Decade Recap of the Sports World

With the 2010s coming to a close, I thought it would be fun to recap the decade in sports.  As years go by, when we look back on who “owned” this decade, we will remember the New England Patriots, Lebron James, the Chicago Blackhawks, the San Francisco Giants, Alabama football, and the United States Women’s National Soccer team.  That said, I have decided to dig deeper to provide a) my favorite sports moments of the decade, b) what I consider to be the biggest sports moments nationally this decade, and c) various decade playoff stats from MLB, the NFL, and the NHL.  I know that your time is precious, so feel free to skip to the sections that most interest you.  


When it comes to my favorite moments, they all involve my three favorite teams – the Mets, Giants, and Devils.  Yes, I was close to putting the Yankees’ 2010, 2012, 2017, and 2019 LCS losses and the Rangers’ 2014 Stanley Cup Final and 2015 Eastern Conference Final losses on the list, but I had enough good moments from my teams to avoid those.  Thus, without further ado, here is the list:


10)         Johan Santana’s No-Hitter: I wrote about this on the old “Below the Belt” blog, so I will not go into great detail here.  I will summarize that, because I missed this game while driving to Virginia, I have bittersweet feelings about the Mets’ only no-hitter.  However, I did enjoy watching the replay of the game and knowing what a great moment it was for fellow Mets fans to watch live.


9)            2016 Giants Beat Dallas and Detroit to Earn Playoff Spot: Sure, many Giants fans now like to act retroactively like the whole Ben McAdoo era was a disaster.  However, I should note the technicality that the team did go 11-5 during McAdoo’s one full season as coach.  Of course, McAdoo was ultimately fired for violating the “You are not allowed to bench a future Hall of Fame quarterback even if his season record is 2-9” rule that nobody had previously known….because future HOFers do not usually find themselves at 2-9.  That said, Eli absolutely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and I absolutely enjoyed his last solid season (2016).  Eli also played well in the playoff game in Green Bay that year, only to have his WRs, still regaining their legs after their boat trip, drop many passes.


8)            2019 Mets Improve from 11 Games Under to 8 Games Over .500: A Mets season left for dead at the All-Star Break (due primarily to the bullpen’s epically terrible performance) turned into one with the Mets challenging for a Wild Card into September.  The Mets ultimately fell short, but it was fun to watch Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis, Jacob deGrom, Seth Lugo and more win a whole bunch of games this past summer.


7)            2010-11 Devils’ 23-3-2 Run: The Devils were actually worse in the first half of that season (9-30-2) than they have been this season, which is saying something.  At the end of that half, the Devils found themselves 27 points out of a playoff spot.  However, the Devils’ 23-3-2 run thereafter under new/returning coach Jacques Lemaire brought the Devils to within 6 points of a playoff spot.  The Devils ultimately missed the playoffs, but it was fun ride while it lasted.


6)            Alexei Ponikarovsky’s OT Goal: It was Game 3 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Semis, Devils vs. Flyers at The Rock.  I was in attendance and watched as “Poni” scored the OT winner.  Few things in life are more euphoric than witnessing a playoff OT goal for your favorite team.


5)            Mets Win 2015 NLDS Against Dodgers: On the heels of a thrilling 38-22 finish to the season, the Mets rode this wave through their first playoff series since 2006.  The Mets, having to face both Clayton Kershaw (who has not been as terrible in the playoffs as he is perceived to be) and Zack Greinke twice, won the series in 5 games.  Daniel Murphy, Jacob deGrom, and Jeurys Familia led the way for the Mets.


4)            “Henrique It’s Over”: The More Clutch and More Forgotten One: The great Doc Emrick provided the great line, “Henrique, It’s Over”, for a moment about which you will read shortly.  However, that moment was in a Game 6 with the Devils leading 3 games to 2.  Therefore, Adam Henrique’s most clutch NHL moment was winning Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with a double-overtime goal.  The Devils’ rookie took a puck in the high slot and sent it through veteran Florida goalie Jose Theodore’s legs to send me dancing about my then-Saddle Brook apartment.  After multiple OTs in Game 7, I was able to breathe again.


3)            Mets Sweep 2015 NLCS: I was torn on whether to put this above or below the previous entry, as the two are completely different.  While #4 was a pressure-packed, winner-take-all moment in the conference quarterfinals, this was complete domination in the NLCS.  I decided that the magnitude of the NLCS puts this on top.  The Mets’ four-game sweep of the Cubs was essentially a five-day party with the Mets never falling behind in any game.  By the fifth inning of each game, the Mets were in control, riding dominant starting pitching, Jeurys Familia, and Daniel Murphy yet again.


2)            Giants’ 2011 Championship Run: The Giants entered Week 16 needing to beat the Jets and Cowboys to win the division and make the playoffs.  The Giants took care of that before steamrolling the Falcons and 15-1 Packers in the playoffs.  The Giants then won a physical OT thriller, one of the greatest games I have ever watched, in San Francisco before beating the Patriots again in the Super Bowl.  I could have broken this moment into multiple parts; including the Victor Cruz 99-yard reception against the Jets, the Hakeem Nicks Hail Mary in Green Bay, and the second Kyle Williams fumble in S.F., but I decided to group this all as one.  Four years after the Giants rode a #5 seed to win a Super Bowl against the Pats, they did the same thing as a #4 seed.  When the Giants held off the Pats’ Hail Mary attempt at the end of the Super Bowl, I was completely euphoric, as I had been four years prior.


