I remember another at-bat similar to that one - Dave Bergman of the Tigers vs the Blue Jays in 1984. After the 5th foul ball, I knew he was going yard. Just sticking the bat out there and poking away the pitches that were not The Pitch. IIRC it was 9 pitches, and the 9th one was a cookie, and Bergey ate that cookie. Into the right field seats it went, the crowd in the bar lost its collective mind, and that, my friends, was the moment we knew for certain that it was the Tigers year.
I thought it appropriate that after the Soto HR, they showed the Yankees GM in their loge. His job is to pay gazillions to whichever players the Yankees want.
Good luck. As for me, it's my wife asking if I prefer white asparagus or green asparagus. I usually say "peas or corn or both". To quote Babe Ruth "No thank you, ma'am, it makes my urine stink."
I wouldn't waste my time watching a series between two NY teams. I don't like the Dodgers but between these two I'd take them. I'm not watching that one either. The season is over for me. I'm moving on to college football.
I would also root for the Mets in that match-up, but I am actually considering rooting for the Yankees if they play the Dodgers. I could never stand the Dodger fans that showed up in Phoenix, and throwing shit onto the field after Profar took away a Dodger HR was way over the top. Add to that there is nearly always at least one fight in the stands at Dodger stadium every time I watch a Dodger game on tv, and I find myself rooting for whomever they play.
as you and pretty much everybody else on this forum knows, i would NEVER root for the Dodgers- if on the last day of season, a win by Dodgers would give the Giants the division title, i would be rooting for the team that LA is playing to lose!!!
i'd have to grin and bare it and root for the Yanks if it's NY-LA...
Good piece but the commentary on salaries was a bit too much. Salaries for the most part are a reflection on past accomplishments and less on current talent levels. I’m sure we’d all agree that if Bibee and Stanton were free agents at the end of the season, Bibee would be the higher paid player next season. Saying Stanton makes $31m more than Bibee makes Bibee seem like he is way less talented in that match-up
So Baseball is fine I guess? When no other major sport has this big of a dependency between payrolls? I'd be fine with just a salary floor at least. I understand that a huge payroll doesn't guarantee a world series. But it assures you are at least in the conversation. The "small" payrolls have to have everything go right and if they gamble on a high $$ free agent he has to hit or they are done. Where if the Yankees or Dodgers high $$ free agents bust? So what they'll just go get another one.
In Seattle we are in the 13th largest TV market in the country and our baseball team's total salary is roughly commensurate with that. If the MLB adopted a salary cap similar to the NFL cap we would have a lot more parity. But is that what we really want. One theme often seen in the blog from commenters is the lack of super teams. I think perhaps we want the Yankees to be the 1927 Yankees all the time so that when someone beats them in the post season it means more. I think NFL fans are Jonesing for more dynasties for the same reason. We want a bit more stability and a few super teams so we can root for David against Goliath. Then again, I may be completely wrong.
There already is more parity in MLB than in the NFL. Just look at the last 20 years of Super Bowl appearances and winners vs World Series appearances and winners. Also if you're rich enough to own a baseball team you're rich enough to pay players. Dolans are one of the wealthiest owners in baseball. They choose to not pay players.
Well, the. relative hard cap in the NFL means that the teams with the most cap space can compete financially for free agents. In baseball it is very difficult for most teams to compete for A-list free agents. The fact that baseball "haves" tend to overspend just means they have greater flexibility. Make a mistake, just write a another check. The Mariners spent their money on three mid level free agents and they all tanked offensively. We didn't have the budget to do anything until near the trading deadline when we could pick the bones of some mid-level teams that were "sellers" for three new mid level players that worked out but not in time to get us into the last wild card spot.
