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Reasons to Root in the AL Division Series: A’s and Rays
Major League Baseball’s Postseason rolls on this week. Eight teams remain, making it feel closer to a typical postseason than whatever happened last week was. In the American League, the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays will face the New York Yankees…at Dodger Stadium, while the AL-West champion Oakland A’s will face the Houston (Can-Bangers) Astros in San Diego.
A quick glance at MLB’s team payrolls shows the Yankees (1st — $109m) and Astros (4th — $83m) at the top and the A’s (25th — $37m) and Rays (28th — $28m) at the bottom. Big market and nice new stadiums against small-budget/market with crappy stadiums. Fortunately for neutral baseball fans, neither Oakland or Tamps will serve as home parks for these upcoming Best-of-5 series.
Reasons to Root for the A’s over the Astros
1. The A’s get to play in a real, major league baseball stadium without acres of foul territory and steel monstrosities beyond the outfield walls.
2. The A’s didn’t bang on trash cans to make hitting off-speed pitches much easier over the last few years. Houston’s team OPS slipped to 16th this year with no added advantage.
3. Lance McCullers Jr. is the son of a former major league pitcher, and his path to the majors was paved with gold, as he was named the high school player of the Year in 2012 and picked 41st overall in the 1st round by Houston. The path…
