Hey, maybe you've heard, the MLB playoffs start this week. I'm picking who you think I'm picking.
AL Wild Card: Boston
NL Wild Card: Los Angeles
There's not much analysis to do in a coin flip game, I'm picking the home teams.
AL: Tampa over Boston
Houston over Chicago
Tampa over Houston
The Rays were solidly the best team in the AL this season, that doesn't mean they necessarily go over, Altuve/Correa/Bregman is dangerous in any series, but there's no reason not to take the best team.
NL: San Francisco over LA
Atlanta over Milwaukee
San Francisco over Atlanta
World Series: San Francisco over Tampa
Okay. The best team is the Dodgers; if you were ranking, the Giants are closer to the next group than they are to the Dodgers; it's an organization on an unbelievable roll; they had 109 pythagorean wins this season, coming off a World Championship, coming multiple 100+ pythagorean seasons. Anyone picking the Dodgers is making a good decision; I pick them to win the pennant every season.
But....I'm a Giants fan; and if we had won 90 games and were sitting in the knockout round, I would not pick the Giants - but the Giants won 107 games and if you're a Giants fan and the Giants win 107 games you pick the Giants.
The season is a success regardless of outcome; the Giants had a .635 pythagorean winning %, their highest since 1917, it is the best regular season Giants team since the move west by a solid margin, .608 (3 way tie) was the best prior mark. It's absolutely true that anything less than a title will be disappoining, a loss to LA will be particularly bitter - but in the long sweep of history, a 107 win regular season will sit on top of the baseball reference page for a while.
And if we close this out? I mean...
