MLB Showdown Obsession

Baseball is not a fair game. Sometime the World Series features two evenly matched foes and all 7 games could go either way. Others are like the 1927 Pirates where they knew they were getting swept during batting practice before the series even started. In those uneven years, the team on the wrong side of destiny can only curse their luck and hope they can both get back to the WS soon and that next time the opponent is a little more manageable.   The San Diego Padres have only been to the World Series twice. With such few opportunities to win it all, you'd think the baseball gods would smile upon them and give them a fair fight? Nah, those gods decided to laugh sadistically and force them to try to stop one of baseballs all time greatest teams. The Padres under Manager Bruce Bochy got off to a hot start in '98, building up a lead in the National League West. Behind stars like Greg Vaughn, Trevor Hoffman, Ken Caminiti and Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn, the Padres went 98-64 and easily t...

 In 1994, with recent expansion done by MLB and more on the way, there was a desire to expand the playoffs to beyond just four teams. They expanded the divisions to add a Central Division to each league and created a Wild Card for the best non-division winner. The players strike delayed the new format until 1995 and the Wild Card era of baseball had begun. No longer would failure to win your division mean certain doom to a teams otherwise outstanding season. But the question now was, could a team that clearly wasn't the best in their division still find a way to win it all in October? The Florida Marlins were entering just their 5th season of existence, but they had been building the framework for a contender pretty much from day 1. To put the finishing touch on the major preparations for winning, Jim Leyland was brought in to be Manager. Still, they played in the National League East, where the Atlanta Braves were in the prime of their NL dynasty. When the regular season played ou...