We’ve reached baseball’s ultimate stage. And though it may be tempting, what we’ve learned in recent weeks shouldn’t be regarded as ultimate truths.
People instinctively attempt to make sense of the random information that we’re faced with. We need to do this to function. To sort data or facts, put them in order and draw conclusions. To give it all meaning.
As a result, there are questions that you’ll hear floated often at this time of year when people analyze playoff success, asking whether the manner in which a particular team is winning will beget followers and acolytes. Will teams attempt to emulate the success of his year’s darlings?
Certainly, the unorthodox construction and execution of the Kansas City Royals raises such notions into stark relief.
In particular, the Royals’ absurd – and absurdly entertaining – American League Wild Card Game win versus the Oakland Athletics sent folks scrambling to create a universal theory of baseball based on the seven stolen bases that contributed significantly to their ability to claw back runs and come from behind to win.
Even with admissions of small samples and recency bias, there were plenty of statements-as-questions as to whether if we haven’t entered a new era of “small ball”, in which speed and defence rule the day. Is it a “sea change”, they asked? A “tectonic shift”?
While the Royals proceeded to sweep away two ostensibly better teams without running the bases with nearly the same abandon, they appear to have retained this “throwback team” label. The fact that their success elicits memories of the last successful Royals teams of the 1980’s likely helps drive the notion home.
The lessons I take away from the Royals’ success are different, though. I’m not convinced that this team is ushering in a new era or a new approach. Rather, I think that they are underlining the fact that there is not one formula to be successful in baseball. There are many paths that lead to the World Series, especially now that there are four Wild Card entrants per tournament.
Think of the areas that a team needs to develop in order to be successful: hitting, power, starting pitching, infield and outfield defence, speed, relief pitching, good management and good health. Now imagine that you can only choose to be strong in four of those areas. Is there any specific combination that gets you the right four tools for the job? Does the equation change depending on your ballpark, or division? Does the equation change from opponent to opponent and from one game to another? The essential resources of money and talent are limited enough in this baseball marketplace that teams ultimately have to make certain difficult choices.
It follows that all teams are flawed, including the two presently tied in the World Series.
Both the Royals and San Francisco Giants struggled profoundly at times this season, and in late July, you would have been hard-pressed to make an argument for this matchup. On July 31st, for instance, the Toronto Blue Jays were 60-50, with a better record than either the Giants (59-50) or Royals (55-52).
This isn’t to say that the Blue Jays were better that either of this year’s pennant winners, but it at least gives a sense that they might not be that far off. At the same time, I’d be quite reticent to draw conclusions on the areas of emphasis for the Blue Jays over the off-season based on the past three weeks of playoff baseball.
Playoff baseball in some ways exemplifies the best elements of the game, especially when the tension is torqued up; it emphasizes the importance of every pitch and every play. Moreover, the added off-days result in a smaller core of key players having a greater effect on the outcomes. Your positives can vastly outweigh your flaws in this context.
More plainly: You can’t apply the template of how the Royals have used their bullpen or their bench in the playoffs to how you build for a 162-game season.
It’s perfectly understandable that Jays fans will want to find meaning from the Royals’ success, especially given that it underscores the current post-season drought in which they are mired. You almost can’t help yourself.
But if you can shut down the thought that this World Series has to provide meaning to our team’s plight, you might just enjoy the last few games of the 2014 season that much more. Leave tomorrow for tomorrow.