2021 MLB Playoffs Thread

It ticks me off that 13 teams have made it to at least one World Series since the Yankees were last in it. Including the Detroit Tigers and multiple appearances by the Royals and Rangers. That is out of whack. Put another way, only 15 teams have a longer World Series drought than the Yankees.

I'm tired of participation trophies even if Hal and Randy and Lon et al can't look up from counting revenue long enough to notice.

Anyway, out of the remaining contestants my first impulse is anybody but Boston. I could live with either Tampa Bay or Chicago.

I would enjoy seeing the Dodgers get dumped. I'm okay with the Giants because they're such an unlikely crew. If they win it all it would be the fourth time in 12 years. That’s an impressive quasi-dynasty.

I always root for the AL unless it's Boston. Or now Houston. And they are genetically NL.

Just to screw over Manfred and the swine who run MLB, I wouldn't mind a Tampa Bay-Milwaukee Series just for the low ratings it would generate.

Mainly I'm steamed at another early exit by our heroes.

The people who run this team seem like soulless humanoids. Like some shadowy global crime syndicate.

I know I'm just morning-after angry. For the eleventh consecutive year!

Glad I can sit back and enjoy playoffs now.

As far I'm concerned the season doesn't exist if the Yankees aren't playing.

What makes this worse is all the other AL teams are annoying except the White Sox.

Really wanted the Yankees to get another crack at the Rays in the DS you never know what could happen in a short series and they prob had a good chance at the White Sox and Astors winner because they had played well against both teams all year.

On top of this look at my Facebook suggested post today I don't want to see this garbage

You’ve certainly captured my mood in your post, Pipps.  I’ve always had a soft spot for the San Francisco Giants, except during the Bonds’ years.  I love the Bay Area, and wish I could afford to still live there.  I’ll be rooting for them.   In years past, I’ve always pulled for the AL East or whichever team had defeated the Yankees.  My dearly departed friend and life-long Yankee aficionado Joe did not understand that sentiment, and I totally comprehended his point of view, but it’s been an idiosyncrasy for me since I was a boy - sort of a tacit claim to have lost only to the team that took the crown.  

Normally, my southern, Gulf-coast boyhood proximity would have me cheering for the Astros, but the systematic cheating by Boston and Houston have changed both of those prior stances.  Tampa Bay is just too damn lucky for their own good.  So many calls go their way, so many two-out hits, injuries and poor starting pitching haven’t derailed them, that abomination of a ballpark, their non-existent fan base, and the intentional Spring-training injuring play at the plate of a 22 year old Francisco Cervelli will never leave my mind.  

Not certain if you were around and posting when the Hal-way of “new, responsible ownership” took over after the death of George. Some Yankee fans lap-dog happy about the newfound “fiscal restraint” as if a sound, monetary policy was the goal, rather than winning a World Series.  The bargain-basement billion dollar Bronx Bombers were born and here we are.  One thing the consummately unlikable ARod said last night had me shaking my head in agreement:  “The Yankees need to get back to being the “Fat Yankees” and stop trying to be the Rays.”  That and start valuing wins rather than rest, as if a pre-set calendar trumps the circumstances on the field, on the roster, and in the clubhouse.  Put together a balanced lineup, because I just don’t get rooting for a fiscal policy or how well a team has balanced a checkbook.

I am agree about the Rays it doesn't make any sense to me. They get rid of their best players all the time yet still can be competitive. However I think the media overrates them too because even though they seem to have a lot of regular season success they've only made it out of the alds twice in their history.

I heard A-Rod make that remark about the Yankees not being the Rays. He also added "they're not that smart." Hard to argue that point.

It doesn't seem to me that Rays GM Erik Neander gets much publicity. He's been in that position for five years, and over the last four, the Rays have exactly two fewer wins than the Yankees. Only four teams have a lower payroll. And it's not like they've been getting high draft picks over the past six or seven years.

I don't have the inclination to figure out how they do it. They do have a knack for getting rid of pitchers at the exact right time -- James Shields, David Price, Jake Odorizzi, Chris Archer, possibly even Blake Snell. From last season, with a 40-20 record, they got rid of Snell and Charlie Morton, lost Tyler Glasnow to injury early in the year, dumped Rich Hill before the trade deadline -- and carried on as if nothing happened.

The 1-2-3 hitters in that lineup last weekend weren't even on the roster at the start of 2020. It's hard to make sense of it.

Neander is only 38 years old. He looks like all those other Boy Wonder GMs of recent years-- Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, Ben Cherington. I haven't figured out where the production facility is yet.

One last payroll comment. When the Yankees were far outspending anybody else, it was a daily topic of conversation on sports shows. Since the Dodgers became the game's big spenders, it isn't such an issue. The Dodgers payroll for 2021 was listed as 267 million. The Yankees are second at 203 million. The combined payrolls of the Yankees and Rays is 274 million, barely more than the Dodgers.

So yeah, time for Hal to pry open that vault that The Boss left for him and write checks with lots of zeroes.