1)            “Henrique It’s Over!!!!!”: The afore-mentioned Giants’ championship was the only title for one of my teams this decade, so it might seem like sacrilege for something to be above that one the list.  However, the most incredible sports feeling of the decade was to be at The Rock watching Adam Henrique score in overtime in Game 6 to give the Devils a series win over the hated Rangers.  I, along with many of an 18,000-person crowd, did a whole lot of jumping, hugging, and shouting.  Much of what happened after that goal is a blur to me.  The Devils lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Kings, but that Henrique goal felt like a Cup winner, even though I have been fortunate enough to attend two Devils’ Cup victories (and watch the other occur in OT on TV).



Now that you know my favorite sports moments of the decade, I will list what I consider to be the biggest U.S. sports moments of the 2010s.  I am going to go through these more quickly, as they are not quite as personal to me as the previous list.


10)         Villanova Wins: Villanova wins its first men’s basketball title in the Jay Wright era, as a buzzer-beating three-pointer against UNC sends the Wildcat faithful, and Charles Barkley, into jubilation.


9)            Bumgarner’s Exclamation Point: Three days after pitching a complete-game shutout in Game 5 of the 2014 World Series, the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner pitches five shutout innings in Game 7 to earn the save in Kansas City.  This was the Giants’ third championship in five seasons, with Bumgarner coming up huge in all three postseasons.


8)            Caps Win First Stanley Cup: I love watching any Stanley Cup celebration that does not involve the Rangers or Flyers (which are moot points anyway).  It is especially sweet to watch teams win their first in a generation, as was the case with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.  However, it is rare for a Stanley Cup celebration to receive too much national sports-media attention, but such was the case with the 2018 Capitals.  It was wonderful to watch Alexander Ovechkin skate around the Vegas ice after finally winning the Caps a Cup.  Plus, Panic! at the Disco played my favorite 2010s song, “High Hopes”, my first time hearing the song, before the final game.


7)            UVA Rebounds to Win Championship: The 2018 Virginia Cavaliers (men’s bball) became the first team to lose to a #16 seed (UMBC).  The following season, Virginia found itself down 10 to Gardner-Webb in that year’s #1-16 matchup.  Well, Virginia righted the ship and then pulled off three incredibly dramatic wins – over Purdue, Auburn, and Texas Tech – to win a championship.  In each game, there was at least one moment in the last minute or OT when it looked like UVA was done, yet the Cavs miraculously won all three games.


6)            Philly Finally Wins the Super Bowl: As much as I wanted the Giants to be the only team to beat Brady/Belichick in the Super Bowl, and as much as I do not like the Eagles; it was a great story to watch Nick Foles lead the Eagles on the Super Bowl run.


5)            U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Wins 2015 World Cup: I am old enough to have enjoyed the 1999 championship, but a whole generation of Americans did not experience that title.  Plus, the new generation dealt with the pain of the 2011 championship-game loss.  Thus, it was extra-sweet when New Jersey’s Carli Lloyd led the U.S. women to the 2015 crown.


4)            Malcolm Butler’s Interception: It might seem hard to believe now, but the Pats were on the verge of going more than a full decade without a Super Bowl Championship.  I, and most viewers, thought that Russell Wilson had thrown a game-winning touchdown, but the Pats’ Malcolm Butler read the play perfectly.  This interception kept the Seahawks from repeating as champs and gave the Pats their first of three titles in five seasons.


3)            2016 NBA Finals: Lebron’s third championship of the decade was his most surprising.  With the Cavs down 3-games-to-1 to the greatest regular season team of all time (Golden State Warriors), Lebron lead the Cavs to three-consecutive wins and the first Cleveland championship since the pre-Super Bowl era.  


2)            28-3:  If you are a football fan, and you see the score “28-3”, you now think of one thing, the Pats’ comeback win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LII.  This one game Brady and Belichick their record-breaking fifth rings.  Interestingly, entries #1-3 on this list occurred during one eight-month stretch.


1)            Cubs Finally Win the World Series: Of course, this has to be #1 on the list.  This was one of those rare sports moments that has cultural significance for even those who hate sports.  The Cubs had gone 108 years without winning the World Series, and then it finally happened.  Poor Cleveland though.  The Indians had the second-longest WS-Title drought (1948) at that point, and few people were rooting for them.  Moreover, Cleveland gave back a 3-games-to-1 lead, just as the Cavs had erased months earlier.  Interestingly, my picks for sports moment of the decade (Cubs’ win) and news moment of the decade (President Trump wins the election) occurred six days apart from each other.



Now, for some of the decade stats.  Since it is football season, let us start with the NFL.  Here is the list of # of playoff appearances for each team in the 2010s.  (Note that these NFL stats cover the 2010-2019 seasons, though those seasons’ playoffs actually take place from 2011-2020.)

10 appearances: New England

8: Green Bay, Seattle

7: Kansas City

6: Houston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New Orleans

5: Cincinnati, Denver, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Atlanta

4: Minnesota, Carolina, San Francisco

3: Dallas, Detroit

2: Buffalo, Tennessee, San Diego/Los Angeles, NY Giants, Washington, Chicago, Arizona, L.A. Rams

1: NY Jets, Miami, Jacksonville, Oakland

0: Tampa Bay


Here is the list of # of first-round byes this decade.  New England not only is the only NFL team to make the playoffs all 10 years of this decade but also found itself less than one minute away from having 10 byes.  Ryan Fitzpatrick put an end to that, but 9 remains incredible.  The next-highest total is 4, by Peyton Manning’s Broncos.  Here is the list.

