MLB Showdown Obsession

Welcome to the 2026 iteration of all the failures of our cherished game.  These are the awards you DON'T want to win The "AL Central Needs to Disband" Award [Awarded to the crappiest division in baseball] Previous winners: - AL Central  2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025 - AL West  2010, 2013, 2024 - NL East  2014, 2015, 2017, 2021 --- The American League West: Angels, Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers --- I never understood the desire many fans have of being like the NFL with 4 divisions per league. With the potential expansion of adding 2 new teams, many propose dividing everyone up into 4 divisions of 4 teams each, to better even out the 32 total teams. The problem with that can be seen in the NFL, where every so often they have a division winner that just does not belong in the playoffs, usually at or below .500. We can accept that in the NFL when you only play 17 games a year, but for baseball, a .500 team in October after 162 games is 1000%...

 The most sporting-like event that isn't sports is without question found in the political theater. Once again, we will blur the lines between the two to create a Showdown team based on American politics. Last year, the Democratic party was represented and now we will cover their rivals in the Republican party. Once again the rule stands that the team must be able to field properly for a game, covering all positions and pitching roles. Gerald Ford Heading the rotation for this team as well is a Hall of Famer. While his presidential counterpart was never elected to the office, the winningest World Series pitcher did not have that same problem when it came to Cooperstown. Warren Harding What's more daunting than a HoF pitcher? How about two HoF pitchers? Warren Harding may not be one of the most well known American leaders, but Spahn is a different story. Benjamin Harrison The reason Grover Cleveland served non-consecutive terms was because of our boy Harrison here, sitting smack...

 By 1956, the city of New York knew they were being spoiled with baseball. By the start of the season, they were touting 7 strait titles as a city, with all three of their teams contributing at least once, and many of those World Series titles were only played by NY teams in the Subway Series. But in just a few short seasons that would all end, with two of those teams moving out west, and with no immediate team set to replace them in the five boroughs, that mean there wouldn't be any more Subway Series matchups. But if 1956 would mark the final Subway Series, then the baseball gods picked a heck of a way to end it. The Yankees had been reeling in the offseason after finally being bested by the Brooklyn Dodgers a year ago, but by opening day they were back to business as they rattled off a 97-57 record to run away with the American League pennant by 9 games over the Cleveland Indians. By now though the directive for every Bronx Bombers team was clear: the pennant isn't enough. t...