Respectfully the Mariners are one of the cheapest teams in the league. They could've spent WAY more on player salaries. They're budget is artificially low so the owners can make more money. They're not alone in this but they are one of the worst offenders. M's choose to spend approx. 40% of their revenue on payroll. Only 7 teams spend less. Start there not with a cap. https://x.com/Brooks_Gate/status/1813226032066884039
Not defending the Mariners because the problems are more than just the budget. Still, you have to be careful about these rabbit holes. For example, the Guardians are a better team on the field with a payroll that is not much more than half of the Mariners payroll. Not to mention that last year (2023) the Mets had the highest payroll in MLB but did not make the playoffs.
It appears you are a Twins fan. I am, sadly, a White Sox fan. So I kinda understand what you seem to be getting at here. I mean, last fall the owner of my favorite team literally scoffed at the very idea of pursuing the greatest free agent in the history of the game. But here's the thing: every owner of every team *could* spend like the Yankees and the Dodgers. Most of them just choose not to because they are greedy and don't care about fans or about truly trying to win every. single. year. I don't get hating big spending teams. That's what I want as a fan! What more could a fan ask for, really?
Specious argument. The Guardians' payroll is a factor in why they had no shot once it was 5 - 2.
But it doesn't explain--actually contraindicates--their being in extra innings of Game 5 of the ALCS in the first place.
And the World Series of Baseball Elites we're likely to get will be made up of teams whose largest recent ongoing stories have been why they haven't been to the World Series. Your complaint seems to be the same wealthy teams make it over and over. But the Dodgers and the Yankees will be the 8th and 9th different participants over the last five Series.
MLB is not the most popular sport in America, or even second-most. But that just may be because of the fact that the populace is clearly not as smart or as patient as it used to be. Anyway, MLB is doing just fine and can happily continue indefinitely at this level of revenue.
It is not doing well at that level of revenue. The haves win, the have nots don't. Oh, not all the haves win. But all the top winners are haves.
I looked at the last 6 full seasons (skipping the 2020 sixty game season with it's everyone gets in and plays all the rounds playoff format - though noted haves the Dodgers won that year as well) I took the top 10 (the top third) teams in full season payroll each years(per spotrac) and compared them to the bottom 20. First, we will look at regular season records, then playoffs.
We love to point out when high spending teams don't do well. The Mets in 2023, the Angels a few years before for a few years, etc. But over the last 6 years the sixty top ten teams have had a total .553 winning percentage. Those that are not have a .474. (Before you say that it is weighed down by the bottom tanking teams, save your breath. The Middle third in payroll is .477, and the bottom third is .471)
There have been 66 playoff teams. 35 of those have been from the top 10 payrolls (53.03% of all the playoff teams, 58.33% of all the top 10 teams make it) 31 Have been from the bottom 2/3rds. (46.97% of the playoff teams, 25.83% of the bottom 20 teams make it.)
It gets worse as the playoffs go on, though. This is because when the top ten payroll teams face a bottom 20 team in the playoffs, they win 78.6% of the time. (22-6)
As a result, 21 of the 24 teams (87.5%) that have made the LCS over the past 6 years have been top 10 payroll teams. This means having a top ten payroll the last 6 years has given you a 35% chance of making the LCS, and not having one gives you a 2.5% chance.
11 of the 12 World Series participants (91.7%) have been top ten payroll teams (Thanks 2023 Diamondbacks - which many people complained about as they barely made the playoffs) This works out to an 18.3% chance of a top ten team making the World series, and a 0.8% chance if you are not. All 6 winners, no matter who wins this year, will be top 10 payroll teams, so 10% of all the top 10 payroll teams have won. 0% of those who are not.
So yeah, 9 of the 12 participants in the World Series have been "different" but they have all but one have been the same. They are almost exclusively the high spending teams.
Baseball has no parity. Baseball has a pronounced disparity, both in payroll, and in wins based upon payroll. It is worse than it has ever been in the past, and it doesn't look to be getting better anytime soon. You buy your titles here, and every time someone tries to buy one and it doesn't work, or anytime a lower payroll team who is usually competitive happens over a period, people who just don't know any better say "See? Payroll is not the problem". It is most definitely is THE problem and THE indicator of who is going to win. Don't place a preseason bet on a non top ten payroll team to win the World Series. You might as well just burn your money.
