Traditions are important. They can have a significant impact on a community. In the baseball community, there tends to be treasured traditions that are held in high regard. I will not list each baseball tradition and debate its morality and importance. That is not the point here. Sports are a tradition themselves and there isn't anything wrong or wicked in that. I do want to question the number of games played in a regular Major League Baseball season. 162. At first, 162 may seem like a random number to the outside spectator, but it does have its purpose. One of those purposes is that it determines which teams make the play-offs for an opportunity to be the world series champion. That is where my interest peaked. Do the best teams during the regular season win the world series ?
I collected data from 39 seasons (1977-2016) as my sample size. From the information that I gathered, only 9 out of the 39 seasons or 23% or (.231), of the best regular season teams went on to become the world series champions. The Chicago Cubs (2016), New York Yankees (1978, 1998, 2009), Detroit Tigers (1984), New York Mets (1986), Oakland Athletics (1989), and the Boston Red Sox (2007, 2013) are the teams that make up the 9 seasons when a team held the best regular season record and won the world series. Note that the two season the Boston Red Sox pulled off the double, their best regular season record was tied with the Cleveland Indians (2007) and the St. Louis Cardinals (2013) respectively for those seasons. The regular season is long and it can take a toll on the players and the ball clubs. I am not stating nor taking a stand against the number 162. I enjoy baseball, I am aware of the criticism that baseball encounters; "the pace of the game is too slow.." and "the season is too long.." However, whether I agree or disagree with either of those criticisms isn't the topic for today. I am stating that the regular season isn't seen as important as it should be.
The regular season isn't a walk in the park and for most of the players isn't a guarantee. Players and teams put in a tremendous amount of work to win those games. The individuals are awarded, such as the Cy youngs, golden gloves, and homerun leaders. Yet, the team that was the best throughout the year tends to be awarded less, if any, and soon enough forgotten and overshadowed by the world series champion. Unless, on the rare occasion, that same team wins it all. From the sample size that I researched and analyzed, one could easily observe that the majority of the teams with the best regular season record do no win the world series.
I am not saying the world series champion isn't deserving of being honored and celebrated throughout the sports world. But, for the sport nerds out there, they can point out that technically the play-offs are a different tournament. Which it is. What I am proposing is that the team with the best regular season record be remembered and recognized by sports historians and fans for what they accomplished. Being the best team all year long. Maybe the two, if they aren't the same team, can have a 3 game series in the spring to determine the best of the best prior to the start of the new season. If that were to ever happen, I am aware that in the spring teams are, well it's spring baseball. But, that's the point. It could be a glorified spring game with some meaning to it.
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