9: New England

4: Denver

3: Kansas City, Green Bay, Atlanta, San Francisco

2: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Seattle

1: Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago, Minnesota, New Orleans, Arizona, LA Rams


I will now show how many Conference Championship games teams have reached this decade.  Naturally, this year’s entrants are not yet known.  Will the Pats make it to a 9^th-straight AFC Championship Game?  We shall see.  I have actually gotten married twice since the last Pats-less AFC Championship Game, and that game featured Mark Sanchez!  Anyway, here is the list:

8: New England

3: Green Bay, San Francisco

2: Baltimore, Denver, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Seattle

1: NY Jets, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Kansas City, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minnesota, New Orleans, Carolina, Arizona, LA Rams


New England was at the top of those five lists, and, lo and behold, it also leads the league in Super Bowl appearances this decade.  Only two other teams have appeared in multiple SBs this decade.

5: New England

2: Seattle, Denver

1: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Atlanta, Carolina, San Francisco, LA Rams


Of course, New England is also the only team to win multiple Super Bowls (3) this decade.  The other six teams who have won Super Bowls are Baltimore, Denver, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Green Bay, and Seattle.


Let us now move on to baseball.  The two teams with the most playoff appearances (Yankees and Dodgers) did not win any championships this decade.  How sad!  Anyway, the list of # of playoff appearances also includes in parentheses the number of Division Series appearances, since it does not feel like a real playoff appearance if a team loses the Wild-Card Game.

7: LA Dodgers, NY Yankees (6)

6: St. Louis

5: Washington, Atlanta (4), Texas (4)

4: San Francisco, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Houston, Chi. Cubs (3), Cleveland (3)

3: Boston, Milwaukee (2), Cincinnati (2), Baltimore (2), Minnesota (2), Pittsburgh (1), Oakland (0: Ouch!)

2: Philadelphia, Arizona, Toronto, Kansas City, NY Mets (1), Colorado (1)

1: LA Angels

0: Miami, Chi. White Sox


Once we look at LCS appearances, the Cardinals ascend to the top of the list.  Take a look:

5: St. Louis

4: LA Dodgers, NY Yankees

3: Chi Cubs, San Francisco, Detroit, Houston

2: Milwaukee, Boston, Toronto, Kansas City, Texas

1: NY Mets, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Cleveland


As for World Series appearances, the Giants take the top spot, with the states of Texas and Missouri holding their own:

3: San Francisco

2: St. Louis, LA Dodgers, Kansas City, Boston, Houston, Texas

1: NY Mets, Washington, Chi Cubs, Cleveland, Detroit


Lastly, when it comes to World Championships, the Giants, winners of all three of their WS this decade, stay at the top:

3: San Francisco

2: Boston

1: Washington, Chi. Cubs, St. Louis, Kansas City, Houston


In case any of you have not yet stopped reading, it is time for me to recap the NHL.  Because the 2009-2010 regular season covers more of 2010 than 2009, that season counts for this decade.  You will read about the 2020 playoffs when I recap the decade of the 2020s.  Set the alarm on your phone.  I did not have the energy to go through playoff appearances, because more than half the league makes the playoffs every year.  Unfortunately, the Devils managed all of three playoff appearances in the 10 seasons, but I digress.  Let us skip to the Conference Finals and see how many appearances each team made to that round:

4: Tampa Bay, Chicago, San Jose

3: NY Rangers, Pittsburgh, Boston, Los Angeles

2: Montreal, St. Louis, Anaheim

1: New Jersey, Carolina, Washington, Philadelphia, Ottawa, Nashville, Winnipeg, Vegas, Vancouver, Arizona


Once we look at Stanley Cup Final appearances, we get a clear look at the four most dominant NHL teams of the decade.

3: Boston, Chicago

2: Pittsburgh, Los Angeles

1: New Jersey, NY Rangers, Washington, Tampa Bay, Nashville, St. Louis, Vegas, San Jose, Vancouver


As for teams hoisting the Stanley Cup, the decade belonged most to Chicago (3) with Pittsburgh (2) and Los Angeles (2) also showing dominance.  The other three Cups were the two most recent (St. Louis, Washington) and Boston’s in 2011.



I am almost six pages deep into a Microsoft Word document, so I think that sufficiently sums up the decade in sports.  Happy New Year!

My 100 Favorite Songs of the 2010s

Yes, I know that, because there was no Year 0, 2020 is technically the end of the current decade; but I do not know anyone who was around 2019 years ago.  Therefore, I like to think of 2010-2019 as one decade.  I started the decade by watching my new The Hangover DVD in my old apartment.  I think I bought that DVD at the Ramsey Borders.  I did not have a SmartPhone, or even a dog, back then. Much has happened and changed over the past 10 years, and we have had many, many great songs take us along that journey.  

Therefore, during the last school day before Christmas Break, I gave my students a fill-in-the-blank list of my 100 favorite songs of the 2010s. It was fun for me to reminisce on the ups and downs of the decade through music, and I would like to give you the opportunity to take that same ride.  If you are interested, please feel free to enjoy this same "fill-in-the-blank" list.  It provides a great trip down memory lane through the decade that gave us the terms, "GTL", "hashtag", "I can't even", "fake news", and "woke".  

The guidelines of the list are as follows: 

1) I provide the first letter of each word in the song title and do the same for the artist.  You must fill in the blanks.

2)  I use only songs that have received at least a modicum of radio airplay.  Thus, a song like Fall Out Boy's "The Phoenix" would be in the Top 5 if I allowed album tracks but does not appear on my actual list.  

3)  I have ranked the songs by how much I generally like them.  At any given moment, songs can fluctuate up and down.  That said, there might be moments when I might enjoy Song #49 more than Song #47, but it is unlikely that I would ever feel better about Song #49 than Song #19.  

