Playoff Results (Yankees)

[Clay Dreslough]

It seems to me that the Yankees were the 3rd best team in the American League by the time the season ended. Both Oakland and Seattle were on hot streaks of historic proportion.

Why then, did the Yankees manage to defeat both the A's and Mariners and advance to the World Series (and almost win it)?

Clay

[James Grove]

Because the Baseball Gods love to see Red Sox fans suffer.

[bigfly22]

Clay -

I think that is an easy question to answer. The problem I have and most people will when they read my answer is that it is just plain unfathomable that this is the case. I'll let you decide that though.

In my opinion, the teams that were hot going into the playoffs (Seattle & Oakland) were both excellent teams obviously during the regular season. Both of teams had done things that no other teams have ever done in the majors: Seattle lead every day of the season and nearly matched the all-time record for wins in a season. Oakland, after one of the worst starts in ML history, overcame that to win over 100 games. I could go on and on about the accomplishments of Seattle and Oakland, but the problem for both is that it happened DURING THE REGULAR SEASON.

I am a true Seattle Mariners fan. So what I am about to say is not anything but, in my opinion, a fact of this season. Once Seattle reached the playoffs, they expected teams to be afraid of them and for them to make mistakes that would lead Seattle to easy victories. In the end, the other teams were anything but afraid.

Cleveland matched up well in pretty much every area of the game, and we know how well NY has done over the years. So what it came down to next was not how well the players played, but instead each team's reputation over time. The playoffs are a completely different game, and NY is feared in any playoff series. I hate to say it, but I think that once the Mariners knew they were going up against NY it only made Bret Boone and others press even more than they already had been. That in turn caused the downfall of Seattle. I was surprised they were able to come back and beat Cleveland.

As for Oakland, when up 2-0 over Ny they relaxed. BIG MISTAKE. The rest for them is pretty much the same as it was with Seattle. They lost not to a better team, but to a team that was coasting on a playoff reputation that is second to none.

Please note that this is not to say the NY is not a very talented club. They have an awesome starting pitching staff and one of the best shortstops in baseball. I just think that they got lucky this year to even get to the series. The D-backs weren't the best team either, but they did what they had to do to win it all.

As a friend of mine who is a Cubs fan ALWAYS says, "Wait 'til next year!!"

[Cipster]

OK I have to get in on this one. I think the Yankees won because they have better pitching AND got a little lucky.
The A's were a solo homer and a weird defensive play (and a bonehead baserunner) from beating the Yankees.
Zito pitches the game of his life but leaves a pitch up to Posada solo homer bye bye game.
Jeter made an amazing defensive play (I don't care what the Yankee coaches say 3 cut off men is just silly, he was NOT supposed to be there but that run was crucial and he took a gamble) and why didn't Giambi the lesser attempt a slide? Why? The on deck batter (Hernandez) looked like a drunk idiot at Dodger Stadium waving his arms and trying to start a wave.
The Mariners won a ton of games but pitcher for pitcher the Yankees had a better staff. Besides Freddy Garcia there was no great starting pitcher in the rotation (Moyer maybe). Who else? Paul Abott? Aaron Sele? John Halama? Please... El Duque, when healthy is a better pitcher than Sele, Halama and Abott put together. And I won't even bother mentioning Clemens, Mussina and Pettite (oops I just did).
In the WS the D-Backs had only 2 real weapons: Johnson and Schilling and they rode them as hard as they could.
I think playoffs do come down to pitching most of the time. The Yankees were in 11 one or two run ballgames this offseason (out of 17). They won 8 of those. That is part luck of course but it is also great pitching. They were blown out twice but all of the other games were well pitched games (2 blowouts in 17 games that is pretty good).
As far as Jeter being one of the best shortstops in the game. I should not even go there, his hitting and baserunning are good but despite the occasional spectacular play he is not a great shortstop. His range factor was 3.8 last year and his Zone Rating was .789. Mike Bordick had better range last year and a nearly identical Zone Rating (he's 36). Royce Clayton was better defensively too. The clincher: LOU MERLONI HAD BETTER RANGE AND A BETTER ZONE RATING.....
OK now that that's off my chest I can go take my medication now.

[dturkenk]

I don't think it can be boiled down to any one of those categories - as much as I'd love to pick the Red Sox always losing.

What happened this postseason is that the Yankees confined their mistakes to when they could afford to make them. Whereas in the past 3 years they made very few mistakes in the postseason, this year they made all their mistakes in bunches, causing a few embarassing blowouts, but also a lot of wins. Now, out of that list up there, I'd say that combines some experience, some talent, and probably a lot of luck.

[bigfly22]

Originally posted by Cipster
As far as Jeter being one of the best shortstops in the game. I should not even go there, his hitting and baserunning are good but despite the occasional spectacular play he is not a great shortstop. His range factor was 3.8 last year and his Zone Rating was .789. Mike Bordick had better range last year and a nearly identical Zone Rating (he's 36). Royce Clayton was better defensively too. The clincher: LOU MERLONI HAD BETTER RANGE AND A BETTER ZONE RATING.....

