Of all the merchandise fans can buy these days, the most charming, to me, is anything with a matchup. National League Champion vs. American League Champion! This Team vs.
That Team! We don’t know who’s winning, but we know they start off even. Let’s honor that moment: the matchup. A 12-team playoff field means 36 possible World Series combinations.
All of them, in their own way, would be great. And while I personally don’t care about TV ratings – hey, they’re almost always low, it’s just a fact of modern MLB – some matchups sizzle louder than others. Advertisement What’ll we get? Who knows! The Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks started out as road wild-card teams last October and wound up as the last teams standing.
It’s fall, when nobody knows anything. Well, strike that. I do know I’ll hate the new helmet ads cluttering the scenery.
To that end, let’s imagine a different kind of presenting sponsor – emcee, if you will – for each of these matchups: a prominent living alumni of both teams. Works for me! Let’s go. 36.
Tigers / Braves Emcee: Darrell Evans This would be a 6-versus-6 matchup, and while there’s always some fun in bracket busting, with the Atlanta Braves so depleted and the Detroit Tigers just emerging from a long postseason slumber, it’s hard to generate a lot of buzz for this one. 35. Astros /Braves Emcee: Brian McCann Previous meeting: 2021 World Series (Braves, 4 games to 2) Like Kansas City Royals / New York Mets and Phil.