Before 1995, only teams that won their divisions qualified for postseason.
This wildcard-dominated postseason didn’t sit well with many baseball old-timers, who insist that the regular season has been de-valued by the current system.
From 1903 through 1968, the World Series was the only postseason play, featuring just champs of the AL and NL regular seasons.
A rare visit to the winner’s circle for one team
The AL and NL camps enter Friday with a grand total of one World Series title between them — Arizona’s epic seven-game triumph over the New York Yankees in 2001, a season that was interrupted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
That combined title total hasn’t been so low since 1980, when the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals were both going for their first rings.
The Phillies, led by power-hitting third baseman Mike Schmidt, Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Steve Carlton and slugger-turned-BBQ connoisseur Greg “The Bull” Luzinski, won that World Series in six games.
Baseball and the great indoors
This will be the first World Series played by two teams who make their home in dome or retractable roof stadiums.
The Diamondbacks have called Chase Field, in downtown Phoenix, home since their birth in 1998, while the Rangers moved into Globe Life Field in 2020. Both stadiums have retractable roofs and cover could come in handy on Friday night with a slight chance of rain in Texas.
There are eight indoor facilities in MLB, all in rainy northern regions or the brutally hot Sun Belt: Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays), loanDepot park (Miami Marlins), American Family Field (Milwaukee Brewers), Rogers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays). Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros) and T-Mobile Park (Seattle Mariners).
The era of indoor baseball dates back to 1965 when the Houston Astros’ Astrodome opened. MLB’s first retractable roof came into existence in 1989 when the Toronto Blue Jays christened the SkyDome, now called Rogers Centre.
Thumb or pinky finger for a possible fourth ring?
Texas manager Bruce Bochy, a Hall of Fame shoo-in with three world titles as the San Francisco Giants skipper, will be gunning for his fourth ring.
He’s already in elite historical circles, particularly for those who never helmed the New York Yankees, North America’s winningest major pro sports franchise with 27 world titles.
A fourth championship for Bochy would move him into a tie for fourth most managerial World Series titles with Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walter Alston and former Yankees skipper Joe Torre.
Suit-wearing Philadelphia A’s manager Connie Mack is at No. 3 with five titles, which trails only Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel, who each led their Yankees teams to seven titles.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
