Every time we get a winter cold snap, or a summer heat advisory, climate change ignoramuses spout commentary on the veracity of global warming. That one day's weather (or one week's or one month's) is a conglomerate of variables almost totally devoid of larger meaning is utterly lost on most observers.
The same concept applies to the baseball playoffs. You've probably heard that the Tigers need Justin Verlander to pitch three times to have any chance in their series against the Rangers. This pronouncement belongs in the same junk heap as the following:
1. There's no way the Cardinals can beat the Phillies' historically great pitching staff three times.
2. The Tigers have no chance against the Yankees unless Verlander dominates twice.
And that's just the first round of one year's post-season. Baseball's annals are rife with similar platitudes gone awry.
Every year we hear these sorry old shibboleths crammed with certitude like stuffing in a Thanksgiving turkey. But the beauty of baseball is that nothing is ever certain. The Rays earned the Wild Card on a two-strike, two-out ninth inning home run from a player batting .119 on the season with one home run batting against a bullpen that hadn't lost a late eight run lead in 60 years.
You may have noticed that Verlander got rained out in Game One of the divisional series and surrendered four runs in Game Three, yet Detroit emerged victorious, and not because the league's batting champ and its best DH mashed them to victory. Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez swatted a combined .212/.350/.393 with a homer apiece. Instead, Brandon Inge, who spent part of the season renting new hitting shoes in Toledo; and Magglio Ordonez, who is over like Huey Lewis and the News; hit.444 in fill-in roles and 25th man Don Kelly pounded the winning home run and hit .364/.364/.636 in his four games of service.
With a loss in his first start in the ALCS, the Tigers must now rely on a rotation of Fister, Scherzer and Porcello before getting Verlander back on the hill. Woe is them, although last I looked, all three were on Major League rosters.
With a loss in his first start in the ALCS, the Tigers must now rely on a rotation of Fister, Scherzer and Porcello before getting Verlander back on the hill. Woe is them, although last I looked, all three were on Major League rosters.
If the Rangers send the good Derek Holland to the mound tonight (1.99 ERA in wins) the Cats could be down 2-0. But if the evil Derek Holland (9.49 ERA in losses) takes the ball, we're back to even.
Regardless, a seven-game series is like a nor'easter. The odds may favor one result or another, but they don't guarantee anything. And thank goodness for that. It's a lot more fun to watch the games when we don't already know the outcome.
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