4)  I am human and make mistakes.  After I first released the list, I realized that I had forgotten "One Foot", by Walk the Moon.  That song would certainly make my Top 40 if not for my error. Similarly, Panic! at the Disco's "Death of a Bachelor" would have made the Top 20, but I have never heard it on the radio.  On the other hand, some of my students say that the song has received some radio airplay and thus warrants being on the list.  Oh well.

Anyway, below is the sheet with the blank spaces (hint, hint) and an answer key.  Have fun!

MR. WALKER’S 100 FAVORITE SONGS OF THE 2010s:

100) R___________ B____________, by C_________ B__________ (ft. J_________ G_________) (2014)

99) W________ A_________ N___________ G__________ B___________ T___________, by T____________ S_____________ (2012)

98) C______________, by Z___________ (ft. F___________) (2013)

97) F___________, by C___________ W__________ K____________ (2014)

96) I W____________ G___________ B___________, by B____________ (2014)

95) S____________ of U__________, by T____________ S____________ (2010)

94) P____________, by E_____________ S_____________ (2017)

93) W______________ B______________, by M___________ C____________ (2013)

92) T__________ B___________ the N___________, by J_________ T___________ (2013)

91) F_______________, by K____________ P____________ (2010)

90) S____________ G____________, by B. o. B. (2012)

89) B_______________, by K______________ (2012)

88) B_________ T________ W_________, by L__________ G__________ (2011)

87) E_____________ T___________ is a W______________, by C____________ (2011)

86) B_________ T__________ I N___________ H__________, by B___________ (2011)

85) L_____________ H____________ G____________, by P____________ (2013)

84) W_________ W__________ from M________, by A___________ L__________ (2010)

83) J___________ G__________ M______ a R__________, by P_______ (ft. N_______ R________) (2013)

82) Y_________ and I, by L_______________ G______________ (2011)

81) S____________ N_____________, by F_______________. (2012)

80) P_________________, by M______________ 5 (ft. W______ K_________) (2012)

79) O__________ T_________ G_______ A_________, by K_______ P_________ (2011)

78) H________ of M__________ H_________, by J_________ M___________ (ft. T_________ S________) (2010)

77) T____________ a W___________, by P_____________ P_______ (2012)

76) B____________ G___________, by B___________ E_____________ (2019)

75) If I C___________ H___________ Y___________, by S________ M_________ (2019)

74) L____________ on T_____________, by B_____________ (2012)

73) A____________, by L____________ G_____________ (2010)

72) N____________ on Y___________, by B. o. B. (ft. B________ M________ ) (2010)

71) B_____________ S_______________, by T______________ S______________ (2014)

70) W______ F_________ L_________, by R_________ (ft. C_______ H______) (2011)

69) W_______ M________ Y________ B_________, by O_____ D_________ (2012)

68) D________ - B_______, by T_____________ (2012)

67) M________ M_________ L_________ Y_________, by G______ S_________ (2016)

66) M____________ R_____________, by L___________ G____________ (2017)

65) O___________ N___________ O___________, by The S_________ (2017)

64) M_________!, by T___________ S____________ (ft. B_________ U_______) (2019)

63) A – T____________, by E_________ S________________ (2013)

62) The M_____________, by A____________ B__________ (2014)

61) C_________ R___________ to F__________ Y__________, by S___________ (ft. R__________) (2014)

60) C______________ O_________, by F_________. (2012)

59) N_____________ to M____________, by E___________ S___________ (2013)

58) G_________, G_________, G__________; by P____________ P___________ (2013)

57) B__________________, by T_____________ M_____________ (ft. B__________ M_________) (2010)

56) N_____________ T_____________ L___________, by E________ J_________ (2019)

55) C_________ S__________ the F__________, by J__________ T____________ (2016)

54) H__________ M________ Y_______ Y________, by M_________ B_________ (2010)

53) T_______________, by D__________ G_____________ (ft. S______) (2012)

52) I C_____________, by F_________ R__________ (2012)

51) L_____________ O___________ of H___________, by B_________ M______ (2012)

50) G_______________, by B______________ M_____________ (2010)

49) P______________ L_____________, by J____________ B____________ (2018)

48) M__________ the N___________, by L__________ G____________ (2011)

47) U_____________ T____________, by F_________ O_________ B_________ (2015)

46) G__________ M_______ E____________, by P__________ (ft. N___-Y____, A_________, and N_____________) (2011)

45) S________ T____ I U________ to K________, by G______ (ft. K_________) (2012)

44) M___________ L___________ J__________, by M_________ 5 (ft. C__________ A___________) (2011)

43) L______________ T______________, by Of M_________ and M__________ (2012)

42) B__________________, by La R______________ (2010)

41) I L__________ I________, by E___________ I____________ (ft. P_________) (2010)

40) M________________, by U________________ (2011)

39) P________________, by B________________ (2014)

38) C______________, by F____________ O____________ B___________ (2014)

37) L______________, by T______________ S______________ (2019)

36) I M_____________ T___________ D___________, by B__________ (2017)

35) A___________ I_________ F___________, by P______________ (2014)

34) B___________ Y__________ H__________, by T________ C__________ (ft. L__________) (2010)

33) O__________ of the W___________, by T__________ S___________ (2016)

32) V________________, by P________! at the D_____________ (2016)

31) Q_______________ P___________ M____________, by B_____________ (2018)

30) L___________ N__________ F_____ S_____ G__________, by J___________ T_________ (ft. M___________ J____________) (2014)

29) L__________ the W__________ Y____________ L__________, by E_____________ (ft. R______________) (2010)

28) R______________ in the D______________, by A____________ (2011)

27) 7 Y_____________, by L______________ G_______________ (2016)

26) E___________ of G_____________, by L___________ G____________ (2011)

25) S____________ to W___________, by F________ + the M____________ (2015)

