A Concise Postseason Preview (47.04)
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:59 am
Come On, You Stumps!
Musings of a Beirut Sports Curmudgeon
It's always a crap-shoot, but this year the playoff match-ups are especially tight. Both regular season league winners, Mumbai in the Bancroft and Beirut in the Burt, have identical 17-16 records against their challengers, giving Jerusalem and Bucharest more than a punchers chance in those two league championship races.
Post-season success is something with which the Cedar's are entirely unfamiliar. This will be their fourth trip to the post-season in five years, but they haven't won a post-season series since '37, a year most people in the UMEBA don't even think of as a real baseball season.
Looking ahead to the United Cup series, it's again anybody guess, with tiny six-game interleague sample sizes giving us not much to go on, but I like Bucharest's chances against either Burt team, should they get past Mumbai, with a head to head against both Burt teams of 4-2. For it's part, Jerusalem has a 4-2 record against Mumbai. The Metro Stars have a 3-3 record against the Cedars.
Mumbai is the best team, all-around. Everybody knows that they can hit, and they have the second best team OPS (.797) in the Unified, but their sometimes overlooked pitching is also pretty darn good, with the third best team ERA (3.93). The run prevention machine keeps humming along in Bucharest, and they have the best team ERA in the Unified at 3.77, but they have a middling offense and are fifth in team OPS (.747). It's tempting to say that Beirut is just a store-brand Bucharest, with their second best team ERA of 3.85 and fourth-best team OPS of .762. Jerusalem continues to be Bucharest's photo-negative, with a league-leading team OPS of .804, but a shaky team ERA of 4.40, seventh-best in the Unified.
A Jerusalem - Bucharest series might be the most compelling, with the two clubs' contrasting styles making for an interesting narrative. A repeat of last year's Cup series looks to be the most likely outcome, however. Jerusalem with a healthy Adam Backhouse is, as we have seen, a whole other team and Beirut will struggle to keep up with the Hammers' lineup. Until the Cedars prove that they can win on the field, I'll continue to pick them to lose. Mumbai is an easy pick in the Bancroft because they are the team with the fewest weaknesses.
I foresee the Metro Stars repeating as United Cup Champions, again, making it three in a row.