Fox airs the World Series.
In that case, I’ll root for the worst possible TV match-up they could get. That’s probably KC-St. Louis at this point.
Actually that’s what I was rooting for in any case.
The more I watch these four teams in the playoffs, the more I think that none of them are actually any good.
And I’m a big Giants fan.
Just wondering- if we get a Cardinals/Royals rematch, will Don Denkinger come out of retirement to umpire the first game?
Ah, I disagree. Cards and Giants are unspectacular, old-school, tough, fundamental teams. Neither one is going to give away runs; scoring is only going to happen on mistakes. So it might look like they are playing worse overall than it seems.
A zillion tight, scoreless innings so far is what tells the tale.
Go Jints. Six wins to the end…
I don’t think they’re terrible teams, by any stretch, but on balance these are probably the 4th and 5th best teams in the National League.
Well, if you go by regular-season record, they were the 3rd and 5th best teams in the League. But that’s why they have playoffs. The Giants were by no means the ‘best’ team in 2010 or 2012, but they won the games they had to win in October.
That was pretty much the Giants entire strategy for this year, actually: “Get into the playoffs by any means necessary, and then just win 11[sup]*[/sup] games”
*12 with the Wild Card…I *do *hope they factored that in…
Looks like the Giants. They’re the best post-season team in recent years.
I am not sure how much of a Royals fan you are - they had the best win loss record in baseball after the all star game last year, and only fell out of contention two weeks out from the play offs
Some teams would kill for a season that good
It helps when a team loses 3/5 of its starting rotation.
So what?
If it was about the “best team(s)” measured by win/loss in the season, the Nats would have taken the trophy and we’d all be waiting for spring. Or the League series would be the Nats and the Dodgers, none of this division playoff/wild card nonsense.
As much as I hate the continuing watering-down of the playoff format, the short format (compared to hockey or basketball) turns it into a chance for the two or four “best teams” to really get down and prove their stuff. If the “best” teams find themselves on the bench after the first round, well… that says something, doesn’t it?
I am vehemently opposed to the second Wild Card team, though, and having it be the Giants (technically) doesn’t change that. I am happy this year because the Giants are in the running by the original wild-card rules - SF and Pittsburgh would have had to play that tiebreaker game anyway.
But I’d just as soon see the wild card left to lesser sports, and if we have to have three divisions, make it a three-way shootout with rotational play.
It’s one hell of a pennant series, though. Equally matched teams of the same type, slugging it out bare knuckles and 90 feet at a time.
AB: How would “rotational play” work?
There are different scenarios. It is a little tricky to maintain a reasonable schedule, without excessive travel or delays and reasonably even distribution among the home stadiums.
If MLB would be willing to let the third team take an unequal share of home games, it could be:
(2) B at A
(2) C at A
(2) C at B
(2) A at B
(2) A at C
(2) B at C
(1) 2nd-place at 1st-place (determined by home wins, then runs scored, then least runs allowed)
First 5-game winner gets the pennant. Minimum would be 7 games, maximum would be 13 games. Best team has greatest advantage.
I’m sure the sabre-wielders will be all over this. 
Which is all pure fantasy-league stuff, because no team is going to agree to an away-only playoff, even if it’s their only option.
Historical oddity: Dodgers vs. Giants vs. Yankees, June 26, 1944. Final score: Dodgers 5, Yankees 1, Giants 0.
AB: You’ve already acknowledged how terrible your plan is. I just noticed a fatal flaw: total wins are irrelevant in your scheme.
Just face it, baseball evolved while you weren’t looking.
The Royals may not be as good as they’ve played these past 8 games, but you can’t play much better baseball than they have been in the playoffs. I can’t see how a takeaway from watching them in the playoffs could be that they aren’t actually any good 
Something very silly that I’ve noticed a lot of people do is completely discount playoff games when talking about records.
If anything, playoff games should be more meaningful, not less!
So the Royals are not 89-73. The Royals are 97-73, with 8 of those games against extra strong competition. Far better than the Tigers for the season as a whole. The Angels are still 98-67, so the Royals haven’t caught them. But 101 wins would look mighty impressive for an overall season resume.
Saw that this year has the second lowest combined REGULAR SEASON win total for WS participants.
On the same subject as my previous post, consider the overall season records. Here are the best teams in each of 2010 and 2012:
2010 Giants 103-74
2010 Phillies 102-69
2010 Yankees 100-71
2010 Rays 98-69
The Giants trail only the Phillies if these were regular season records. But it’s not like the Phillies were ahead by much. The Giants had the 3 headed monster of Lincecum, Cain, and Bumgarner when they were all good, and Buster Posey was a midseason addition that vastly improved them.
2012 Giants 105-73
2012 Nationals 100-67
2012 Reds 99-68
In terms of standings, the 2012 Giants are a half game back of the Nationals. So even if we were to say that playoff games are exactly as meaningful as regular season games, they are in a dead heat as to the best team in baseball. If the playoffs are extra at all, the Giants are the best.
The reason their record looks so good is because of playoff domination; and that counts when you want the best measure of how good a team is.
The 2014 teams aren’t going to catch up in the standings though:
2014 Orioles 99-70
2014 Angels 98-67
2014 Nationals 97-69
2014 Royals 97-73
2014 Giants 96-76
2014 Dodgers 95-71
The Giants would have to sweep the Royals just to catch up to the Dodgers in the standings, and can’t possibly catch the Angels, Orioles, or Nationals. The Royals can’t catch the Angels, but can come within a half game of the Orioles. Not the best teams over the year, but depending how it plays out they can make it close.