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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Traditional powerhouses battle unexpected contenders

SPORTS_BBA-ORIOLES-ROYALS_22_KC
Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) makes an out on a double play despite Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones' (10) efforts to stop Escobar during the fourth inning of game 4 of the ALCS playoff on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

As the weather grows colder and the leaves continue to turn, the focus of the typical New England sports fan has shifted far from the baseball diamond. Around this area, fans are talking about the Patriots solving their offensive woes and the Bruins looking to fix their own.

But last season, the region was in a full-on baseball frenzy. A year ago this past Monday, David Ortiz hit one of the biggest home runs in the history of the Red Sox franchise. His game-tying grand slam in the 8th inning of Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS changed that series and helped the Red Sox win the World Series title. This October, all Sox fans can do is recall fondly what they witnessed last fall and hope the team can rebound from a last place finish this season.

While this region of the country has moved on to teams and sports with more promise and optimism, the MLB playoffs are moving right along. And they haven’t disappointed. The four remaining teams have provided exciting baseball through and through, making both Championship Series engaging and fun.

These playoffs are a tale of two leagues. The teams fighting to represent the National League in the World Series represent the baseball establishment. The American League Champion Kansas City Royals and the team they overcame, the Baltimore Orioles, are the new kids on the block.

Use whatever sports cliche you’d like: The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants have been here before. They’ve seen it all and they know what it takes to win. The Giants won it all in 2012 and 2010. The Cardinals were champs in 2011 and again in 2006. It was the Cards that lost last year’s World Series to the Red Sox, making this the fifth consecutive year that one of these two teams represents the National League in the World Series.

Both teams are led by core players that are household names for baseball fans. Buster Posey of the Giants and Yadier Molina of the Cards are widely regarded as two of the best catchers in all of baseball. Both pitching staffs are anchored by veteran aces with championship pedigree: Adam Wainwright for St. Louis and Madison Bumgarner for San Francisco. If these playoffs were a race for a political office, the Giants and Cardinals would be the equivalent of the oft-decried “Washington Insiders.”

The two finalists for the AL crown were exactly the opposite. The Orioles won the American League East division this year, and earned a playoff berth in 2012 as a wild card team.Prior to that, the O’s hadn’t made the postseason since 1997. They haven’t won the World Series since 1983. Their three top starting pitchers - Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen and Bud Norris - had started a mere one postseason game combined before this season. Despite all that, the Orioles were not even the feel-good story of their own series.

That honor, of course, belongs to the Royals. The same Royals that are playing in the postseason for the first time since 1985. From 2004 to 2012, the Royals posted a whopping nine consecutive losing seasons. Their history as sorry losers has turned the Royals into America’s playoff darling. Given the successes of the NL teams in the past decade, the underdog Royals have become the popular bandwagon team among many fans. If your team were eliminated, wouldn’t you rather see the surprise Royals win than watch St. Louis or San Fran win yet again? After the Royals victory last night, that is a decision that every baseball fan will have to make.

Of course, when the game is played on the field, it doesn’t matter if a team just won the World Series or if the players are usually busy working on their golf game this time of year. Each of the four teams that made the LCS had been playing an elite level of baseball. Two LCS games have gone into extra innings, a third ended on a ninth-inning walkoff home run and none have been decided by more than three runs. Be it the establishment Giants or Cardinals, or the new guy Royals that take home the trophy, the final two weeks of the season promise to be exciting.