SAN DIEGO – Players gathered together to form a random circle in the middle of the San Diego Padres club, occasionally jumping into hip-hop and splashing champagne in unison. Peter Seidler, the owner, stood to the side, close enough to witness the madness but far enough away to spare him. Ten years ago, Seidler, grandson of famous Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, bought the franchise with high expectations: the Padres’ goal is to take over both their city and their subsidiary.
Saturday night – interrupted by a 5-3 victory to knock out the mighty Dodgers in the fourth game of the National League Division Series – was a manifestation of that vision.
All they had to do for this to happen was to risk it all.
Seidler pointed to Manny Machado, now shirtless and drenched in alcohol.
“He was a big chip,” said Seidler. “And now this is where all players want to play.”
In February 2019, the Padres signed a $ 300 million contract with Machado, which shocked the industry and changed the perception of their franchise forever. Since the Padres offensive lasted most of last summer, Machado kept them afloat, playing almost daily and producing like MVPs. His performance helped guide them back to the postsseason, and when they got there, their two boldest commercial add-ons lifted them up.
Juan Soto, arguably the biggest mid-season acquisition in baseball history, produced a game-related hit and later scored in a five-speed seventh round that saw an epic comeback.
Josh Hader, who had appeared on another blockbuster deal two days earlier, closed it in ninth place, sending Padres to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 1998.
“They’re phenomenal players.” – Padres, president of baseball operations, A.J. Preller said. Honestly, that’s why we made the transaction. It’s quite simple – they are the best at what they do in the world. If you want to beat a team like this, you need the guys who are the best in the game. “
No man epitomizes the boldness of these Padres better than Preller, widely regarded as the most aggressive manager in sport, for better or for worse. When he first joined Padres in 2014, Preller pushed all-in with expensive veterans. It didn’t work, he sold parts, quickly rebuilt the farm system – and used those assets to get back to it.
Machado’s deal was followed by an avalanche of deals that equipped the initial rotation with names like Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger, Joe Musgrove, and Sean Manaea. The team was expected to compete with the Dodgers in 2021, and it did so for a while. A fall in the second half meant they missed the play-offs entirely, but paved the way for the recruitment of Bob Melvin, one of the sport’s most respected managers. Finally, the poor start to the 2022 season led to moves that eventually pushed the Padres to the top.
Last year’s collapse was centered on activity around the trading deadline, when, among other things, Preller spoke to Washington Nationals CEO Mike Rizzo about the possibility of combining Max Scherzer and Tre Turner in a package, then watched this shipment go to the Dodgers. The Padres didn’t do much more and vanished shortly thereafter. This year, Preller was determined not to miss out again. On July 31, he sent his loved ones Taylor Rogers and three others to Milwaukee Brewers for Hader, then sent all of his best young players – including Robert Hassell, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore – to the Nationals for Soto and the mighty Josh Bell on August 2.
It took two months for these advances to be successful.
Upon arriving in San Diego, Hader fought so hard that he was dropped closer, only to find his form at the end of the regular season. So far it has shown its usual dominance in October. Soto did not have his prototype power for much of August and September, but is now a serious threat again.
“With Juan, it’s not a question of whether he will act – it’s a question of when,” Preller said. “He got some big hits on that show, big hits tonight. That’s the guy.”
Soto, the 23-year-old outfielder who has already compared to Ted Williams, had 0.388 percent of the base in 52 regular season games but fell only 0.390, 43 points below the league average this year. He then collected four hits in Games 2 and 3 in a wild card series Padres against the New York Mets. And while his NLDS numbers (3 out of 16) didn’t pop up, he produced eight bounces that surpassed 100 mph, which does not include his 95 mph single in Saturday’s seventh inning.
“It was a really important moment, a difficult moment and I just wanted to move on for this team,” Soto said in Spanish. “I try to give them everything I have and see how far we can take it.”
While Soto overtaking Machado changes the perspective of the Padres squad, Hader dominating in the ninth inning changes the dynamics of their bullpen.
Hader, a four-time All-Star, gave up 22 runs in nine rounds from July 13 to August 28, an unimaginable relegation for one of the most dominant jockeys. By the end of this episode, the Padres relegated Hader to a low-leverage job. But then he was right again. The bad mechanical habits he had acquired towards the end of his stay at Brewerach were finally corrected. Later, when other cheers showed up, he allowed only one undeserved run and five baserunners in their last 10 regular season appearances. So far, he has made 4 1/3 goalless innings in the playoffs.
“It’s the worst pit I’ve ever had, but you can’t give up,” said Hader. “You can’t just roll over and say,” Well, that’s the way it is. ” You can not do it. We play this game way too hard, we play too much to just give up. It makes me a better player to know it mentally, if you can go through it… go through it all. You just need to keep trusting what you are doing.