Even as a huge Mariners fan, even I can admit that Jeter is a great shortstop. He did have one of his worst seasons as a full-time pro. That still doesn't dispute his overall gameplay. He runs well, plays D well, hits to all fields (although 80% of the time it will be to the opposite field), and all the rest of the little intangibles that seperate the beer league players from the major league players.

I guess if you concentrate on one aspect of the game, you can almost always find someone who is better. Look at Vlad Guerrero. His arm is awesome, but as soon as you look at his fielding, that kind of takes away from having the best outfield arm since a certain 3000 hit man who died too early (Anyone know who this is?? Just a little trivia ;))

Anyhow, my point is that Jeter can be made to look like Royce Clayton or Mike Bordick if you narrow the looking glass, but if you really think that he is a player along the line of the two guys just mentioned, I want to be in a fantasy league with you because I'll trade you Royce Clayton AND Mike Bordick for Jeter anytime.

[hwt1313]

Reading all of these responses lead me to one connclusion. They all back the experience theory. The Yankees were feared because of their experience. The Mariners pressed to hard due to their lack of experience. The Yankees were able to come back and win after being blown out because of their experience. Derek Jeter was in the right place at the right time due to experience. They made mistakes when they could afford to, but not when it was critical due to their experience.

And they were beaten by a team that fielded some of the most experienced players in the league. Schilling and Johnson aren't exactly rookies out there.

I have found that the vast majority of players, regardless of talent, will succeed or fail under high pressure situation based on their experience. There will always be exceptions, and I'm sure everyone can name a few. But when the chips are on the line, who would you trust on the mound or at the plate? I'd pick the experienced veteran over the flashy rookie any day.

And by the way, the Baseball Gods don't have to help the Red Sox fans suffer. The Red Sox do that all by themselves. :)

[khan]

Clay, I think I've found the answer to your question.

pitching.


In real life:

Since 1990, 9 of the 11 teams that have reached the World Series from the NL side were in top 3 in the NL in regualr season ERA. Six of them were in the top 2.

I'll get back to you with the AL stats, but it seems pretty clear that dominant pitching, which can be determined by regular season ERA, is directly related to how far a team advances in the playoffs.

[dturkenk]

I'd be curious to know where the teams they beat stood in terms of pitching era to see whether this is a pattern.

[khan]

dturkenk-

Sorry, I didn't check that. But I got these stats off of Baseball-Reference.com. A very resourceful GM gave me that web address :). I think you know him.

What I'm focusing on his who reaches the WS. In BMO, its NOT usually the team that had one of the best ERA in its league. I'm trying to point out the contrast.

[willat]

Seattles record didn't matter, the Yankees pitching was flat out better. Then throw in that the Yankees have proven playoff performers that know what it takes to win, and that is why they defeated Seattle and almost won another World Series.

[ramsfan125]

I hate the Yankees a lot, but why does everybody in Boston hold such a grudge? The Yankees won the pennant because, well, they are the Yankees, they have the best talent, they have the best luck, and they DEFINITELY have the best owner.
Check out http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/readers/shockingNFL.html. It's unrelated to my point, but it's got a list of lists with readers e-mailing in. Here's a few Boston ballot stuffing moments.

#2 Most Beloved Baseball Player ever, Nomar Garciaparra: C'Mon, Nomar is definitely popular, but there is no way he's more popular than everybody except Kirby Puckett.

#1 Worst Call, Chuck Knoblauch's "phantom tag": A pathetic excuse to cry. This was ahead of so many horrible calls, I'm dumbfounded.

#1 Most Memorable Super Bowl moment, Patriots win the Super Bowl: Not baseball, but COME ON, look me in the eye and tell me this is more memorable than all others. There is Mike Jones' tackle 2 years prior, the other Super Bowl winning kick that WASN'T EVEN ON THE LIST, and others.

Baseball gods hating the Sox is a stupid crybaby excuse. Maybe I'm mistaken, but didn't Boston not even make the playoffs? Maybe I just don't understand.

[malpits]

with you ramsfan125, I am a Texas fan and I dont think we have every won the WS and we are having another bad season after we was surposed to get at least 1000 runs or something, but the thing is you will never hear a Texas fan saying the baseball gods hate us because there are none. The reason teams do well is to do with that little bit of luck (D.J. being in the right place at the right time), experance of when things are gonna happen and how to make big plays and also like with the NYY how other teams see you. 80% of the game in the playoffs is focas and control, its not often that you will see the NYY lose focas and because they have such a great team it means that they are even stronger. When a team lose's there focas they will lose a game.

The best reason that I can think of that Boston dont do as well as their fans would like could becaue of the pressure put on them and because I beleive there is a lack of faith in them selfs.