format after 144 games (162 is too long), with 4 qualifying teams in ea league playing ea other home-and-home series of 3 games ea for the final 18 games of the regular season. Teams with the best records in ea league move to a warmer, mid-October World Series.
Still can't resist my own predictions outside the ideal plane: in the NL, I like Milwaukee in 3, LA in 4. In the AL, I like NYY in 4, and Houston in 5.
@Tom 142 games then a round robin takes away 18 games from teams not making the round robin. That costs those teams millions and baseball millions. Not going to happen. Miami which lost 70 million last year couldn't afford to lose 18 games off their schedule. In the end its always about revenue.
@Tom
Round is not the ideal way to play baseball. Is has been used in the Olympics, World Baseball and other international competitions. With unsatisfying results.
Baseball is played in series throughout the season. Why change the format? It yields different results.
@JDSept For space reasons, I didn't go into plans for non-postseason teams for the final 18 regular season games. They should play them also, but only among themselves. They could even have a consolation series of teams that finish first.
Another more important schedule change: expand ea league by a team and reduce divisions to 2 for ea league, with 8 teams ea. That allows for a more balanced schedule, with teams playing intra-divisionally 12 times (18-19 is way too much) and teams in the other league division 6 times (12 x 7= 84, 6 x 8= 48, 84+48=132), with 12 interleague games. Non-postseason teams would play the extra 18 games versus teams in their own division.
My plan also has no September callups for postseason teams, only for those not making it, with a natural move from the end of the minor league season to callups. It moves the All Star game to late May, so that the game avoids the pennant races in Aug & early Sep and so that voting occurs during the off-season for the next May game, avoiding current voting based upon the hotness factor of 2-3 months.
So yes, I've thought through alot vis what I call the preliminary postseason of 18 games prior to the World Series.
Bold predictions !
I would love to see a traditional Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series, East Coast vs. West Coast and would love to see it go 7 games.
My predictions: Brewers vs Red Sox
Red Sox in 5 or 6 games.
6
How are the ratings? How is the attendance? I rarely run into anyone interested, but not in a major market.
@Bogwood Those two games that decided division winner and wild cards did well as to TV.
The New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Brewers (then Braves) were the two baseball teams I grew up with since the 1950s. My dad was a diehard Yankee guy and my Ma simply loved both teams from Milwaukee. I can still recall many an autumn afternoon when she used to listen to the World Series on her small transistor radio while ironing clothes in the living room.
I hope both teams are in the World Series and I wish my parents were alive to see this possibility occur.
My deeper hope is that the 2018 World Series is as exciting, exhilarating, and nail biting like the Cubs/Cleveland series in 2016 or the epic 1991 Twins/Braves fall classic series.
October is truly the best month of baseball.
10
@Marge Keller,
The Braves we both recall moved to Atlanta.
Bud Selig owned the minor league Seattle Pilots and moved them to Milwaukee - reborn as the Brewers. Milwaukee was once a beer center - Schlitz, etc. but no more.
5
@Jim
You have an excellent memory. Thanks for the added historical perspective. Very much appreciated.
I would be in heaven if the Brewers made it to the World Series and if Bob Uecker could be the guy calling the game in the booth. I think he is Milwaukee's greatest treasure. I sincerely love that guy, his knowledge and his humor.
1
Jim, thanks for the history, but may I make a slight correction? Bud and his associates didn’t own the Pilots. The Pilots went broke after a year in Seattle, and then Bud bought them at a fire sale and moved them to Milwaukee just in time for opening day. Sorry to be such a smarty-pants, but for those of us here in Milwaukee who were still smarting from the loss of our beloved Braves it’s easy to remember these events.