Observations from the living room

Posted at 9:43 AM on October 11, 2007 by Steve Rudolph

Baseball’s league championship series begin tonight when the Arizona Diamonbacks host the Colorado Rockies. Before the first pitch is thrown I feel it’s necessary to look back at what we learned in the divisional series.

Watching the Yankees lose is still fun. Money can’t buy you love and apparently it can’t buy playoff victories. For the record, I’m completely comfortable with the Schadenfreude I felt watching baseball’s most-storied franchise in disarray.

Speaking of huge payrolls, these playoffs have shown us that you don’t need to spend a lot to make the playoffs or win a series. The Diamondbacks, Rockies and Indians have the 5th, 6th and 8th lowest payrolls in baseball. (The Twins ranked 13th.)

It’s okay to play baseball in Arizona in the spring, but not the fall. While it’s nice to see a low payroll team like the Diamondbacks succeed, I can’t jump on their bandwagon when the people who live in Phoenix aren’t interested in the team. Earlier this week there were still plenty of seats to be had for tonight’s game.

Superstars need to be just that in the playoffs. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez each hit two home runs and the Red Sox swept their way into the ALCS. Alex Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero did little at the plate, particularly in key situations, and have the offseason to think about it.

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