GO ROYALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[aknowledgeableperson]

Maybe the NFL should go to a multi-game playoff round. Who knows, maybe the Chiefs could have taken 2 out of 3 against the Colts.

[WSPanic]

Yeah I mean this isn't rocket science. Why don't we just play a 29 game season with each team facing each other team once?

Or, by your logic, we can make each playoff series 161 games.

I agree that a one-game playoff loss sucks, but that's just the way it is. No reason to be jerk about to people on this board because you disagree with the system.


Edited for unnecessary language....

[WSPanic]

Tigers won today...... an ominous wildcard card game against Lester looms ahead....chilling.

I bought a ticket on Monday - hoping it's a home game. Will be back-to-back Royals post season games for me (with a 30 year gap in between)

[phuqueue]

Yeah I mean this isn't rocket science. Why don't we just play a 29 game season with each team facing each other team once?

Or, by your logic, we can make each playoff series 161 games.

I agree that a one-game playoff loss sucks, but that's just the way it is. No reason to be jerk about to people on this board because you disagree with the system.


Edited for unnecessary language....

Who am I being a jerk to (aside from my admittedly unsolicited jab at akp about missing the point)? All I said is that the wild card play-in isn't really the playoffs. That in turn invited a sarcastic response with a poor analogy (kinda like your own misapplication of my "logic"). I'm dumbfounded that you feel insulted here.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Settle down now boys. Instead of calling the one game a playoff game why not call it a "postseason" game.

[AllThingsKC]

I understand a one-game playoff would suck.

I understand that having the post season end in 3 hours would suck. We get plenty of that from the Chiefs.

But after 29 years of no post season at all, I would sure love having at least one post season game. And my "Wildcard" banner and t-shirt will get me through the off-season.

[chaglang]

It's nice that they might be playing after the regular season has ended, but after 29 years of nothing and 8 years of promises I was hoping for more than a team with an anemic offense and questionable leadership.

[AllThingsKC]

I hear ya. And the "anemic offense and questionable leadership" doesn't inspire much confidence for a playoff repeat next year. But I will cross that bridge when I come to it. In the mean time, might as well enjoy getting the "longest pro sport playoff drought in North America" monkey off our backs.

[brewcrew1000]

If mlb used the same playoff system as they did in 85, we would have been eliminated grom playoff contention 2 weeks ago. Lets be thankful for this postseason birth

[Demosthenes]

It's nice that they might be playing after the regular season has ended, but after 29 years of nothing and 8 years of promises I was hoping for more than a team with an anemic offense and questionable leadership.

Why focus on the negative? How about the fact we have the best defense and bullpen in baseball? We are about to be the first team since the dead ball era to have 3 pitchers logging more than 60 innings with a sub 1.50 ERA. That is crazy man!

And even with an "anemic" offense, it is still full of many accolades. One of the top teams in stolen bases and infield singles. We have batted around the order in an inning more than all but one or two teams. We lead the AL in most players with 40+ RBIs. This team may not be full of sluggers and .300 hitters, but they certainly do what they do well. They play a certain brand of baseball that few teams play, and they play it beautifully.

This team is the fastest, most athletic team in baseball. And they are going to the playoffs, still with a shot at winning the division. I couldn't ask for anything more.

[chaglang]

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy they are going. But they don't play a style of play I enjoy watching. Their high strikeout/low walk style often leaves them looking painfully lost at the plate. There's never a sense that the offense will come through on any particular night. They have a very hard time playing from behind. Bunting for base hits is lunacy. I thought there was going to be a parade last night after Perez, Butler, Gordon, and Hosmer all had good games.

This is a conversation for another day, but if I'm the GM and know that I have very limited resources, this is not the offense I'd opt for. Frankly, it seems stupid. They have very little margin for error with the payroll they have, and a bunt and run offense makes that margin even slimmer. It jeopardizes all the other positives on the team, like the pitching and defense.

This is probably where someone says "yeah, but it works". I'm not disputing that. But there are VERY easy ways it could have worked better. They could be 5-7 games better without too much tinkering. Part of that involves a new manager.

Remember, if MLB used the rules it had in place for the 1984 playoffs - 5 game LCS, 7 game WS - the Royals would have lost their series with the Jays.

