Simply the Worst
Jim Caple has a piece on ESPN.com today calling this the worst baseball postseason ever. There is certainly a case to be made on this count - potentially five of the six total '07 series will end in sweeps. And despite the fact that the Red Sox came back from a 3-1 deficit in the ALCS to defeat the Indians in 7, not a single one of those games was a nailbiter. As Caple pointed out, the most interesting thing about this playoffs has been a Biblical swarm of bugs in Cleveland.
Then again, that was pretty interesting. And the Boston/Cleveland series did go the distance. I'm not suggesting that that this isn't the worst postseason ever, but I think some other candidates should be thrown into the mix. To wit (keeping in mind that in my mind the term "postseason" must refer to the post-1968 era of division play):
1998 - If you lived in New York in '98, you're going to say, "wtf? that postseason was amazing" but if you lived anywhere else you probably remember it as a snooze to equal this year. Three sweeps of a possible six, two intensely boring Championship Series, and then a World Series that despite an exciting game one seemed a fait accompli from the first pitch on. I know it's hard for Yankees fans to imagine, but when the Yanks have pretty much already won before the playoffs even start, it's not that much fun for everyone else.-
1989 - This was a truly craptastic postseason in which the only interesting thing to happen was a natural disaster of tragic proportions. The earthquake definitely makes the '89 postseason memorable, obscuring the fact that next to nothing of interest transpired on the field. The A's killed the Jays, the Giants made quick work of the Cubs (exciting game 5, that's about it) and then Oakland destroyed the Giants in one of the most lopsided World Series on record. Personally I think this was a worse postseason than '07. 
1983 - I hate to include this one, because the Phils were in it and my folks and I were actually in attendance at game three of the Series, but objectively I have to say that this postseason blew. Phils skated past the Dodgers 3-1 in the NLCS, and in the ALCS, the Orioles lost game one to the White Sox (complete game for ole LaMarr Hoyt) and then swept the next three. In the World Series, the Phils were listless - the Wheeze Kids were just plain out of steam. Three of the five games were one-run affairs, however, so this probably doesn't deserve to be considered the worst postseason ever. But it's in the top ten, I'd say.- 1976 - A similar postseason to '98 - anybody paying attention knew that the Big Red Machine would not be denied. Cincinnati didn't lose a game, sweeping the Phils and then the Yanks. It was one of those "over before you got to your seat" playoffs.
1970 - People probably will scratch their heads at this one, because the 1970 postseason has some iconic memories - the acrobatics of Brooks Robinson, primarily, and also the blown call on Bernie Carbo's great headfirst slide. Otherwise, however, on the question of drama, this postseason was a dud - two sweeps in the Championship series, and then the Orioles won the first three of the World Series.
5 Comments:
The reason that the '89 series was so lop-sided, and I'm amazed that this is never brought up, is that the earthquake created an extended break, allowing the A's to roll out their top two pitchers, Stewart and Welch, twice, instead of dipping into the rest of their rotation.
As I recall, the rest of the A's pitchers weren't quite so shit-out as Stew and Welch and as an aggrieved Giants fan, I maintain that the WS would have been closer if they had been forced to use somebody other than their aces.
Excellent point Zark. But the point stands nevertheless - suckliciousness was achieved. It's a tough call, because the quake really overshadowed the whole entirely. It's like asking whether the Munich Games were any good - it's sort of hard to know.
It's kind of impressive how much the Loma Prieta quake really looms over it -- the other day I was standing in line and somebody was discussing the Quake and where they were when it happened and how they had been trying to watch "Game One of the Bay Bridge Series" -- from what else I could hear, they were both residents of the Bay Area as well. I resisted the urge to tell them that it was Game Three and Games One and Two had been played in Oakland.
Still, I think I have more bile for that Series than the one with the Angels.
True The Big Red Machine was big and red and machine-like in going 7-0 in the 1976 postseason, but the 1976 ALCS was one of the greatest LCSes ever--especially of the five game era. Five back and forth games capped by the Chambliss walk-off, I think has gotta take '76 off this list even though 76 was bad news for the Phils.
One of the GREATEST LCS's? Huh. The Chambliss home run is definitely a very big moment, but in my memory none of the other games were that great. It was a good series and ended with a walkoff, but I still say that when you've got two hyenas tussling it out to see who gets to fight a lion, it's not exactly a drama-filled affair. Padres/Braves was a pretty exciting series in '98.
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