24) B___________ I E__________ H_________, by G_________ D___________ (2013)

23) B_______________, by T_____________ (ft. A___________ M___________) (2013)

22) I___________ a B___________ D___________, by M__________ B_________ (2013)

21) M___________, by M_____________ 5 (2014)

20) S_______ M______ M_________ H__________, by R______ S________ (2013)

19) I__________ W___________ R_________, by B__________ M_________ (2011)

18) J_____________, by L_____________ G_____________ (2011)

17) 50 W__________ to S___________ G_____________, by T_________ (2012)

16) P____________ L____________ U___________, by K________ C_________ (2013)

15) B__________________ T______________, by P_______________ (2018)

14) W___________ W__________ W__________ Y__________ , by A________ (2015)

13) S___________ U______ and D________, by W_________ the M_________ (2015)

12) A__________ T_________ W__________, by T_________ S__________ (2014)

11) I________________, by F___________ O____________ B____________ (2015)

10) A___________ T________, by F___________ O____________ B__________ (2014)

9) (I’m G__________) L________ M_______ A__________, by E__________ J__________ and T_______ E_________ (2019)

8) K___________ of A______________, by S____________ B____________ (2010)

7) F___________, by K__________ U__________ (ft. C__________ U_______) (2017)

6) S_____________, by L___________ G___________ (2010)

5) M______ S________ K________ W________ Y_________ D_____ in the D________ (L_________ ‘Em U_________), by F___________ O__________ B__________ (2013)

4) S_________ F_____________, by The M____________ (2012)

3) J_________ S____________, by The L_________ I_________ (ft. M_________ B________) (2011)

2) S__________ I_________ Y_________, by P____________ (2013)

1) H____________ H_____________, by P_________! at the D___________ (2018)

Answers:

My Dreams for MLB: Shortening the Regular Season, Eliminating the Second Wild Card, and Making the Division Series Best-of-7

Two years ago, I wrote a post on the old “Below the Belt” Sports Blog.  In light of the 93-win Nationals dispatching of the 106-win Dodgers in the NLDS, I felt that it was appropriate for me to re-release this post, with a few minor alterations to modernize the piece, on my new blog.  It is a busy time in my life, so you will have to accept that I am not going to take the time to put pictures in this post.  That said, I feel that, since the Dodgers/Nats series represented the 7^th time in 16 Division Series matchups in the Wild-Card-Game era (the only era in which the #1 seed in each league has been guaranteed to face the Wild Card in the Division Series) that the Wild Card emerged victorious; it was time for this post to see the light of day once more.  If Elton John could make hits out of three different versions of “Candle in the Wind” in three different decades, I can make this post happen again.  Thus, here it goes.  Enjoy!



Change #1: The MLB season should be cut to 144 games.


There is only one good reason to have a 162-game season.  That reason is, “We have no playoffs, just a World Series.  Therefore, we want a big enough sample size to ensure that the best AL team and the best NL team make the World Series.”  That reason did exist from 1961 through 1968.  I will add that, prior to 1961, there were also no playoffs, just a World Series; but the season was 154 games long.  Frankly, I would personally love to eliminate divisions and return to the 1961-1968 “162 games, no playoffs” format, but I realize that this country is no longer equipped to handle a scenario in which half the league is eliminated from World Series contention by Memorial Day.  Therefore, I am not proposing that.  Moving on…


Since 1968, MLB has expanded its playoff three times:


1969 – NL and AL were split into two divisions apiece, and the ALCS/NLCS round of playoffs was born.  


1994 – NL and AL were split into three divisions apiece, and the ALDS/NLDS (with one Wild Card per league) round of playoffs was born.


2012 – NL and AL each added a second Wild Card team and a Wild Card play-in game.


In my opinion, MLB and the MLBPA dropped the ball on one major thing with these three playoff expansions: Each expansion of playoffs should have come with a decrease in the length of the regular season.  Again, the one good reason to have a 162-game season is to ensure that the best team has enough games to rise to the top of its respective league.  However, as soon as a playoff system was created in 1969, that concept was gone.  In baseball, the underdog typically has a reasonable chance to beat the favorite in any series.  As far back as in 1973, Reds manager Sparky Anderson was quoted stating his displeasure that the Mets (82-79) were even given the opportunity to defeat the Reds (99-63).  He felt that the Reds deserved to play in the World Series, as a result of having a far-superior record over 162 games.  I don’t blame him.  After all, for all of baseball history until a few years prior to that, Sparky’s Reds would have been in the World Series.  I can’t find Sparky’s exact quote, but I know that I have heard it.  


Anyway, I am glad the 1973 Mets beat the Reds.  Without that, Tug McGraw’s “Ya Gotta Believe!” likely would not have become one of the Mets’ mottos, and 1973-Mets-Manager Yogi Berra’s “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over” would be less famous.  Meanwhile, Sparky Anderson’s anger unintentionally brought up the reason why I favor a shorter MLB regular season.  When MLB decided that playoff series – much more random than a long season – would determine who plays in the World Series, the need to play 162 games disappeared.  Unfortunately, when MLB started having playoffs before the World Series, I had not been born yet, so I could not inform anyone of my views.  Enough though about stuff from 46-50 years ago.  Let’s bring this discussion to the modern era.  Let’s look at the regular-season finishes of the World Series participants of the Wild Card era (1995 – 2018: 24 seasons).  The chart below shows how many World Series participants finished with the best record, second-best record, third-best record, etc. in their leagues.

