Well, another regular baseball season has wound down. The playoffs start today, and the 8 out of 30 teams that are still playing in October are:
| American League | National League |
| Tampa Bay Rays (East) Payroll: $44M - Rank 29 | Philadelphia Phillies (East) Payroll: $98M - Rank 13 |
| Chicago White Sox (Central) Payroll: $121M - Rank 5 | Chicago Cubs (Central) Payroll: $118.6M - Rank 7 |
| LA-Anaheim Angels (West) Payroll: $119 - Rank 6 | LA Dodgers (West) Payroll: $118.5M - Rank 8 |
| Boston Red Sox (Wild Card) Payroll: $133M - Rank 4 | Milwaukee Brewers (Wild Card) Payroll: $81M - Rank 15 |
It's always interesting to see if you get what you pay for. And as it turns out, in terms of payroll spend, if you're in the Big Three of 2008's Big Spenders, it's a trifecta. None of the top three payroll teams made the playoffs this year!
The Yankees blew their farewell-to-Yankee-Stadium season, finishing a fairly abysmal third in the AL East (nah-nah-nah-nah-nah) despite their spending a whopping $209M. They did manage to make first runner up in the Wild Card race, but close is no Havana (nah-nah-nah-nah-nah). Of course, on their way they did manage to play spoiler to any chances the Red Sox had of winning the AL East. Our boys had to settle for Wild Card.
The Yankee payroll was more than $70M over the $138M spent by the even more abysmal Detroit Tigers, who finished last in the Central Division, owning the third worst record in the AL.
And then there are the Amazin' Mets, who did their second annual September swoon (although this year's fade wasn't quite so choked up as last season's).
But once we move beyond and beneath these Double-L Losahs, we see that teams in 5 of the next 6 spending slots - Red Sox, White Sox, Angels, Cubs, Dodgers - are still playing ball in October.
And while we're here, I have to point out the Dodgers payroll is understated and the Red Sox overstated, since the Red Sox are picking up the salary tab for Manny Ramirez. Manny, for those who follow such matters, was, after several months of wicked bad behavior, dealt to the Dodgers for free. (Reportedly after a unanimous club house vote to get rid of what had become a malign presence. Miraculously, once Manny got to be Manny without that terrible burden of the Red Sox piddling option years hanging over his head, his hamstring and knee problems cleared up. Mirabile dictu! Must be the smog.)
The Phillies at number 13 are in the top half of the spenders, as are the Brewers at 15.
AL East Champeens Tampa Bay - which has been an Eastern Division doormat - came in 29th in spending (among 30 Major League Baseball Teams).
Almost the rock bottom in payroll spend, and now they're in the playoffs! Is there anyone in baseball among those who no longer own a dog in this hunt who is going to root against Tampa Bay? (Other than those who will be wigged out by the holy-rollers who attribute Tampa's change in fortune to their having dumped the "Devil" from their old name "Devil Ray.")
Sure, I'd like the Red Sox to win it all. But I have to admit that it wouldn't be crushing if they didn't.
Been there, done that - for sure.
Not to mention that The Olde Towne Team and their fans are no longer quite the little darlings, the dotes we were in 2004.
That year, other than someone who lived in St. Louis, or some benighted Yankee fan, most people were on "our" side. It was such a great story: the comeback from 3 down in the playoff series vs. the Yankees. The curse reversed. The generations of hopes and dreams in a baseball-besotted region....
Now, we're second only to the Yankees as the most hated baseball team (and fans) in the world. ("Who, adorable us?") Maybe at this point we're even the most hated.
Now, that's no reason to not want to win.But it really wouldn't be the end of the world if the season ended without a World Series win for our boys.
(I will certainly acknowledge that this is one fan's perspective. For the players on the team, they hope and play to win every year. Only a handful of the current Red Sox are holdovers from the magic 2004 season. Even this year's roster is substantially different than last year's. I like these guys so, yeah, I want them to win. Just not with the same heart, soul, and agita I put into it in the long pre-2004 era I endured as a fan-since-birth.)
So, who do I like?
Tampa Bay has a couple of ex-Red Sox (Eric Hinske, Carlos Pena) - there may be others, I'm going from memory here. A couple of local guys are on the Rays: Pena is from Haverhill, Massachsuetts and Northeastern University. And there's Rhode Island's own Rocco Baldelli - is that a Row-DIE-land name, or what? Plus there's the great story of their lowly payroll, and their chump-of-the-league position in past seasons. So they have a real shot at being the Darlings of the Year this time around. Plus they play in a really crappy "modern" domed stadium, where there are special rules about flyballs caught in the catwalks. So we won't be hearing anyone rhapsodizing about lyrical bandboxes, etc. (as they will with the Red Sox and the Cubbies). Tampa's stadium is quite literally a rat hole: I was watching a Tampa game last year, and the cameras showed a rat scurrying around the broadcast booth. (Or course, given its location near the Fens, there are no doubt rats in and around Fenway. I've just never seen one there.)
Ah, the Rays: one very satisfying sports story.
Not to mention that, once they took first place in the Eastern Division in July, everyone and his brother said that they lacked the depth and experience not to fold under the pressure of a pennant race. Hah, hah: fooled ya!
If the Red Sox are 86'd, I could more than live with Tampa going all the way. Nor would I mind either of the other AL contenders, White Sox or Angels.
I generally support whoever's in it from the American League (with one notable exception, and even them I cheered on in 2001).
But when it comes down to it, there is no team - other than the home town honeys - I'd like to see go all the way than the Chicago Cubs.
This is the hundredth anniversary of their last World Series win. They play in a field not unlike dear old Fenway Park. They have the same sort of rabid, cultish, daft, multi-generational fans that the Red Sox do. As with the Red Sox, being a Cubs fan is something of a secular religion.
So, with apologies to my cousin Laura (and to my other Chicago South Side and former South Side relatives) who couldn't bear to see the Cubs win, if it's not going to be the Red Sox' year, I'd sure like it to be the Cubbies. Come a subway series in the Toddlin' Town, GO CUBS!
Sure, they're a Money Bags club, and if they win we'll have to put up with as much mawkish sentiment as we did when the local edition won in 2004.
Still...
Tampa Bay vs. the Cubs? I may have to change my cheer for the AL rule.
We'll see.
Yes, it must be disheartening for the fans of teams below the Mendoza spending line. They definitely must look in on the results and see that, while you don't always get what you pay for - just ask the Yankees, Tigers, and Mets - you're absolutely more likely to make it to the playoffs if you've got a lot of walkin' around money.
To these fans - and the teams they fan for - Tampa Bay (and the Brewers and Phillies to lesser extent) has to be an inspiration.
Let the games begin!
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