Why would any MLB fan care whether the sport is most popular, 3rd most popular, or 100th most popular? Does the popularity of the sport you are watching add anything to the enjoyment? What difference does it make?
What the app didn't show you is that the set-up target for that fastball was higher than where the pitch ended up. Gaddis missed his spot. Had he hit it, perhaps Cleveland survives the top of the 10th inning.
Exactly the same as Bibee. It was a battle in both cases. They both made a bad pitch in a long ab. It's what major leaguers try to do. Extend it by fouling off pitches until they get one they can handle. It's not just the great ones although they obviously do it better.
Honestly stopped, reading. I get it, baseball players make lots of money and the Yankees spend more on payroll than Cleveland. Life is tough sometimes.
Soto, though, makes it look hard. He grinds. He fouls off pitches. He works the count. I say Joe is Shohei with things seemingly easy yet the results are magically brilliant. Do I think Ohtani and Poz work hard on their crafts? Of course. They just make it feel like an easy flow.
Brilliant.. Joe your the best
Well, Perfesser, here comes the Sensei of Swat. Let the Game begin …
Absolute genius. All by itself worth the annual subscription.
I remember another at-bat similar to that one - Dave Bergman of the Tigers vs the Blue Jays in 1984. After the 5th foul ball, I knew he was going yard. Just sticking the bat out there and poking away the pitches that were not The Pitch. IIRC it was 9 pitches, and the 9th one was a cookie, and Bergey ate that cookie. Into the right field seats it went, the crowd in the bar lost its collective mind, and that, my friends, was the moment we knew for certain that it was the Tigers year.
Brilliant writing! I started feeling anxious again for Gaddis and Soto!!
I thought it appropriate that after the Soto HR, they showed the Yankees GM in their loge. His job is to pay gazillions to whichever players the Yankees want.
He is aptly named: Brian CA$HMAN.
SF Giants relief pitcher with a wicked slider struck out Miguel Cabrera with a mediocre fastball in the World Series.
Yep. Miggy was looking slider all the way.
The commentators did not seem to know it was gone when he hit it.
i'm just hoping the Mets come back and take the Dodgers, a Yanks-Mets Series would be fascinating! (and of course i'd be rooting for the Mets)
But alas, not to be.
yeah, i know- just saw the lowlights (can't call them highlights, since it involves a Dodger victory)
so for 1st time ever, i will be rooting for the Yankees, i hope they sweep!
Good luck. As for me, it's my wife asking if I prefer white asparagus or green asparagus. I usually say "peas or corn or both". To quote Babe Ruth "No thank you, ma'am, it makes my urine stink."
I wouldn't waste my time watching a series between two NY teams. I don't like the Dodgers but between these two I'd take them. I'm not watching that one either. The season is over for me. I'm moving on to college football.
Not much of a baseball fan so we ain't gonna miss ya!
Awww..
You're right though. I've only watched 168 Guardians games this year. I missed one.
Guardians fan.
Not baseball fan.
I would also root for the Mets in that match-up, but I am actually considering rooting for the Yankees if they play the Dodgers. I could never stand the Dodger fans that showed up in Phoenix, and throwing shit onto the field after Profar took away a Dodger HR was way over the top. Add to that there is nearly always at least one fight in the stands at Dodger stadium every time I watch a Dodger game on tv, and I find myself rooting for whomever they play.
as you and pretty much everybody else on this forum knows, i would NEVER root for the Dodgers- if on the last day of season, a win by Dodgers would give the Giants the division title, i would be rooting for the team that LA is playing to lose!!!
i'd have to grin and bare it and root for the Yanks if it's NY-LA...
My chosen reaction to a NYY - LAD Series will be apathy. But for the time being, GOOOOOO Mets!