National League		American League
Best Record	7 teams	Best	10.5 teams
2nd-Best Record	5 teams	2nd	6.5 teams
3rd-Best Record	5.5 teams	3rd	4 teams
4th-Best Record	4 teams	4th	2 teams
5th-Best Record	2.5 teams	5th	1 team
6th-Best Record	0 teams	6th	1 team

*If a team finished in a tie between two places, I counted that as “half a team” for each place.

Notice that only 7 of 24 NL regular-season leaders have made the World Series and that only 12 of the 24 NL World Series teams have even finished with a top-two record in the league. (Note: In 2019, the NL World Series participant will have had either the 3^rd- or 4^th-best NL record.) In the AL, regular-season champs have fared better, with 10.5 (including the 1998, 1999, 2003, and 2009 Yankees) of 24 reaching the Fall Classic.  In the AL, 17 of the 24 years have seen top-two finishers reached the World Series.  (Note: In 2019, one of the top two AL finishers will again reach the World Series.)  


That all said, when you throw the NL and AL together, a mere 17.5 of 48 World Series participants (roughly 36.4%) have been AL or NL regular-season champs, and 29 of 48 (60.4%) have finished in the top two of their respective leagues.  


Why am I harping on this?  I harp because you don’t need to play 162 games if it is still 40% likely that someone who finished with the 3^rd-best-or-worse record in your league is going to make the World Series!!!  


Let’s now talk about the 2017 season.  In mid-August of that season, what did we know?  We knew that the Nationals, Cubs, Dodgers, Indians, and Astros were going to win their divisions.  We knew that the Red Sox and Yankees would make the playoffs, with the Red Sox more likely winning the division.  We knew that the Diamondbacks would be an NL Wild Card.  We knew that the Rockies would likely win the Wild Card.  The only thing that was greatly up for grabs was the second AL Wild Card.  In mid-August, the entire AL was seemingly alive for the race.  By mid-September, the race has been whittled down to just the Twins and Angels, a tight battle that did not exactly captivate the nation during the first month of the NFL season.


Yes, the Indians’ winning streak that season was extremely exciting.  Yes, it was interesting to see the Dodgers lose 14 of 15 after winning of 14 of 15 earlier in the year. Yes, August and September were an exciting time for fans of all playoff and potential playoff teams.  However, everyone was ready for the playoffs by early September.  By that point, we had already known for a few months who the true contenders were. I felt like the Yankees had been at least 3 games up in the Wild Card and at least 3 games back in the division for months.  


We really need a 144-game season.  We should have really eliminated 6 regular-season games each time a playoff round was added, but let’s make up for lost time and eliminate 18 games now (OK, in 2020).


With a 144-game season, the MLB regular season could end two weeks earlier than normal, moving from Week 4 to Week 2 of the NFL season, and start a week later (More like April 5-6, instead of the last few days of March).  This would be great for several reasons:

1    1) The World Series would now end in early-to-mid-October, as it should.

2    2) There would be fewer cold-weather games in the beginning of the season.

3    3) Currently, fans of bad teams check out around Labor Day.  Four weeks later, when the playoffs start, these fans are long gone.  However, with only two weeks between Labor Day and the playoffs, some of those fans might stick around to watch more of the postseason.

4    4) With the regular season ending sooner, perhaps demand would more generally increase for watching playoff games.  Remember that the addition of the Division Series more or less coincided with lower ratings for all playoff rounds and the World Series.  While I cannot guarantee causation for this correlation, I can guarantee that when the supply of a product goes up, the value of one unit of the product goes down.  Therefore, I am going to assume at least some causation.  Now, it’s time to turn things around.  By decreasing the supply of regular-season games, hopefully the value of postseason games increases.

5    5) In an era in which both it is miraculous to have any pitcher avoid injury, and also some teams regularly make us suffer through "bullpen games"; 18 fewer games and thus 18 fewer pitcher starts seems like a good thing. 

      6) With players not taking amphetamines and theoretically not using PEDs, the 162-game season takes a greater toll on players than it did in previous days.  With 18 fewer games, the quality of play would likely improve.

Now that I have mentioned the pros of shortening the season, please allow me to refute some counterarguments.  Naturally, the first retort to a “let’s shorten the season” proposal is that teams would lose money.  Of course; I realize that, if teams are going to lose profit, my idea will not happen.  However, are we really sure that teams would overall lose profit under my plan?  Bad teams play in front of empty stadiums all September long.  Do teams really profit from these games?  There are a lot of costs in running a stadium, and I don’t believe that revenue exceeds costs if the stadium is 15% full.  


Maybe I’m wrong.  If I am, here’s another thought.  With 9 fewer home games (81 down to 72) per team, each team can charge a little bit more per ticket.  Each game will be a bit more in demand than with the current schedule, and the same goes for TV.  Somebody should do a study as to whether or not ratings would go up per game if there were fewer of them.  If ratings were to rise, MLB teams could theoretically maintain the same level of ad revenue as they currently receive.  After all, we know the following things:

1)     Football is the ratings king because it has so few games.

2)     The NHL and NBA did well with ratings and ticket prices during their lockout-shortened seasons.

3)     MLB would never do a 200-game regular season, because that would be considered unprofitable (for many of the reasons mentioned earlier – demand, injuries, etc. – and quality of play).  Plus, as I said earlier, the quality of play should be greater with fewer games.  Therefore, if we have established that a sport with 16-game seasons is king, that a 200-game season would be unprofitable, and that fewer games means greater quality; are we really certain that a 144-game season would be less profitable than a 162-game season?  I am not.  Just because we have done 162 games for the past six decades does not mean it is the optimal number of games.

