Baseball coverage has become a rather trendy and silly enterprise. Forget the standard, over-the-top writing (see today’s column by Mike Lupica) — that’s not the problem. What drives me crazy these days is the instant annointment of the next big thing.
Consider the way we turn mediocre hitters into superstars based on a half season of production
ESPN offers its predictions for the playoffs. Of the 17 “experts,” eight have the Mets going to the World Series — a rather small number considering that the Mets won 10 games more than any other National League ball club. The reason — which I can only assume based on some of the yammering ex-ballplayers on Baseball Tonight — is that they had a bad September or that they have become succeptible to left-handed pitching or that they can be handled if you pitch them inside or …. Suddenly, because of a hot September, two incredibly flawed ball clubs — the Dodgers and Padres — are seen as hot picks by some. Now, I’m no expert and I am the first to admit that the Mets are flawed (they do have trouble with lefties and their starting pitching is thin), but they won 97 games and have the best lineup of the teams still playing in the National League.
For me, the entire National League playoffs depend on three things: 1. How Jose Reyes plays; 2. How the Mets relief corps performs; and 3. Whether the Mets’ starters can consistently give the team six innings. If Reyes is on base, the rest of the league will have fits, and the rest of the Mets’ lineup will follow suit, making for a potent offense. If the starters can go six and the relievers do the job they’ve been doing (no one in the NL has as deep a bullpen), then the Mets will be fine.
And make no mistake, the World Series will be won by an American League team if the Mets cannot get there. The Mets were the only team to hold its own against the AL this season (if you ignore the debacle against Boston).
Anyway, my rant here is not so much about my feeling that the Mets are suddenly underapprecited — the playoffs have become a crap shoot in many ways, as the regular success of the wild card teams attests — as it is the blathering by baseball writers that elevates players and managers to superstud status before their time.
Ryan Howard had the NL’s best season and probably does deserve the MVP. But only based on his season-long totals. When his name first came up, it was at the expense of Albert Pujols, who carried his badly bruised and busted team into the playoffs — a place the Phillies failed to reach.
And then there is the weird saga of Joe Girardi, manager of the Florida Marlins. The Marlins were a nice story this year, far better than they were expected to be, but Girardi has been the consensus manager of the year since shortly after the all-star break. Three things to consider, however: The Dodgers and Mets were a combined 28 games better than last year, the Marlins were under .500 and had a worse record than last year and, perhaps most importantly, Girardi was fired today.
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Hank Kalet 