MLB Week in Review (October 11-17)
The MLB postseason is winding down as the World Series teams have been determined and the final series of the season gets underway next week. As the end gets closer the MLB may have just been through one of the best postseasons in recent history. It may not be that way when someone just looks at the series on paper with no series going over 5 games yet. Looking at it from the records a one it seems as though the teams are running through the postseason. At a certain level it is true as the Kansas City Royals have yet to lose in the postseason while the San Francisco Giants have only one loss this October. The two teams vying for the World Series seem to have run the table and found their way to the World Series as a pair of teams that are clearly the best teams in the league. Still that doesn’t tell the whole story of this postseason as the majority of the games have been extremely close. There have been a few blowouts where teams have dominated their opponents while most games have been a close back and forth affair where one mistake could have changed the outcome. With 6 extra innings games including an 18 inning game in the NLDS and most other games finishing within one run there have been plenty of close games. With teams playing fairly even baseball this postseason has seen some great moments and the close games have made it one of the best postseasons in recent memory. Still the Giants and the Royals are in the World Series and they will look to continue a run that has rarely been seen in the postseason. The new system in the postseason was supposed to provide more teams with a chance at making the postseason and providing more teams with a chance at the World Series. It has done exactly that this year as two wild card teams are now facing off for the World Championship. Kansas City and San Francisco both fell short on their bids to win the division but were given a second chance with their ability to clinch wild card spots in the ending weeks of the season. Both teams made it through the wild card game and into the division series. Through that round of the postseason neither team lost a game sweeping through their opponents even if it meant that they had to go to extra innings to get there with the Royals going 11 innings twice and the Giants going 18 innings in one of their games. Despite the fact that both teams had their battles in close games they still swept the series and moved into the Championship Series. They continued their run through the rest of the teams in the next round. The Royals continued to be the hottest team in baseball again not losing a game in the ALCS making it an undefeated postseason for the Royals. The Giants did not have the same success but they were fairly close only losing one game in the entire series. They still finished the Cardinals in five games and move on to another appearance in the World Series. Both teams again did not have the easiest time finishing off their opponents despite the short series as it took some very close games for both the Royals and the Giants. It has been a great postseason so far and come next week the new series begins with two similar teams. Both teams were not supposed to be here at this point in the postseason as they started from the toughest spot in the postseason. Yet both have shown that they are truly the best teams in the MLB rarely putting themselves in any big danger. Instead they have come through the close games and found their way to the World Series where they look to complete a great postseason in what could be a great final series.
Extra Innings
(More on the week that was in the MLB)
New Skipper in Texas
The Texas Rangers were shocked when their long-time manager Ron Washington left the team to be with his family after he had cheated on his wife but the Rangers will look to start a new path after hiring Jeff Banister to be the Rangers’ new manager
Pace of Play Test
As the MLB looks to continue to improve their game and make their game more fan friendly they are testing out new pace of play rules, including a 20-second pitch clock, in the Arizona Fall league where games are now taking two hours to play
New Era at Wrigley
Wrigley Field is one of the legendary ballparks in the MLB and just celebrated its 100th anniversary but after the season-long party the ballpark is going through a facelift with a new scoreboard going in and new bleachers going in as the renovation started this week
The Sport Addiction 