[aknowledgeableperson]

They could be 5-7 games better without too much tinkering

And that could be said for any number of teams.
Probably no tinkering at all is needed for the Royals. Maybe a hit or two here and there by any number of players that are hitting below their lifetime batting averages and/or their average for homeruns would make a difference.

[beautyfromashes]

This is a conversation for another day, but if I'm the GM and know that I have very limited resources, this is not the offense I'd opt for.

Now I'm curious.

[phuqueue]

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy they are going. But they don't play a style of play I enjoy watching. Their high strikeout/low walk style often leaves them looking painfully lost at the plate. There's never a sense that the offense will come through on any particular night. They have a very hard time playing from behind. Bunting for base hits is lunacy. I thought there was going to be a parade last night after Perez, Butler, Gordon, and Hosmer all had good games.

I don't disagree with the general premise here -- the Royals offense is undoubtedly anemic (although actually, I think a better description would be streaky; they're 9th in the AL, middle of the pack, in total runs scored, but they have outbursts and then they go utterly dormant) -- but they are definitely not a "high strikeout" team. They have actually struck out 126 times less than any other team in baseball. The gap that separates the #1 Royals from the #2 Athletics is larger than the gap that separates the #2 Athletics from the #12 Mariners. They are the anti-TTO team -- they don't strikeout, they don't walk, and they don't homer.

They could be 5-7 games better without too much tinkering

And that could be said for any number of teams.
Probably no tinkering at all is needed for the Royals. Maybe a hit or two here and there by any number of players that are hitting below their lifetime batting averages and/or their average for homeruns would make a difference.

"No tinkering at all"? Really? On paper this team is already significantly overachieving. If they don't tinker at all, the safe bet next season is on regression (Vargas in particular seems to have already gotten an early start on that).

[bobbyhawks]

They could be 5-7 games better without too much tinkering

And that could be said for any number of teams.
Probably no tinkering at all is needed for the Royals. Maybe a hit or two here and there by any number of players that are hitting below their lifetime batting averages and/or their average for homeruns would make a difference.

Uh. Evidently you don't pay too much credence to pythagorean win percentages or WAR. The Royals are 5 games above what should be expected for a team with their run output and allowance, meaning they may already be a lucky team. A hit or two here and there is more likely to swing the other way than to actually increase the margin above the pythagorean expectation.

Getting a +5 benefit in WAR from one year to the next is normally pretty expensive or requires a number of people to get better (and to overcome the number of people on the team getting worse). This season is now. Let's enjoy it, but I'm a little worried about all of the folks who already take being a contender next year for granted.

[phuqueue]

Because I'm bored at work, a couple more quick notes on strikeouts -- the Royals have actually had the fewest strikeouts in baseball in each of the past three seasons. They are poised to finish with the fewest strikeouts since Texas struck out only 930 times in 2011; they're currently at 954, on pace to exactly match the 2011 Cardinals at 978. Incidentally, you will recall that St. Louis defeated Texas in the World Series that year.

Uh, but both of those teams did much more on offense than just not strike out.

[WSPanic]

Yeah I mean this isn't rocket science. Why don't we just play a 29 game season with each team facing each other team once?

Or, by your logic, we can make each playoff series 161 games.

I agree that a one-game playoff loss sucks, but that's just the way it is. No reason to be jerk about to people on this board because you disagree with the system.


Edited for unnecessary language....

Who am I being a jerk to (aside from my admittedly unsolicited jab at akp about missing the point)? All I said is that the wild card play-in isn't really the playoffs. That in turn invited a sarcastic response with a poor analogy (kinda like your own misapplication of my "logic"). I'm dumbfounded that you feel insulted here.

You saying "it isn't rocket science" to deduce that the playoffs aren't actually the playoffs is ridiculous. People are actually allowed to have differing opinions from you without being idiots.

[phuqueue]

The specific question was "why are seven games significant and one game isn't," which really isn't rocket science. "This isn't rocket science" is also a pretty benign cliche and I'm not under the impression that Max himself was personally offended by it, so I'm still pretty confused about why you are.

[mean]

Hey man, this is the internet, not some place people go to argue!

[grovester]

The font made me livid.