Good piece but the commentary on salaries was a bit too much. Salaries for the most part are a reflection on past accomplishments and less on current talent levels. I’m sure we’d all agree that if Bibee and Stanton were free agents at the end of the season, Bibee would be the higher paid player next season. Saying Stanton makes $31m more than Bibee makes Bibee seem like he is way less talented in that match-up
Yankees' Payroll: $260,231,924
Guardians' Payroll: $ 50,835,031
And we wonder why MLB is battling Hockey for the 3rd most popular sport.
Enjoy your "World" Series "Baseball Elites"
Baseball players get more of the money than in other sports. Why are you in favor of less money for the players & more for the owners?
So Baseball is fine I guess? When no other major sport has this big of a dependency between payrolls? I'd be fine with just a salary floor at least. I understand that a huge payroll doesn't guarantee a world series. But it assures you are at least in the conversation. The "small" payrolls have to have everything go right and if they gamble on a high $$ free agent he has to hit or they are done. Where if the Yankees or Dodgers high $$ free agents bust? So what they'll just go get another one.
In Seattle we are in the 13th largest TV market in the country and our baseball team's total salary is roughly commensurate with that. If the MLB adopted a salary cap similar to the NFL cap we would have a lot more parity. But is that what we really want. One theme often seen in the blog from commenters is the lack of super teams. I think perhaps we want the Yankees to be the 1927 Yankees all the time so that when someone beats them in the post season it means more. I think NFL fans are Jonesing for more dynasties for the same reason. We want a bit more stability and a few super teams so we can root for David against Goliath. Then again, I may be completely wrong.
There already is more parity in MLB than in the NFL. Just look at the last 20 years of Super Bowl appearances and winners vs World Series appearances and winners. Also if you're rich enough to own a baseball team you're rich enough to pay players. Dolans are one of the wealthiest owners in baseball. They choose to not pay players.
Well, the. relative hard cap in the NFL means that the teams with the most cap space can compete financially for free agents. In baseball it is very difficult for most teams to compete for A-list free agents. The fact that baseball "haves" tend to overspend just means they have greater flexibility. Make a mistake, just write a another check. The Mariners spent their money on three mid level free agents and they all tanked offensively. We didn't have the budget to do anything until near the trading deadline when we could pick the bones of some mid-level teams that were "sellers" for three new mid level players that worked out but not in time to get us into the last wild card spot.
Respectfully the Mariners are one of the cheapest teams in the league. They could've spent WAY more on player salaries. They're budget is artificially low so the owners can make more money. They're not alone in this but they are one of the worst offenders. M's choose to spend approx. 40% of their revenue on payroll. Only 7 teams spend less. Start there not with a cap. https://x.com/Brooks_Gate/status/1813226032066884039
Not defending the Mariners because the problems are more than just the budget. Still, you have to be careful about these rabbit holes. For example, the Guardians are a better team on the field with a payroll that is not much more than half of the Mariners payroll. Not to mention that last year (2023) the Mets had the highest payroll in MLB but did not make the playoffs.
It appears you are a Twins fan. I am, sadly, a White Sox fan. So I kinda understand what you seem to be getting at here. I mean, last fall the owner of my favorite team literally scoffed at the very idea of pursuing the greatest free agent in the history of the game. But here's the thing: every owner of every team *could* spend like the Yankees and the Dodgers. Most of them just choose not to because they are greedy and don't care about fans or about truly trying to win every. single. year. I don't get hating big spending teams. That's what I want as a fan! What more could a fan ask for, really?
The White Sox have been in the World Series more recently than the Yankees.
No longer true
Explain how 2005 is more recent than 2009. Is that like a time-space continuum thing?
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/cleveland-guardians-new-york-yankees-alcs-mlb-rcna175762
Specious argument. The Guardians' payroll is a factor in why they had no shot once it was 5 - 2.
But it doesn't explain--actually contraindicates--their being in extra innings of Game 5 of the ALCS in the first place.
And the World Series of Baseball Elites we're likely to get will be made up of teams whose largest recent ongoing stories have been why they haven't been to the World Series. Your complaint seems to be the same wealthy teams make it over and over. But the Dodgers and the Yankees will be the 8th and 9th different participants over the last five Series.
