Who Knew Division Series Could Be This Exciting?

Unless you are hiding under a rock or too busy reading every single one of your all-of-a-sudden-political-experts friends’ Facebook statuses, you probably have heard that the MLB playoff are off the chain this year. Yes, indeed, they are. I have been fanatically watching baseball since 2003 and playoff season is like Christmas for me, whether my team is in it or not (100% of the time, during that time, they have not). But that takes nothing away from the excitement; it actually adds to it! I watch every game as a fan, making my own predictions, enjoying every home run, error, strikeout, and extra inning; much more than a Braves fan enjoyed the Wild Card game. That is why I can assure you that this is one of the best starts to the playoffs in years. This is true baseball. It is one of the few times in recent years where it really seems where the title is open to any of the four teams remaining.

Athletics’ Fans at the Oakland Coliseum on October 10, 2012 for Game 4. Image by Flickred! via Flickr.com

I had talked about the Wild Card elimination game and excitement of underdogs before the playoffs started . They have not disappointed. Wild Card games brought drama—I am very sorry Braves fans, I really am—and surprises. Whether or not one game is a valid test of best baseball team is a much longer argument we can have another day. As soon as Friday ended and Saturday started nothing else mattered but the eight teams left standing.

From then until now all we’ve had is an emotional roller coaster that has been painful and rewarding. Well, just painful because we know it is not really rewarding until you win it all at the World Series.

The division series to me has always been the “Blah” series. Since 2002, nine series have gone the max distance—this year for the first time all four series reached their maximum of five games. None of the division series of ’06, ’07, ’08, or ’09 offered five game series.  Boring, I know. The question now is: why? Is it just that this year all these teams are very evenly matched? Possibly. Since, fierce teams like Oakland and Washington have fostered young talent to get to where they are at. While, New York, Detroit, and St. Louis have paid the big bucks to get the big results. And the other teams: San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Baltimore are somewhere in between yet right up there in the level of competition. This thin margin is a result of great management and team heart.

OR could this extraordinary result come from the pressure put on by the new Wild Card system? It can be argued that this new system put more pressure on teams and now every team that reaches the playoffs is definitely playing its best baseball in October, when it counts. Let’s not underestimate the added excitement to the Wild Card team that prevails. It was exciting enough to come in and win when there were four or five other teams fighting for one spot, but when you have to duke it out in a win or go home. you find out what your team is made of. You have confidence. That means St. Louis, apart from having power, experience, clutch hitting, and being the reigning World Champs, got a boost of confidence when they came out winners (Braves fans, note that choice of words is just for you) against Atlanta. In the American League, the Wild Card winner, Baltimore, has provided us with nail-biting, edge-of your-seat, insomnia-producing games against the Yanks after beating the Rangers, who were AL Champs for the past two seasons, but had just recently been dethroned of their AL West leadership by the magical A’s—who, even though lost to the Tigers, are a fantastic team, that I am currently in love with. Whoa. It’s a mess. A mess of great teams where only one can come out on top.

Washington Nationals Celebrate Jason Werth’s Walk-Off Home Run in the Bottom of the 9th of Game 4 on October 11, 2012. Image by MissChatter via Flickr.com

Whatever it is, I like it. I like it a lot because these eight teams have turned the boring part of MLB playoffs into a must-watch. For instance: San Francisco being the first team in history to come back from a 0-2 division series deficit and winning the next three to take the series: great. But when you find out they did it against the Reds, a team who hadn’t lost three straight games all season long: priceless. Or Girardi pinch-hitting Ibáñez for A-Rod in the bottom of the 9th and getting the game-tying home run: exciting. Ibáñez winning the game with a walk-off homer in the 12th: priceless. Detroit being on the verge of celebration and the A’s tiying the game in the bottom of the 9th: Wow. Coco Crisp getting the two-out, walk-off hit to force a Game 5: priceless. And I could go on, about Werth’s walk-off home run, Verlander’s 21 Ks in his two games, the no home team winning a game in the SF/CIN series, or how Oakland fans gave their A’s a standing ovation after the game ended and meanwhile Detroit celebrated…there is so much greatness happening! I thought the best wasn’t supposed to have started, yet.

I might need some Valium, or chamomile tea at least, for the League Championships.

This bewildering start to the playoffs is most likely a combination of both things: great teams that when given more pressure excel and remind us why this is America’s pastime.