Pete Rose: “I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit to keep playing baseball.”
Casey Stengel (to an error-prone player): “We was going to get you a birthday cake, but we figured you’d drop it.”
And, of course, anything Yogi Berra ever said.
But Ernie Banks has the most famous baseball quote of all time. And the University Interscholastic League would benefit from remembering it.
The Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs shortstop’s famous “Let’s play two” statement could help make the baseball playoffs - or even the state tournament - less prone to flukes and ensure that the best team wins the state championship each year.
Currently, coaches have the option to decide whether each round of the playoffs (prior to the state tournament) will be decided in one game or a best-of-three series. If coaches are at odds, a coin flip determines which coach gets his way.
Depending on how a team is built, a one-game playoff can be a dream or a nightmare.
For Cameron Yoe this season, it made coach Coby Richards happier than Paris Hilton leaving prison early. The Yoemen had a dominant pitcher, Jake Burks, that made them a threat in any one game playoff.
Behind Burks, Yoe upset Waco Connally before falling in the area round to then-undefeated and Class 3A No. 1-ranked Carthage. So even though the Yoemen finished just one game above .500, they were able to topple a very formidable Cadet squad in the playoffs.
If it had been a series, would Yoe have won? Probably not. But then again, what are the odds Connally could have knocked off Carthage? A lot less than “probably not.” In the later rounds, the choice between a one-gamer and a series becomes much more significant.
Take second-ranked Trinity and Salado in 2A. Trinity rode Dallas Gallant’s arm all year. Coach Melvin Bates and Salado used a trio of starters - ace Kevin Jackson plus the reliable Bryce Dunks and Sam VanHoozer.
Trinity wanted one game; Salado wanted a series. Trinity won the flip. Trinity won the game. Bates was more disappointed than Paris Hilton going back to prison.
Would Salado have won a series? Again, it’s impossible to know. But given that Trinity didn’t have two other pitchers to match up with Dunks and VanHoozer, it’s a distinct possibility.
Trinity went on to play No. 1 and eventual state champion Rogers in the Region IV final. Would Salado have made it that far? Would it have finally broken through against its top District 25-2A rival? Whether the answer is yes or no, Salado didn’t get a fair shake to find out.
Perhaps that’s the underlying theme here: fairness. Is it fair to put a team’s season in the hands of a coin? Absolutely not. And that’s why the UIL needs to dictate more uniformly how the playoffs play out.
Obviously, dictating a series would create a mess of problems. Is it fair to play an entire postseason of series, then reach the state tournament where it’s only one game per round? No, but at least you’re guaranteeing a better chance that the best team from each region is present.
The UIL could make the state tournament a NCAA-style double-elimination tournament - which for four teams would require five to seven games instead of three in the current format - but that creates many more logistical problems.
There is a need for uniform baseball playoffs. No other sport - softball aside - has the best-of-three option. A series would provide the most fairness, allowing the best teams with deep pitching staffs to rise to the top.
For not ever playing in a World Series, that Banks character sure knew what he was talking about.
