Mets, Dodgers show that money is a key to the Postseason
So here in the wasteland of baseball—but ain’t the weather beautiful?—we try to accept the fact the Dodgers are where the Giants are not, in the postseason. And we wonder whether the new guy, Buster Posey, is as surprised by what has happened.
Or what hasn’t.
Now, as the newly appointed director of baseball operations, his task is clear: to do what his predecessor, Farhan Zaidi, could not—build a Giants team that can overtake the dreaded Dodgers.
Posey of course was an MVP catcher and a major contributor when (sigh!) the franchise from San Francisco finished ahead of the one from Los Angeles and every other team in the majors. One thing Giants fans must hope is that when Posey goes out to get players, he will be accompanied by a large amount of money.
Poverty doesn’t work anymore in baseball. The New York Mets have the largest payroll in the sport, and that’s the reason they are facing the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Dodgers and Yankees are also among the top spenders. It’s been proven that, with rare exceptions in baseball, you get what you pay for.
The San Diego Padres thought they would be getting the place where the Dodgers are now, and they had a 2-1 lead over L.A. in the division series, but San Diego choked it away or got stopped by Dodger pitching that reminded people of the Sandy Koufax-Don Drysdale era of the early 1960s.
What might strike Giants fans as humorous is the way the Padres and their supporters have stolen a page from the book of Giants-Dodgers history. Before the playoffs, San Diego was flooded with posters and T-shirts with the words “Beat LA.”
Giants fans have chanted that for decades, to no avail, rather than a positive slogan like “Let’s go Giants.”
Early on, when the Dodgers recorded 33 consecutive scoreless innings, starting with the Padres and running on into the Mets, LA seemed unbeatable. It is hard to win when you don’t score, but one of the great cliches in baseball is momentum only lasts until the end of the game. The guy who hit a home run one day is quite likely to strike out three days the next.
Even superstars can begin to struggle. The great Shohei Ohtani, who is a lock for National League most valuable player after hitting 50 home runs and stealing 50 bases, has only two hits in the two games against New York. Los Angeles Times columnist Dylan Hernandez tried to interview Ohtani after his hitless second game against the Mets Monday, but Ohtani wouldn’t talk. He had three hitless at-bats and now is 0 for 19 in the playoffs with the bases empty, but he is six for eight with runners on base. He is batting .222 in the postseason.
However, he and the Dodgers are in the Postseason. Unlike the team from San Francisco. Maybe next year… Buster Posey may have an effect.