The New Ballgame: Understanding Baseball Statistics for the Casual Fan Read Online Free PDF Page B

single game,
or even a single play. The margin can be razor thin-so thin, that on several
unforgettable occasions, the defining moment has been determined not by a
clutch hit or a player's gaffe, but by an umpire's call or a fan's interference
with a catchable ball. If you have any skepticism about this, just see how long
it takes any fan of the St. Louis Cardinals or Kansas City Royals to recognize
the name of Don Denkinger, any fan of the Chicago Cubs or Florida Marlins
to recognize the name of Steve Bartman, any fan of the New York Yankees
or Baltimore Orioles to recognize the name of Jeffrey Maier. You will not,
however, find these names on your stat sheets.
    Major League Baseball began allowing second-place teams (Wild Card
teams) into the postseason in 1995 as part of its recovery plan from the destructive 1994 players' strike and canceled World Series. In the first twelve seasons under that system, the team with the best record in baseball for the
regular season made it to the World Series just five times and won it only
once (and not since 1998). Only twice have the teams with the best American
League and National League records faced each other in the World Series
(and not since 1999).

    In contrast, Wild Card teams have reached the World Series seven times
(five straight from 2002 to 2006) and won four, including each year from
2002 (when both World Series teams, Anaheim and San Francisco, were Wild
Card teams) through 2004.
    Some see injustice in this. They speak of the integrity of the 162-game
schedule and tradition. From the first World Series in 1903 through 1968,
only the most successful team from each league qualified for the postseason.
From 1969 to 1993, World Series teams first had to be division winners (only
two divisions per league then). These traditionalists are outraged that today,
teams not good enough to even win one of three divisions in their league can
win the ultimate prize just by going on a hot streak.
    Others see poetic justice in this. The New York Yankees, who buy new
stars annually with a payroll twice, even five times, greater than other teams,
have won their division almost every year (ten of twelve and every season
since 1998), but have not won a World Series since 2000. Those who are
happy about this speak of the integrity of the seven-game series-that you
can't buy a World Series, at least not with a money-back guarantee.
    The grid on the following page shows how the World Series actually
played out over the last twelve years versus how it would have been under
the old rules.

    Eleven different franchises have played for the World Series in the past
seven years. Only the Yankees and Cardinals have played in more than one
of those. Every one of those Series would have had a different match-up if
only the teams with the best record in each league had advanced to the Fall
Classic.

    Say this for MLB's Wild Card system-the Wild Card is always a good
team. In contrast, by letting more than half of their teams into the playoffs,
the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League create faux
drama for sub-.500 teams struggling to reach the postseason, where they are
promptly eliminated in front of fans who paid double the regular season ticket
prices.
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
    Fans get pumped up over the game's great rivalries (Yankees-Red Sox, Dodgers-Giants, Cubs-Cardinals). They argue passionately about who is the best
player (Albert Pujols? Alex Rodriguez? Barry Bonds? Derek Jeter?). But the
debates that always go extra innings are the ones about the players and teams
who are the best ever. The fascinating fuss over whether Bonds used steroids
is exponentially louder because he has achieved home run records that elevate him to the ranks of Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.
    After death and taxes, the most inevitable fact of life is that baseball
fans will argue the answers to questions like these: Who is the greatest lefthanded pitcher?