Saturday night was the culmination of Seidler, who called the Dodgers “the dragon on the highway we’re trying to kill.” His franchise killed the dragon – by the force of the stars that were brought down and in front of the fans who gathered around them.
Petco Park tends to attract so many Dodgers fans that it is unofficially nicknamed “Dodger Stadium South”. But Friday and Saturday were different. The team geographically limited the main ticket market to maximize Padres fans present, limiting sales to people living in the San Diego area and creating unprecedented energy at Petco Park. Bright yellow towels lined the field; “Defeat LA.” songs filled the air; artificial geese were dotted in the stands. It started to rain heavily in the late laps, but no one came out.
Seidler was asked if he could ever imagine this kind of energy in this city.
– He did not say. “I could dream all kinds of things, but what happened yesterday and today was extraordinary.
“Every fan, I think, is still in the building, half an hour has passed since they won. They’re wet and cold, but they love this group of players, and players love the fans. “
The duels were contested as the best of the three series, not individual games. MLB reverted to its previous wildcard game per league format after the 2021 season, before turning to the top two of the three wildcard series per league next year.
How do MLB Wildcard playoffs work?
As of the 2022 season, MLB added a third wildcard team to each league. In the new Wild Card series, the top two division winners in each league will receive their farewell to the Division Series while the lowest seeded division winner and three wild card teams will play this round.
.
Who gets home-field advantage in MLB playoffs?
In any playoff round with an odd number of matches, one team is allowed to host more matches than the other at all times. This is known as home ground advantage. In one-off Wild Card Games, the team with better results in the regular season gains an advantage at home.
What determines your home advantage in the NLCS? Home field advantage is awarded to the team that has the better results, except that the division champion would always have home advantage over Wild Card team.
How does home-field advantage work in MLB Playoffs 2021?
Hosting privileges for the fall classic 2021 will go to the team with the highest regular season win percentage. This means that the US league champion Houston Astros will have a home advantage over National League champion Atlanta Braves in this year’s World Series starting Tuesday night.
What determines home-field advantage in MLB playoffs?
Since 1998, the better-performing team has had an home-field advantage, but a wildcard team will never secure any extra play at home, regardless of regular season performance, unless both teams in the League Championship Series have wildcards (from 2022 onwards). ).
How does the new MLB playoff format work?
New 12-team play-off format The post-season field has grown from 10 teams to 12 teams with the addition of an additional wildcard player in each league. The Wild Card Game has been replaced by the best of the three Wild Card Series which functions as the first game round.
Who has home-field advantage in the World Series 2022?
Just hours before the historic 18 inning victory over the Seattle Mariners, which scored a record sixth straight trip to the American League Championship Series, the Houston Astros received more good news. The Astros have secured their home ground advantage with the World Series.
Who has home-field advantage in MLB playoffs?
However, with the current 2-2-1 format, both teams have an advantage at home in some ways. While one team can organize three matches (including the critical first and last game), the other team has two chances of three (games 3 and 4) to win the series at home.
Who has home field for World Series?
After the 2002 All-Star Major League Baseball game ended in a draw, MLB decided to award home advantage in the World Series to the winner of the All-Star match. The practice, initially implemented as a two-year trial in 2003-2004, has been extended.
Who gets MLB Wildcard?
MLB.com. The top two division winners in each league will be given goodbye to the division series. The other four teams from each league will face three series in the Wild Card round, with the higher seed hosting all three matches.
How does a baseball team get a wild card? Then, in 2022, MLB added one more Wild Card team from each league and introduced the Wild Card Series, in which the three non-division winners and the worst-record division winner faced the best of three series before advancing to the Division Series.
Who gets MLB wild card?
The four wild card players in each league are the division winner with the lowest score among the division winners and the three non-division winners with the highest scores. This division winner is automatically seeded number 3, whether one or all other wild card teams outperform.
Who gets home advantage MLB Wildcard?
As of 2022, the two division winners with the best scores in each league have their own pitch, while the two wild-card winners do not. The Division series used the 2/3 format until 1998, and now uses the 2/3 format.
How does the wild card work in MLB?
The wild card is now a streak of up to three, hosted by a higher seed. The winning teams advanced to a series of divisions against the division winners with the best scores in their league – in this case, the Yankees and Astros in the American League and Dodgers and Braves in the National League.
Can wild card winner have home-field advantage?
The NL Wild Card race is more open, with the Brewers in the lead, the Cardinals in second place and the Rockies just behind them. But one thing is up for a wild card game in both leagues? Home field advantage. All of these teams will fight for the right to host matches – winner takes it all.