Playoff Sods 6 Oct. 2007
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by Tyduffy
The pedantic stat-heads often pontificate about how there is no difference between post-season at bats and regular season at bats, and that judging a player like A-Rod or Vlad by their post-season at bats is ridiculous because of the small sample-size.
But, are these at bats really the same? Stress and pressure have been proven through both experimentation and common experience to affect human performance in every other facet of life. Why is baseball the one unique human endeavor where these variables would not apply?
Surely, the intense individualized pressure and the change in routine associated with playoff baseball would affect how a player performs. And, it is quite reasonable to assume that certain players would be better or worse at handling this pressure. The vitriol which A-Rod receives is probably not warranted. But the "he's great in the regular season" argument does not exactly explain how he is 4 for 50 with no RBIs since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.
MLB will also be thanking a higher power that the Red Sox look a fair bet to make it to the second round. With the Yankees, Phillies, and Cubs are all down 2-0, making them pretty safe bets to be eliminated. The potential Diamondbacks-Rockies NLCS is not exactly going to reel in the casual fan. The Red Sox still have the gravitas with the average fan to draw in viewers and keep people on the East Coast awake long enough to watch. They can at least save baseball from the unspeakable disaster that would be an Angels-Diamondbacks World Series.
The TBS coverage has actually not been that bad, and has provided a welcome respite from the trio of Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and Scooter for at least a round. They did a good service debuting TBSHD in time. The sound quality at home plate has been excellent and added a new dimension to the broadcast. The announcing has been passably mediocre without being annoying. They have overplayed the Frank TV promos, but at least they are varied and funny enough that people don't want to shoot him. Turducken BOOM! There is also the added humor of Craig Sager's wardrobe. Are we at Odds and Sods the only ones who can't understand a thing that comes out of Jose Mota's mouth?
Originally published here.
