Is it bias towards 2 very popular teams? Is it because the Yankees are the hottest team in the AL? By that logic, the Rockies are even hotter. Is it because the Cubs have the best rotation in the NL? If you go by that, the Tribe and Sox have better starting rotation than the Yanks...
2007-10-02 18:40:56 · 16 answers · asked by Pete 4 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Yanks have great lineup, for sure, but the media bias toward NY/Chi has to come into consideration here as well. Teams from those cities always get more hype and credit than they deserve. No hype for AZ, Cle, Colo. A little bit for Phi, LAA (would be bigger if LAD).
Good Morning America this morning, hardly a word about the Colorado/SD classic. If the Yanks or Mets had won a game like that, GMA would have been non-stop "miracle game...blah, blah...date with destiny...blah, blah...another Yankee win for the ages..."
2007-10-02 18:59:45 · answer #1 · answered by quint 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
What NL team has 3 better starters than the cubs? None of them. The only team with a better lineup than them is the phillies. I dont like the cubs but they are on paper the best team in the nl. Yankees dont have the best rotation but all the al rotations are close none are lock down like the old braves teams or the 01 diamondbacks. So offense is important and the Yankees by far and away have the best and a good bullpen. But favorites mean nothing in baseball a hot starter or 2 can win you the series but acording to vegas (and rightly so) the yanks and cubs are favorites.
2007-10-02 23:58:59 · answer #2 · answered by cja752003 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because those teams have the most fans, and people tend to root for their home teams.
Personally, I'd be looking at the teams that have been hot over the last few weeks of the season. That would be the Rockies (14-1 record in the last 2 weeks of the season) on the NL side. The Yanks and Indians have lost 4 and 5 games, respectively, over the last couple weeks so I'd say that would be the series to watch, rather than Red Sox-Angels (7 losses each).
2007-10-03 05:26:39 · answer #3 · answered by JerH1 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think part of it is a bias. I know I am biased towards the Cubs and want to see them end the curse and finally win the World Series. So yeah, I'm hoping it happens this year.
The same type of thing can be said for yankee fans....they want to see the yankees do it so that stienbrener can't possibly fire Joe Torre without an uproar...and because they are yankee fans...they believe they are intitled to the world series every year, no questions asked.
Will the Cubs make it? I don't know...I do hope so. They have the best rotation out of all of the NL teams, and they have enough thunder in the lineup to compete with any of the teams in the playoffs. They have the guys in late innings to shut teams down that Philadelphia and Colorado especially lack. (Though Arizona has a pretty decent bullpen themselves, and the 2nd best rotation because of Brandon Webb).
The AL is anyone's ballgame. All teams have question marks....The RedSox...it's the health of Manny Rameriez and David Ortiz that has to scare Boston the most, and the starting rotation while it's damn good on paper, hasn't been as good as they could have been this year. With the Angels, they have to be worried when Vlad Guerrero isn't 100% and he's been DHing only for awhile, and will only be able to do that and pinch hit if the Angels make the WS. The Yankees...it's wether or not the rotation can hold up and keep them deep enough in the games to get to Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera. For the Indians....it's their own version of being a "cursed" team that they have to overcome. Boston, Chicago (WS) and the Angels all had to overcome that stigma, for Cleveland to win a WS, they have to do this too.
The NL...Colorado has never been to the big dance....and they are an expansion team with probably the smallest fan base of any of the NL teams...so the least amount of people would watch it if they made it to the WS. Arizona, the other expansion team...has a WS ring to it's cred.....but most people interested, would rather not see them get in again...especially yankee fans....since it was the yankees they demolished to win that ring. Philadelphia, the team who looses like no other. They hold the record for most losses by a franshise in any major sport in this country (10,000+). They have probably the 2nd hungriest fanbase outside of Chicago for a WS championship. So plenty of people would watch them if they got in...as long as it was against Boston, NY or the Angels...but a Phillies/Indians series wouldn't draw outside of the region well. This is why a lot of baseball experts are going to want to see either Chicago/NY or Chicago/Boston. They have the largest fanbases....it would be an epic level WS before game 1 started, because of that. Alot of fans are going to want to see it as well....theese teams are proven commodities, and so the fanbases will watch, even skipping football to do so if it becomes one of thoose matchups.
The Cubs have a great chance to win it all this year....no team is going into the playoffs an overwelming favorite here. All teams are vulnerable, and all teams have a lot of strengths as well....so any team litterally can beat any team.
2007-10-02 19:17:28 · answer #4 · answered by Machowolf 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
It depends on who you are talking about as considering them favorites. Most fans will tell you that their favorite team should be favored to win and will give you a hundred reasons why.
From the perspective of an unbiased journalist, there will be many factors that are used to determine favorites. (pitcher matchups, how one particular team plays against another, home field advantage, recent play, history, playoff experience, injuries, etc....)
A gambling establishment will tell you that their odds are determined by how much betting is taking place for or against a particular team.
Specifically in the case of the Yankees and Cubs:
The Cubs are a sentimental favorite in addition to finally having a decent team with the makeup to contend.
The Yankees are favored almost every year, they just have so many ways they can beat another team.
2007-10-03 01:25:06 · answer #5 · answered by smokin_joe_72 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hooooold up. The Cubs do NOT have the best rotation in the NL, at least if you go by recent performances. Zambrano caved in the second half, Hill faded, Marquis declined, and Lilly was the only one who stayed on pace. Plus, their bullpen is just awful. Of the 4 teams, Dempster is easily the worst closer. Their lineup will win games for them outside of Lilly/Zambrano starts. They are not the odds on favorite to go to the World Series, especially with the D-Backs and Webb/Valverde, the Rockies and Holiday/Helton, and the Phillies with Hamels/Rollins/Utley/Howard. The Yankees are favored though because of their sick 2nd half record and the lock MVP A-Rod.
2007-10-02 18:48:50 · answer #6 · answered by baseball_is_my_life 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't see the Cubs making it to the WS. I think the Phillies and Cubs will go at it. And the Phillies will win. It'll be the Yankees and Phillies in the ws.
2007-10-03 02:01:04 · answer #7 · answered by Tommy R 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Yankees are favor because of the offense and because every baseball analysis believes A-Rod is going to have a break out post-season. As for the Cubs, they are the sentimental favorites. They haven't won since 1908 and everyone wants to see them win.
2007-10-03 01:30:05 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'll say it again the Cards have Carp, Wainwright (who are back and healthy) and Loshe right there are 3 number 1 starters. they combine and stay healthy the Cards have something to prove and this is the cards year to prove to the world they are still a real team and the NL centeral isn't the weakest in all of baseball!
2016-03-19 04:49:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I dont care about the Cubs, but the Yankees have the best record in the league since the All-Star Break, and are the best offensive team in the league.
2007-10-02 18:43:33 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