Rockies in the Series - How?
Everyone now knows that the Rockies have amassed an amazing winning streak to make it to the World Series for the first time in their history. There are two reasons they managed it, and because of them baseball needs to re-think interleague play. The National League East Division, West Division, and Wild Card races came down to a very close contest among six teams. The Braves faded near the end of the season, but the Mets, Phillies, Rockies, Diamondbacks and Padres all contended until the final days of the season. An epic collapse by the Mets, accompanied by a sudden meteoric winning streak by the Rockies enabled the Phillies to get into the post-season and the Rockies tied the Padres and won the one-game playoff.
Here is the bone of contention: without interleague play, the Rockies would not have been close enough to tie the Padres. In regular-season play against American League teams, the Rockies went 10-8, whereas the Padres went 6-9, Diamondbacks 8-7, Mets 8-7, Phillies 8-7 and Braves 4-11. Significantly, the Rockies had BY FAR the easiest set of interleague opponents. The combined records of the Braves' opponents totaled 455-355, making their schedule the hardest. The Braves even had to play the Red Sox twice and the Indians. In difficulty, the Mets played teams that totaled 431-379, making their schedule second-hardest. Guess who got to play both the Royals and the Devil Rays and the Orioles en route to the easiest interleague schedule among contending teams? That's right: the Rockies played AL teams with a combined losing record of 477-495 and took full advantage of this ease. Without the two-tiered playoff system, the Rockies' regular-season record would not have put them in the playoffs, nor would they be in the World Series without interleague play.
Interleague games should not count toward teams' records because they are not even remotely fair in their apportionment. Yet, as we see now, an easy interleague schedule can make all of the difference between a team going home early and putting on championship rings.
Here is the bone of contention: without interleague play, the Rockies would not have been close enough to tie the Padres. In regular-season play against American League teams, the Rockies went 10-8, whereas the Padres went 6-9, Diamondbacks 8-7, Mets 8-7, Phillies 8-7 and Braves 4-11. Significantly, the Rockies had BY FAR the easiest set of interleague opponents. The combined records of the Braves' opponents totaled 455-355, making their schedule the hardest. The Braves even had to play the Red Sox twice and the Indians. In difficulty, the Mets played teams that totaled 431-379, making their schedule second-hardest. Guess who got to play both the Royals and the Devil Rays and the Orioles en route to the easiest interleague schedule among contending teams? That's right: the Rockies played AL teams with a combined losing record of 477-495 and took full advantage of this ease. Without the two-tiered playoff system, the Rockies' regular-season record would not have put them in the playoffs, nor would they be in the World Series without interleague play.
Interleague games should not count toward teams' records because they are not even remotely fair in their apportionment. Yet, as we see now, an easy interleague schedule can make all of the difference between a team going home early and putting on championship rings.
posted by Bountyhawk at 2:26 PM
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