the best of times, the worst of times

by sarcastro9 on Oct 1, 2009 10:54 PM PDT Comment 10 comments

Some Dodger fans, brass and even some Dodgers themselves have tried to comfort everyone by stating that the Dodgers are in the playoffs, and the rest of the regular season is, for the most part, background noise. Well, if you don't believe in the confidence/momentum factor like I do, consider this- if the Dodgers win 2 out 3 games, not only would they have stopped the (once again) white-hot Rockies from winning the division, there is no- I repeat, NO outcome where the Dodgers would not be the #1 seed in the National League for home field advantage- something to make everyone in La La Land feel good, with the possible exception of James Loney.

On the other side of the coin, if the Dodgers get swept, not only would they have been vanquished to the #4 slot, they would be entering the playoffs with the stigma of having endured what may be the greatest late season collapse in the history of baseball, if not all of sports. (In case you need further convincing, a squandered 2007 NY Met lead of 6.5 games with 12 left is a garden variety mini-slump, when compared to a team with a 6.5 game lead and SEVEN games to go, coupled with a 3 run lead and 2 outs remaining against a team that had been playing its worst stretch of baseball in 109 years.)

Well, if nothing else, I think we can pretty much all agree on this- considering that the Dodgers have already clinched a playoff spot, I don't think anyone could have predicted that the next 3 days would be filled with as much pre-postseason drama as we are about to enjoy- or endure. Stay tuned...

0 recs | Comment 10 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

If the Lakers had a 4 or 5 game division lead with the same number of games to play, then blew that, would anybody care that they didn’t win the division title, as long as they were still in the playoffs?

Nothing can be the “worst collapse in baseball history” if the cost isn’t great enough to knock them out of postseason play.

by Eric Stephen on Oct 2, 2009 8:11 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

+1

Gene Mauch knows what a late season collapse is.

by meercatjohn on Oct 2, 2009 11:34 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1 on the collapse comment, but -1 on the Lakers

Absolutely people would care. For one thing, the division winner is guaranteed no worse than a #2 seed, the second-place team is subject to W-L record with everyone else in the conference, meaning those losses are possible hurting overall seeding as well. Home court advantage is more important in the NBL than in MLB.

by David Young on Oct 2, 2009 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

2004 ALCS

That was the worst collapse in baseball history.

by bearface on Oct 2, 2009 8:34 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

by Eric Stephen on Oct 2, 2009 9:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

yes it was

i saw that entire series
all the games in boston except game 3 the yanks threw away…
but i have to say it was a pretty epic series….

Because when I think of Boris Diaw, I think of Beethoven and the age of Romanticism....

by shaqfor3 on Oct 2, 2009 5:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We've got the Rockies Just Where We Want Them!

They come in over-confident, full of energy, optimistic—-and we counter with a lineup of Ethier, Kemp, Loney and the sick man of baseball, a guy named Ramirez. It is amazing how he has fallen off—-he looks like an old man who has not been taking his medicine. Which, we hope, he has not. I’m ambivalent (my favorite word) about these next three games—-on the one hand, I know they will be exciting—-especially tonight. On the other hand, I wish they weren’t.

"It's a cookbook!"---The Twilight Zone

by Buck18 on Oct 2, 2009 8:44 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

the mets collapse was far worse

i’ve already linked it twice here – TONS of runs to the nats. it cost them a playoff spot with a very good team.

by stillnotah8er on Oct 2, 2009 12:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I meant in terms of odds

since the Dodgers already made the playoffs, most people wouldn’t see it as the biggest regular season collapse ever. But just in terms of clinching the division, the odds were SO stacked in their favor, to not win it would have been almost beyond comprehension. Think of how people talk about the ’64 Phils or the ’07 Mets- and they had TWICE as many games left as the Dodgers had!

But anyway, I’m just glad that this is all moot now, and all that champagne didn’t go to waste!

by sarcastro9 on Oct 4, 2009 1:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs