Published September 7, 2011 at CSNBayArea.com<\/p>\n
I think I\u2019m going to surprise you with my next statement. Outside of the New York Yankees, only one Major League Baseball Team has repeated as World Series Champions since the Reds did it in 1975-76. I\u2019ll give you the rest of the column to come up with the team that did it, and I\u2019ll bet some of you can\u2019t.<\/a><\/p>\n This topic is of particular interest these days in the Bay Area, as it becomes increasingly clear that barring two very unlikely events (A D-Backs\u2019 collapse and a Giants\u2019 hot streak), the local lads will be added to the long and distinguished list of World Series Champions who came up short in their bid to repeat.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s so hard about repeating? You\u2019ve got great players, obviously, with the playoff experience you need and the confidence to know they can do it. That\u2019s what the announcers always talk about when they break down a series. The team that\u2019s \u201cbeen there before\u201d is always given an edge over a team without that experience.<\/p>\n Well, maybe that experience isn\u2019t all it\u2019s cracked up to be, and in fact, maybe it should be looked at as a detriment! Is it possible that players who haven\u2019t won a World Series have a fire in their bellies that goes out once they win one? That no matter how much they all talk about how much they want to defend that title, it\u2019s just not quite as important as winning it the first time?<\/p>\n I think the Giants, while not a classic example of this theory, have shown some signs of it. Last year, they had less playoff experience than the Phillies, and it didn\u2019t matter at all. Cliff Lee\u2019s experience was supposed to give him the edge over Lincecum in the World Series, and it didn\u2019t matter at all.<\/p>\n This year, the experience hasn\u2019t helped them. When Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada were jettisoned from the club last week, several anonymous players told the media that their demands for playing time in the face of overwhelming evidence that they weren\u2019t getting the job done was wearing on their teammates and the coaches.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure there are others in that locker room whose playing time was impacted by the arrival of Carlos Beltran and the other trade deadline acquisitions who have not been able to keep their frustrations to themselves, but let\u2019s zero in on Rowand right now. Here\u2019s a guy making a very high salary, with two World Series rings, and a long succession of terrible at-bats this season. You\u2019d think a guy like that would be able to say to himself, \u201cAaron, let\u2019s be a team guy, work real hard to get on track, and make the most of whatever opportunities come our way, and help this ballclub try to get back to the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n But he couldn\u2019t do it \u2026 even though he did it LAST YEAR, and it worked out perfectly, except for one thing. His ego, without which he never would have made the major leagues, could not take another year of being a reserve on a good team. I think if the Giants had traded him to Houston for Jeff Keppinger he would have been very happy if it meant he would get to play every day.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying it makes him a bad guy, either. I\u2019m saying it shows how hard it is to get 25 guys \u201cpulling on the same rope.\u201d I think it also illustrates how masterful Bruce Bochy was last year at getting so many players to accept lesser roles than they were accustomed to. I think what we learned is that players will do that once, but they won\u2019t do it year after year, even in a case like Rowand\u2019s where he\u2019s made much more money than his production would have indicated.<\/p>\n You can almost understand a player\u2019s desire to be selfish if he\u2019s early in his career and he hasn\u2019t had that big payday yet, but Rowand and Tejada are not that guy. They are, however, players getting toward the end of the line, and in Rowand\u2019s case, another ring was not going to change his life. He\u2019s trying to squeeze as many at-bats out of his remaining days in the majors as he can, and I don\u2019t blame him, but nobody forced him to sign that contract. That\u2019s the one thing that kept him on the bench for the Giants this year rather than playing for another team, nothing else.<\/p>\n The Yankees have had two things going for them that helped them solve this problem: 1) Their owner never accepted not winning the World Series as a successful outcome of a season and 2) That owner would back up that stance with the money to bring in a couple (or a few) hungry veterans who wanted to get their championship ring before the clock ran out on their careers, and they would accept any role on the team to get it. It\u2019s unbelievable that they won three titles in a row, and came within a whisker of adding a fourth in 2001.<\/p>\n So what team is the only one besides the Yankees to repeat since 1974? How about the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993? \u00a0There weren\u2019t very many players who were integral to both teams, just Joe Carter, Roberto Alomar, Devon White, Tony Fernandez and John Olerud. On the other hand, here\u2019s a list of players who were on one or the other team, but not both: Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Candy Maldonado, Dave Stewart, Tom Henke, Jimmy Key, and David Cone. Jack Morris was on both teams, and had a great 1992 season, but was 7-12 in 1993 and didn\u2019t pitch in postseason.<\/p>\n So my theory is that the simple fact that the Giants won a championship last year made it harder for essentially the same club to come back and win it this year. Add in injuries to Posey, both Sanchezes, Sandoval, Wilson and about ten other guys, sign one aging veteran who turns out to be terrible, make a deadline deal that kills whatever chemistry you still had, and it\u2019s amazing that they\u2019re as close to the D-Backs as they are. If only those players weren\u2019t so darn human!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Published September 7, 2011 at CSNBayArea.com I think I\u2019m going to surprise you with my next statement. Outside of the New York Yankees, only one Major League Baseball Team has repeated as World Series Champions since the Reds did it … Continue reading