Just Like the Oscars

Jason Michael Barker

The World Series starts tomorrow in Atlanta, and yahoo (not Wahoo, mind you), it's going to be a good one.

Seriously, for all I've said about the Yankees-Braves matchup being roughly the excitement equivalent of the world championships of curling (let's go Sweeden!), I do plan on watching the World Series, and I do expect to see some good baseball, given two very good teams going head-to-head.

I've also decided which team I'll be rooting for, but rest assured it has nothing to do with a special affinity for the team, but rather a sense of principle. More on that later, though.

In and effort to make the World Series more interesting (read: marketable), baseball and the assorted media have decided that the winner will be crowned "Team of the Decade." Upon looking at the numbers, I'm forced to wonder which decade they're all talking about.

In 1990, both the Braves and Yankees were horrible. Atlanta finished 65-97 and in sixth place in the National League West (ah, those were the days). New York was two games better at 67-95, and finished seventh in the AL East.

Pretty even so far, right? Read on

In 1991, the Braves won their division with a 94-68 record, but went on to lose the World Series to their fellow worst-to-first brethren, the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees? Sitting at home watching on television following a 71-91, fifth place season.

In 1992, Atlanta won their division with a 98-64 record, but this time lost the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees again watched from home, although they improved to a 76-86 fourth place finish.

In 1993, the Braves won a whopping 104 games (against 58 losses) and won the NL West again, by a single game over the San Francisco Giants. They lost in the NLCS to the Phillies, who went on to lose the Series to the Blue Jays on Joe Carter's game-winning homer off Mitch Williams. The Yankees continued to improve, winning 88 games but finishing behind Toronto (no wild card back then, remember).

The 1994 season was cut short due to the strike, but we'll still consider what each team did. The Braves were actually trailing the Montreal Expos in the NL East (we're on to today's divisional play now), but were still playing very good ball at 68-46. The Yankees continued their dramatic improvement, and were leading the AL East with a 70-43 record when the strike hit.

The Braves finally broke through and won the World Series in 1995, after a stellar 90-54 regular season. New York finished second in the AL East at 79-65 and won the Wild Card, but lost in the AL Division Series to the Mariners in five games.

In 1996 Atlanta made it back-to-back appearances in the World Series, against none other than the New York Yankees. Atlanta was 96-66 during the regular season and New York 92-70, and the Yanks won the World Series.

In 1997, both clubs slipped a little. The Braves won the East again at 101-61, but lost to the Marlins in the NLCS. The Yankees finished 96-66 and won the Wild Card again, but were bounced by Cleveland in the first round.

Last season each team won a ton of games -- New York 114, Atlanta 106 (sounds like an NBA score) -- and the Yankees won the Series for the second time in three years while the Braves lost again in the NLCS, this time to the San Diego Padres.

Finally, this season the Braves won 103 games, topping 100 for the third straight year and fourth time overall in the 90's. The Yankees slipped to 98 wins, and of course both teams are in the World Series.

In case you haven't been keeping track, I'll do the math for you. Here's a handy table:

Accomplishment	Atlanta Braves	New York Yankees
Won-Loss (Pct)	925-629 (.595)	851-702 (.548)
Division Titles	8	4
Playoff Appearances	8	6
World Series Apps.	5	2
World Series Titles	1	2
100-Win Seasons	4	1
90-Win Seasons	8	4

I thought about coming up with some sort of scoring system (i.e. division title, 5 points; World Series title 20 points; and so on) to decide the battle, but upon further review I think the numbers speak for themselves.

In my mind, there's no question that the Braves have been the "team of the decade" to this point. They have the advantage in every category above with the exception of World Series titles. I know winning the World Series is important, and for that very reason the Braves haven't gotten as much respect this decade as they should have.

Does that one extra title make up for 74 more wins, four more division titles, four more 90-win seasons, three more 100-win seasons and three more World Series appearances? I think not. You know, the Toronto Blue Jays won two World Series titles this decade too, but you never hear them mentioned as a possible "Team of the Decade."

What we have here is what's known as a "recency effect" in psychology. The Yankees have been really good recently, so of course that's what people are going to remember. Meanwhile, the Braves have been really good for years, but after a while you start to take it for granted.

The Yankees will certainly have a stronger case if they do wind up winning the World Series, but even then you can make a very convincing argument for the Braves. On the other hand, if the Braves win it there shouldn't be any debate.

And for that reason, I'll be rooting for the Braves this time around. They deserve the title of "Team of the Decade," and it appears winning the World Series is the only chance they have of securing it.

That brings us to prediction time, which is also as good a time as any to mention that I pegged both League Championship Series on the nose -- Braves in six and Yankees in five.

This time I sorted the tea leaves, rolled the magic dice and consulted my oracle. When those were inconclusive I flipped a coin, which turned up heads, and that means Braves in six.

about the author

Magic tea leaves are Jason Michael Barker's thing, so please send all the chai you've got to jmb@strikethree.com.