To summarize my main point, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.  If we are going to spend the summer of 2006 getting pumped for the Subway Series, only to end up with St. Louis/Detroit….if we are going to spend the summer of 2002 getting psyched for the Braves and the Moneyball A’s in the Fall Classic, only to end up with Angels/Giants….and if we are going to spend the summer of 2014 looking forward to a Trout/Harper Fall Classic, only to get a dual-Wild-Card SF/KC battle; then let’s at least have 18 fewer games and keep more fans watching the playoffs through the disappointing WS matchup. 

Change #2: Go back to having one Wild Card.  Change the Division Series to Best-of-7.  Give the #1 seed 5 home games against the Wild Card.

When I first heard the proposal of the second Wild Card and the Wild Card game back in 2011, I hated it.  Eight years later, I still hate it.  As you have probably gathered by now, I don’t exactly love that a sport that plays so many games allows so many teams into its playoffs.  The first Wild Card has always seemed reasonable to me, given that there are many times when a league’s second-best team has the misfortune of playing in the same division as the top team in the league.  However, in my opinion, the second Wild Card was a bridge too far.  For every 2015 Cubs (97 wins), there are a whole bunch of sub-90-win teams – like the 2014 Giants - earning those second Wild Card spots. 

Having a one-game playoff in baseball is just stupid.  Baseball is the ultimate marathon, and then you have a one-game playoff?  It does not feel right.  Some people advocate making the Wild-Card Round a “Best-of-3”, but that would not be good either.  In baseball, the rust factor usually outweighs the rest factor.  In the NHL or NBA, it is typically an advantage to get extra rest before a series.  This is not so in MLB.  Just look for example at the 2006 Tigers, 2007 Rockies, 2012 Tigers, and 2015 Mets.  All of these teams dominated the LCS, only to look rusty in the World Series after long layoffs.  

Why did baseball add a second Wild Card?  One reason was to keep teams “in the race” longer, but the main cited reason was to increase the value of winning the division.  I have always liked that rationale.  I didn’t like that, in 2010 (in the one-Wild Card era), the Yankees and Rays, both seemed to want the Wild Card, not the division crown.  Thus, re-establishing incentive to win the division was a good thing.  That is why I would have and still would eliminate the Wild-Card game, extend the Division Series to Best-of-7, and give the #1 seed home games in Games 1-2 and 5-7 in the Division Series.  Also, the #1 seed would automatically face the Wild Card in the Division Series, which was not the case before 2011.  Back then, teams from the same division could not face each other in the Division Series.  

Anyway, my plan accomplishes the goals of the modern Wild-Card Game but in a more satisfactory way:

      1) There is still a clear benefit to winning the division over the Wild Card, as a team with only 2 home games is at a major disadvantage.  

2    2)The Best-of-7 aspect actually likely adds more playoff games and more revenue than just having the two Wild-Card games themselves. 

3    

      3) I’ve always felt a Best-of-5 is too short for a baseball series, as teams can often get by with two great pitchers.  The Best-of-7 tests a team’s depth.  Plus, if a #1 or #2 seed loses Game 1 in a Best-of-5, the team already feels its back is much more against the wall than in a Best-of-7.  The first playoff round should be kinder to teams who have dominated for six months.

4  

      4) You don’t have the potential scenario in which a mediocre second Wild Card team needs to win only one game to upend a superior team.  I hate the Yankees to an unhealthy degree, but having the Twins in the 2017 ALDS because they won one Wild-Card Game against the far-superior Yankees is just not how baseball is meant to be. I root hard against the Yankees nearly all the time because I hate them, but I rooted for them in the 2017 Wild-Card Game to satisfy the baseball purist in me.

Meanwhile, some might counter my anti-second-Wild-Card logic by saying that more teams would be out of playoff contention earlier.  While this is true, I don’t think it would be too drastic a change.  More years than not, the two Wild Card teams are close enough in record through at least mid-August that there is not a huge impact.  That was certainly the case in 2019 as the Mets chased the Nationals and Brewers in August and September.  Plus, fans of many teams don’t typically even get that excited when chasing the second Wild Card because their teams usually aren’t that good.  If you are chasing the second Wild Card, you are likely just a few games over .500, if that, and fans can spot mediocrity.  For example, 2017 Angels fans were not showing up in droves because of a chance at the second Wild Card.

So there you have it. Rob Manfred, let’s drop down to 144 games and change the playoff format.

PS  I was going to add a whole thing on how the NBA and NHL should also cut back from 82 games (6 months) to 66 games since over half of each league makes the playoffs, but this post is already long enough.  That said, I do advocate those changes as well, for reasons analogous to those listed for baseball.

Enjoy the Ride, Mets Fans

There is a cliché that says, “Life is about the journey, not the destination.”  I cannot stand most clichés, but I happen to like this one.  In fact, this cliché is especially true in sports.  If you ask a fan of a championship team to state his/her favorite part of winning the championship, chances are the fan will talk about the thrilling wins and anticipation of big games along the way.  Of course, we fans love championship celebrations, trophy presentations, ticker-tape parades, and drunken Brett Hull

victory speeches; but the journeys to these exhilarating moments contain many other exhilarating moments in their own rights.


That premise brings me to discussion of this year’s New York Mets.  After falling to 11 games under .500 following a loss in Miami (first game after the All-Star Break), the team has gone on a 19-5 run.  The Mets now find themselves 3 games over .500, a half-game out of a Wild-Card spot, and 8.5 games out of first place in the National League East.  That said, what does this all mean, Basil?  

