Grant Brisbee rated the 25 possible World Series matchups that were possible for the 10 postseason MLB teams. It’s an entertaining article. Once again, however, he was using the MLB-only list of teams.
He used an algorithm, as far as he knows, to generate his list. He prefers an A’s – Brewers series the most, followed by an A’s -Dodgers series. I assume he means the Oakland A’s, who sneak into the playoffs if you ignore EFL teams. Either that or he just assumed without checking that our Pittsburgh A’s had won the regular season championship. I think it’s the former, however, just because Brisbee is from the San Francisco Bay area, and would be expected to root for the A’s.
Brisbee rates the Red Sox – Rockies as the least interesting possible World Series matchup. I can’t argue with that much, except he seemed to be saying there had already been a Red Sox – Rockies World Series. I don’t remember such a thing… which perhaps correlates with how uninteresting it sounds this year.
Anyway — I have undertaken to correct Brisbee’s ratings by tossing imposters out (like the Rockies) and including the three EFL teams who should be in the playoffs. Here is my list, from most intriguing matchup to least. File your dissents and/or concurrences below in the comments.
1 Wolverines Kangaroos — Family rivalry! Original EFL teams! Canberra as Cinderella!
2 Wolverines Rosebuds — Top two EFL teams! Old Guard against New! EFL Showcase!
3 Red Sox Rosebuds — So many key Red Sox starring for both sides.
4 Indians Kangaroos — Indians have gone longest without WS win. So have ‘Roos.
5 Indians Rosebuds — Similar to above, but one of these is not a Cinderella.
6 Wolverines Dodgers — Four key Dodgers play for both sides.
7 Wolverines Brewers — Wolverines against another team that has never won WS.
8 Red Sox Kangaroos — Can EFL third best take out MLB’s very best? Sweet!
9 Wolverines Cubs — Two key players playing for both sides.
10 Astros Rosebuds — Working through the matchups involving EFL teams
11 Astros Kangaroos — Ditto — and we’re done with EFL matchups.
12 Astros Cubs — Playoff between the two most recent WS champs.
13 Red Sox Cubs — Replay from over 100 years ago?
14 Red Sox Dodgers — Have these ever faced each other in WS? Oughtn’t they to have?
15 Indians Cubs — Ditto.
16 Indians Dodgers — Ditto
17 Indians Brewers — Championship of the Midwest
18 Red Sox Brewers — Boston team v. replacement for departed Boston team.
19 Astros Brewers — Recent upstart v. Most recent upstart
20 Astros Dodgers — Last year again? Yecch. But it’s better than the Yankees!
21 Yankees Rosebuds — Most likely to doom the Yankees.
22 Yankees Kangaroos — Would be a sweet, sweet, win.
23 Yankees Cubs — Have these ever faced each other in WS? Too bad that’s over.
24 Yankees Dodgers — at least it’s a classic
25 Yankees Brewers — Boring AND Banal. Bad combination.