Many moons ago, in Major League Baseball, there were only two prizes awarded along with one grand prize.
The National League and the American League gave pennants to the teams with the most wins, and then those teams played each other in a series of seven games with one emerging as the World Champion.
Only if there was a tie between two teams as the season ended, was there a playoff game to determine the pennant winner.
Now, as you know, there are three times as many prizes, totaling nine, in all.
With three divisions in each league, there are six division champs, two wild card teams, and one World Champion left standing after all of the eliminations.
This system has utterly changed baseball, in some cases, for the worst.
No longer do most teams target a World Championship as their goal. If they can squeak into the post-season in their divisions or as wild card representatives, they’re happy and can proclaim to their fans that they’re winners.
They’ll probably fill the stands with paying customers and sell a lot of souvenirs boasting, “We’re the Western Division Champs,” but they could be chumps, with win-loss records that barely surpass .500.
I believe there are several teams that are secretly shooting ONLY for the first tier of the playoffs. The Los Angeles Dodgers is one of them.
Instead of anteing up the big bucks to secure top talent, they’re depending on a combination of frazzled veterans and fresh faces to get through each season. Only if they’re on top of the division as the final weeks of the season approach will they consider trading for an additional big gun in the form of a solid pitcher or hitter.
Why, you might ask, do I believe the Dodgers are content to just get into the first stage of postseason play?
Simply put, if they’re “competitive” and they seem to have a chance to go all the way, they’ll sell about four million tickets and a bunch of Dodger Dogs. In a word, they’ll be profitable, and they’ll be able to bring to the bottom line about $50 million bucks that they would otherwise risk.
I believe the Oakland A’s is another team with the very same philosophy, though they have a much better recent record of making it to the playoffs. If you doubt what I’m contending here take a look at the book, MONEYBALL, which explains the moves made by Billy Beane, the General Manager of the A’s, and his philosophy of how to get the most value from one’s payroll.
There are only two teams, I believe, that are always shooting for a World Championship: the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
Occasionally, other teams will spend big, but only for the short term. You can count among them the New York Mets and the Chicago White Sox.
Every now and then this strategy pays off, as it did for the White Sox in 2005, and for the Florida Marlins on a few occasions.
But as a general rule, you don’t walk off with the grand prize on a consistent basis without shooting for it, all the way.
The Red Sox can tell you that much.
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Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, customer service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than 1,000 articles and several popular audio and video programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary’s sales, management and consulting experience is combined with impressive academic credentials: A Ph.D. from USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies.
His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com His blogs include: YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS! and ALWAYS COLD CALL! at: http://www.alwayscoldcall.blogspot.com
1981 New York Yankees Yearbook Baseball Cards & Van Halen
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New York Yankees Team Card Set #2 on PSA Set Registry $3,795.00 |
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2000 UD NEW YORK YANKEES MASTER COLLECTION #191/500 BOX SET REGGIE JACKSON AUTO $2,500.00 |
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1947 Bond Bread Set Joe DiMaggio Yankees SGC 86 $1,999.99 |
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2003 ASSORTED UPPER DECK BASEBALL PRIDE OF NEW YORK YANKEES SIGNED CARDS 138 LOT $1,500.00 |
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1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #181 PSA 1 Graded PR Partial Set Break Rookie RC Yankees $1,295.00 |
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1957 Topps #95 Mickey Mantle Yankees Card – PSA 7 – Set Break $949.99 |
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2009 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS NY YANKEES 22kt GOLD COMPLETE SET $830.00 |
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1957 Topps New York Yankees Team Set Mantle Berra Power Hitters NY PSA $699.99 |
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1976 Topps Baseball Team Card Acetate Proof Set Yankees $500.00 |
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1950 BOWMAN NEW YORK YANKEES TEAM SET ( 18 ) CARDS $500.00 |
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1959 Topps #10 Mickey Mantle Yankees Card – PSA 6 – Set Break $499.99 |
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2005 06 08 TOPPS TEAM SETS BB 236CT W/YANKEES SOX ++ $472.00 |
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NY New York Yankees 1976-2011 Complete Topps Team Set (1473) GIFT ALBUM READY $397.00 |
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1957 Topps #407 Yankees Power Hitters Mickey Mantle/Yogi Berra – PSA 6 Set Break $395.00 |
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1956 TOPPS #251 NEW YORK YANKEES TEAM PSA 7 NM GRAY BACK SET BREAK MANTLE, BERRA $349.95 |
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New York Yankees 163-Card 08 Documentary GOLD Set 1/1 ? $339.00 |
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1964 Challenge The Yankees New York Yankee Baseball Game Card Set (-2) $295.00 |
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1953 Bowman Black & White Set #54 Bill Miller Yankees PSA 7 $299.99 |