The optimist in me says that the Mets can keep playing well for the rest of the season (albeit not at a near-.800 winning-percentage pace like the team has shown over the past 24 games) because the team has fixed its fatal flaw, the bullpen, from the first half of the year.  Even if the pen does not dominate like it generally has over this 24-game stretch, it is difficult to imagine the pen being as legendarily putrid as it was in May and June.  Additionally, the optimist in me sees a team that can expect dominant pitching starts every night, now that Marcus Stroman is in the fold.  Lastly the optimist in me loves the emerging young core of position players in Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Amed Rosario, and J.D. Davis and knows that this group will give the Mets a legitimate chance to win every game the rest of the way.

I like to think there is no pessimism in me, so let us instead say that the realist in me has doubts about the rest of the Mets’ season.  The realist in me worries that the Mets’ 19-5 run is more a product of the Mets facing the subpar Marlins, Pirates, White Sox, and Padres over the bulk of that stretch.  The realist in me worries that the relievers outside of Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson will be hit hard as the Mets embark upon a stretch of 11 series in which 10 are against above-.500 teams.  Lastly, the realist in me worries that having too many games with 6/7/8 hitters of some permutation of Tomas Nido, Angel Echevarria, Luis Guillorme, Juan Lagares, Todd Frazier, and/or Aaron Altherr will be the undoing of this team.  (It is a shame that Robinson Cano succumbed to injury as his bat was finally starting to heat up.)  

Thus, who is correct?  The optimist in me or the realist in me?  The truth is that, right now it does not matter.  To return to the cliché at the top, sports is all about enjoying the ride.  I have loved these past four weeks of Mets baseball as the team has played like the best team in baseball.  Whether this Mets season keeps going strong or not, I will always look fondly upon this stretch of baseball for however long it lasts.  


Thinking back, my four favorite seasons as a Mets fan were 1999, 2000, 2006, and 2015.  When I think of 1999, I think of the team’s countless dramatic wins as the Mets progressed to and through a Game-162  win to force a one-game Wild Card tiebreaker and ultimately lost in a 6-game NLCS to the Braves.  That team also beat the D-Backs in an exciting NLDS that featured game-winning 9^th-inning homers from Edgardo Alfonzo and Todd Pratt. 

With 2000, I think of the Mets’ thrilling run to their first World Series of my fandom, as the Mets dispatched of the Giants in an exciting 4-game NLDS and easily beat the Cardinals in a 5-game NLCS.  In 2006, I experienced the Mets’ first divisional crown of my fandom, and the team also tied with the Yankees for the best record in the league.  It was a wonderful six months, and I thoroughly enjoyed the team’s NLDS sweep over the Dodgers and everything in the NLCS through the Endy Chavez catch in Game 7.  Lastly, with 2015, I experienced the most enjoyable Mets season of the Citi Field era, as the Yoenis Cespedes arrival sparked an incredible 6-week stretch in August and September that gave the Mets the NL-East crown.  Then, it was a delight to watch the Mets’ four dominant starting pitchers (deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz, and Matt Harvey) lead the Mets past the Dodgers in a tight 5-game NLDS and the Cubs in a complete 4-game thrashing in the NLCS.  

Writing that previous paragraph made me extremely happy.  That said, I should acknowledge that those seasons also presented the most upsetting moments I have experienced as a Mets fan.  Kenny Rogers walking Andruw Jones, Jose Vizcaino’s and Luis Sojo’s game-winning hits, Yadier Molina’s game-winning homerun, and Eric Hosmer’s mad dash for home plate were all brutal moments.  However, when I think of those seasons, I think first of the long, glorious roads that led to those brutal moments. 

I think of sitting in Shea Stadium for Melvin Mora’s game-winning run in Game 162, Robin Ventura’s grand single, Mike Piazza’s homer in the 10-run inning, Bobby Jones’s 1-hit shutout, and Endy Chavez’s catch.  As for Citi Field, I think first of being there for Daniel Murphy’s homerun in Game 1 against the Cubs….and I also reminisce about being present for the “Wilmer Flores crying” game. 

As we move further into the future, the joy of the happy moments greatly overtakes the pain of the depressing endings.  I would much rather have the chance for a negative ending than have a season like 2017 or 2018 in which the Mets were out of contention by the end of May.  As Rick DiPietro often mentions, the “currency of hope” is a valuable commodity, and I am happy to possess it whenever I can, such as during the current Mets’ run.

Meanwhile, if you are not like me but are instead a Mets fan who thinks of 1999 as a disappointment because of Kenny Rogers and 2015 as a disappointment because the team lost the World Series, then I do not know why you are a fan.  Unless you root for a team who has won a whole bunch of World Series in recent years (not the Mets’ case, obviously), you should enjoy whatever rides your team gives you.  Maybe this season will not take the Mets to the NLCS or beyond, as happened in previous seasons.  Maybe this season will be more like 1997, 1998, 2001, or 2016; when the Mets provided exciting runs but fell short of reaching the NLDS.  (Note: even the optimist in me cannot put a silver lining on a 7-game collapse, or even a 3.5-game mini-collapse, with 17 games left in the season.  Sorry, 2007 and 2008.)  Perhaps this season will actually be more like that of the 2010-11 Devils, who went on a 23-3-2 from January through March to turn a 27-point playoff deficit to a 6-point deficit. 

While that team ran out of steam in mid-March and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I nevertheless look back upon that run as one of my favorite times as a Devils fan…and I have experienced much more success as a Devils fan than as a Mets fan.

That Devils run gave me hope for a miraculous championship that never materialized.  Similarly, this Mets run is giving me hope for a near-miraculous championship.  Will this dream come to fruition?  Only time will tell, but I am happy to have the currency of hope.  I did not have that currency at this time last year, at this time in 2017, nor in June and early July of this season. Thus, the moral of the story is this: we have no idea how this Mets season is going to finish, but we now know that, after most of us had buried the team for dead, the team now has a legitimate chance to do something special.  Let us enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.