We skipped the MLB postseason preview for the first round of the MLB playoffs, mostly because more interesting stuff was going on. Since the MLB playoffs go on forever, we still have plenty of time left.
-- Detroit is the closest MLB franchise to Canada. The downtown stadium is a short walk to the shores of the Detroit River, right across from Windsor. This doesn't mean Detroit is a Canadian team, but if we get overhead shots of downtown Detroit in the playoffs, Canada might be on screen.
-- Rick Monday was nowhere to be found at Nationals Park for Game 5 of the NLDS. In this scenario, the Washington Nationals had a 6-0 lead before losing 9-7. No dramatic HR in the way Rick Monday helped down the Montréal Expos at Olympic Stadium in 1981.
I was sincerely torn about whether the Nats should advance. Part of me sympathized with Washington needing a team (the Florida Marlins would have made more sense to move to the U.S. capital) and hope that the Expos could find success, even if it wasn't in Montréal. Part of me wanted to show the mistake of moving the team away from La Belle Province.
Washington had baseball's best record in 2012, a la the Expos in 1994. And the Nats won as many playoff games in 2012 as the Expos did in 35 years.
-- New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin survived to the second round. First baseman Joey Votto struggled following knee surgery in the middle of the season. Votto's batting average and on-base percentage were still high, but he had lost his power stroke. Bad timing as his Cincinnati Reds choked a 2-0 lead, becoming the first NL team to do so in the NLDS format.
Ryan Dempster didn't even make it as far as the first round. His new team, the Texas Rangers, lost the play-in game in the AL playoffs after being ahead or tied for the division crown until the last day of the season. His old team, the Chicago Cubs, lost more than 100 games, finishing slightly ahead of Houston.
-- The Blue Jays did get one person into the first round of the playoffs. TV Play-by-play guy Buck Martinez did color commentary in one of the first-round series for TBS.
-- The Toronto Blue Jays had bad injuries in 2012, but even before then, the team wasn't going to make the playoffs for the 19th straight year. Edwin Encarnacion had an amazing season (career highs of 42 home runs and 110 RBI) despite Jose Bautista missing most of the second half.
Toronto and Houston, the worst team in the majors this year, completed a 10-player deal on July 20. Toronto needed some pitching help due to a rash of injuries. The Blue Jays gave up closer Francisco Cordero to the Astros. Cordero was released a short time on September 10.
-- Canadians get tremendous access to major professional sports, often better than Americans do (e.g., NFL). However, there were a few problems for Canadians in the first round of the MLB playoffs.
Unlike the OTA networks that every Canadian can get with cable and many without cable, TBS and TNT aren't available in Canada. With all four series going to Game 5, the juggling got a bit more crazy than usual up north.
Rogers Sportsnet has the rights to the MLB playoffs. Besides the regional feeds (East, Ontario, West, and Pacific), the company also has Sportsnet One. But Rogers had to give Game 5 of the Detroit-Oakland series to theScore. Rogers bought theScore back in August (the deal isn't finalized) in the latest consolidation in the Canadian media landscape.
Rogers Sportsnet also messed up a feed for Game 2 of that series. The channel showed a game from 1979 instead of the 2012 playoff game during the first inning. Since the entire first round is on U.S. cable, Canadian viewers who can get OTA signals from the United States were out of luck.
The National League Championship Series is on Fox and simulcast on Rogers Sportsnet. The American League Championship Series is on TBS, though simulcast on Rogers Sportsnet. Without the NHL, Rogers will have much fewer conflicts.
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