Red Sox owner John Henry said, “a good team can easily lose to an inferior team in a short series. So our goal really is to make the playoffs and try to win.”
No no no no no. That’s the words of someone trying to turn a profit. That’s the small mindedness of “meaningful games in September.”
I like the talk I’ve heard from the Mets this year. Ask Santana who the best pitcher is and he says Santana.
Mark Teixeiria gets it. His focus is to repeat as champion. It’s nice to hear a few guys in Queens thinking the same way.
You can’t have the mindset that “oh well we lost to a hot pitcher.” Chasing the wild card might make sense after September 20th but when the wild card talk starts in June you aren’t focused on the goal. Meaningful games in September means sending Tom Cylon Glavine to the hill for a do or die. No thanks.
Win the World Series. Then win it again.
The popular ‘opinion’ lately (helped out by Francessa I’m sure) is that the playoffs are a crap shoot and it’s all a tossup from there. I often seem to hear it in relation to “well, the Yankees don’t buy championships because you never know what’ll happen in the Playoffs” Which is actually the opposite argument, because while you can’t flat out spend X and get a championship, the Yankees are stuffing the Chinese Auction box.
avoid the crapshoot then. Santana and pray for rain isn’t as good as say having a solid #2.
Maybe John Henry is a little too honest, but it’s tough to accuse him of not trying to win. The Red Sox won two World Series titles in the past decade and went to the playoffs six times.
The playoffs are a crapshoot. How else can you explain the 2003 Marlins or the 2006 Cardinals? (Or, for that matter, the 2004 Red Sox getting through the ALCS after getting off to an 0-3 start.)
You build the best team that you can, enjoy watching them play and then hope for the best.