MLB is not the most popular sport in America, or even second-most. But that just may be because of the fact that the populace is clearly not as smart or as patient as it used to be. Anyway, MLB is doing just fine and can happily continue indefinitely at this level of revenue.
It is not doing well at that level of revenue. The haves win, the have nots don't. Oh, not all the haves win. But all the top winners are haves.
I looked at the last 6 full seasons (skipping the 2020 sixty game season with it's everyone gets in and plays all the rounds playoff format - though noted haves the Dodgers won that year as well) I took the top 10 (the top third) teams in full season payroll each years(per spotrac) and compared them to the bottom 20. First, we will look at regular season records, then playoffs.
We love to point out when high spending teams don't do well. The Mets in 2023, the Angels a few years before for a few years, etc. But over the last 6 years the sixty top ten teams have had a total .553 winning percentage. Those that are not have a .474. (Before you say that it is weighed down by the bottom tanking teams, save your breath. The Middle third in payroll is .477, and the bottom third is .471)
There have been 66 playoff teams. 35 of those have been from the top 10 payrolls (53.03% of all the playoff teams, 58.33% of all the top 10 teams make it) 31 Have been from the bottom 2/3rds. (46.97% of the playoff teams, 25.83% of the bottom 20 teams make it.)
It gets worse as the playoffs go on, though. This is because when the top ten payroll teams face a bottom 20 team in the playoffs, they win 78.6% of the time. (22-6)
As a result, 21 of the 24 teams (87.5%) that have made the LCS over the past 6 years have been top 10 payroll teams. This means having a top ten payroll the last 6 years has given you a 35% chance of making the LCS, and not having one gives you a 2.5% chance.
11 of the 12 World Series participants (91.7%) have been top ten payroll teams (Thanks 2023 Diamondbacks - which many people complained about as they barely made the playoffs) This works out to an 18.3% chance of a top ten team making the World series, and a 0.8% chance if you are not. All 6 winners, no matter who wins this year, will be top 10 payroll teams, so 10% of all the top 10 payroll teams have won. 0% of those who are not.
So yeah, 9 of the 12 participants in the World Series have been "different" but they have all but one have been the same. They are almost exclusively the high spending teams.
Baseball has no parity. Baseball has a pronounced disparity, both in payroll, and in wins based upon payroll. It is worse than it has ever been in the past, and it doesn't look to be getting better anytime soon. You buy your titles here, and every time someone tries to buy one and it doesn't work, or anytime a lower payroll team who is usually competitive happens over a period, people who just don't know any better say "See? Payroll is not the problem". It is most definitely is THE problem and THE indicator of who is going to win. Don't place a preseason bet on a non top ten payroll team to win the World Series. You might as well just burn your money.
Why would any MLB fan care whether the sport is most popular, 3rd most popular, or 100th most popular? Does the popularity of the sport you are watching add anything to the enjoyment? What difference does it make?
As a Mets fan, I take solace in the fact that the Yankees will lose the World Series, regardless of what happens to the Mets.
I sure would like to make a wager with you. What odds are you offering? (since you're SO sure)
What the app didn't show you is that the set-up target for that fastball was higher than where the pitch ended up. Gaddis missed his spot. Had he hit it, perhaps Cleveland survives the top of the 10th inning.
Exactly the same as Bibee. It was a battle in both cases. They both made a bad pitch in a long ab. It's what major leaguers try to do. Extend it by fouling off pitches until they get one they can handle. It's not just the great ones although they obviously do it better.
Honestly stopped, reading. I get it, baseball players make lots of money and the Yankees spend more on payroll than Cleveland. Life is tough sometimes.
“Two runners on the base” is a very charming typo. Makes it sound like it was written in 1895.
Joe you are the Soto of writing. Another amazing piece.
Soto, though, makes it look hard. He grinds. He fouls off pitches. He works the count. I say Joe is Shohei with things seemingly easy yet the results are magically brilliant. Do I think Ohtani and Poz work hard on their crafts? Of course. They just make it feel like an easy flow.