World Series Game 5: Cinderella vs Potential Dynasty

Image Credit: MLB.com

By: Kai Jones

The MLB postseason, like other professional sports postseason, are always exciting. Anything can happen: careers can be made and legacies can become stained at any instant. Reggie Jackson batted a humdrum .262, while he does have a membership to the highly acclaimed 500-homerun club, so does Harmon Killebrew (.256 batting average)- don’t know the name? Killebrew and Jackson have similar stats, and similar accolades, but what sets the two apart? The reason you don’t know Killebrew, aside from generation differences, is because Jackson is known as “Mr. October” and has 2 World Series MVPs to validate his name. Killebrew never won a World Series ring. And poor Bill Buckner forever lives in infamy for one moment, despite the fact that he was an above average player. Postseason performance can highly impact the legacy of an athlete.

And Pablo Sandoval of the Giants has caught my eye the most, considering the fact that he leads the NL Champion Giants in batting average. But this comes as no surprise considering the fact that MVP of the 2012 World Series. Sandoval is solidifying himself as a great postseason player after having a bad 2010 playoff run. Hunter Pence is also revitalizing his playoff legacy hitting as he is tied for most RBI’s on the Giants; he had a subpar 2012 postseason. These two plus the pitching of Madison Bumgarner and Yusmeiro Petit have the Giants in the World Series locked in a tight battle with the Cinderella Kansas City Royals. The Royals have been led by their bullpen and the play of Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain. The teams took two similar paths, although of course different.

The Giants haven’t dominated quite like the Royals, but they have played well throughout the playoffs. While the Royals sweated it out in a 12-inning thriller against the Athletics, the Giants jumped on the Pirates in the 4^th inning and coasted to an 8-0 win. The Giants then played a young talented Nationals team in the Division Series; they of course won in 4 games, but all 3 wins came in one run games. The Giants then moved on to face the savvy St. Louis Cardinals; in the 5 games, every game was decided by 3 runs or less. Their resilience has come in handy versus the hot Royals.

The Royals came into the World Series on an 8 game win streak. After the Royals snuck past the Athletics, they faced the extravagant Angels. The Royals showed grit in the first two games, as both went eleven innings. The Royals then handled the Angels, 8-3 in the final game of the sweep. The Royals then had to face the Baltimore Orioles, a group similar to them in roster make up. The Orioles came in off of their sweep of postseason favorites Tigers. While the Royals swept the Orioles, every game was decided by 2 runs or less. While this postseason has been great, it seems like something is missing.

What are missing are the two biggest teams in the Major Leagues: the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Then if their absence isn’t enough, how about the postseason disappointments of the Tigers, Athletics, Dodgers, and Angels. The Tigers and Athletics were thought to be the AL favorites after acquisitions of David Price and Jon Lester, respectively. The Angels and Dodgers were the big market teams who had big payrolls, and both failed to even make the Championship Series. Going back to legacy, the Dodger’s pitching ace Clayton Kershaw has 11 postseason games under his belt, but only one win and 5.12 ERA in the postseason. Kershaw a 2-time NL CY Young Award Winner, risks being dubbed as a poor postseason player if he cannot turn it around. On the opposite spectrum, Madison Bumgarner of the division rival Giants is cementing himself as a great postseason player.

With the great performance of Bumgarner in Game 5, the Giants go to Kansas City up 3-2. Kansas City has been a place full of ruckus for other teams this post season, as the Royals are 4-1 at home: the only lose coming to the Giants. Although, the Royals are at home, I think the grit and experience of the Giants will lead them to victory in Game 6. But if the Royals pull out Game 6, I don’t see the Giants being able to pull out another tough road win, especially since the Royals will have momentum and confidence. History supports this, as no road team has won a Game 7 since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates. Will the Giants cement their dynasty with their 3^rd World Series win in 5 years, or will the Cinderella team get their glass slipper? 

MLB Playoff Predictions: A Look At Both The American League, National League, and more.

Image Credit: bleacherreport.com

September is here already. This means you've wasted another summer, pumpkin flavored everything is on sale, and the MLB season is winding down. No teams have clinched anything, yet. Even though some early frontrunners are playing down to their competition, with just under 20 games to play, the playoff picture is taking is coming into focus.

The National League seeding will come down to the last games. Most likely, the Nationals and Dodgers will be the 1 and 2 seeds - an ever so slight edge going to the Dodgers to take the 1 seed because of a softer schedule. The Cardinals seem a safe bet to win the NL Central. And the wild card teams... The Giants, Pirates, Braves, and Brewers are in the mix. None of them are solid enough teams to advance, anyway. The Pirates are hot right now, but they've been so streaky and inconsistent since the break, that's just more reason to believe they'll be ice cold soon enough. My NLCS pick? Dodgers over Cardinals in six. The Dodgers pitching and bats have been slightly better than the Cards over the second half of the season, even if their record hasn't.

The American League is a little better defined. The Angels and Orioles will be the 1 and 2 seeds, respectively. The Tigers and Royals will battle it out for the Central. I expect the Tigers to pull it out - they are the better team despite their play since the break. Everyone's favorite losers, the Oakland A's will pull down the other wild card. The A's and the Tigers have the starting rotations to win playoff series, without question, but it's hard to understate how average both teams have been over the last six weeks. The Mariners may even beat them to the wild card.  Momentum and chemistry matter. The Angels have been quietly solid all season. For that reason, I like them over Baltimore in five, but the A's or the Tigers could easily ruin this.

The Yankees are mathematically alive, although I didn't include them in this discussion. It's time to start looking towards next year. Time to look towards replacing Jeter. The Yankees are the premier team in baseball, and they need to behave that way this off-season. The team must move on from Cashman or extend his contract as soon as possible. Likewise, A-Rod's future should be defined early. The Lakers' bungled coaching search showed us how embarrassing it is when a powerhouse franchise indecisively waddles through off-season changes. You're the Yankees. Make a decision and stick with it.

A couple of other quick MLB notes: 
People of Tampa, you have a halfway decent baseball team in town. Go support them from time to time. 

Astros' fans, if there's any of you left, stick it out one more year. Yes, you've been bad for a long time. This year was better than expected, though still bad, and your team has a great farm system. Soon enough, "there's always next year" will be this year.

-Josh Henderson

Twitter: @verybadwrong