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1927 NL Standings
MIKE FRANCESA:
Alright, let’s turn our attention to the National League, because this thing took some twists down the stretch, folks. You look at how the NL finished… some teams stepped up, some teams collapsed, and some—like the Dodgers—just flat-out didn’t show up when it mattered.
First off—Atlanta. Ninety-nine wins. Class of the league. No shock. They were the best team from wire to wire. They get a bye, and deservedly so. They pitch, they hit, they defend—there’s not a hole on that team. They’re the favorite. Period.
Milwaukee—right there behind ’em. Ninety-eight wins. Tremendous. Fundamentally sound. Brewers are one of those teams—never flashy, never loud, but they just beat you. They grind. They don’t go on big losing streaks. They’re consistent. They get the other bye. Absolutely earned.
MAD DOG RUSSO:
AND WASHINGTON, MIKE!! THE NATIONALS! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?! Ninety-five wins! FIRST TIME IN THE PLAYOFFS IN TEN YEARS! They came outta NOWHERE after years of mediocrity! The pitching came together, the lineup produced—TERRIFIC STORY!
And now they get a home Wild Card series with PITTSBURGH! WHO, BY THE WAY, plays HARD every year! Eighty-nine wins! Derek Shelton’s done a great job with that club! That is gonna be a FUN, FUN SERIES! Two teams that haven’t sniffed the big stage in forever, goin’ at it!
FRANCESA:
Now let’s talk about the Mets… Dog, you gotta give the Mets credit. And you know I don’t hand out Mets credit lightly. But they rally to eighty-four wins and they sneak into the playoffs. They were dead at midseason. Absolutely dead. People were writing obituaries. But they fought their way back, and now they go to Arizona in the Wild Card round.
Arizona—ninety wins, very solid. Not spectacular, not dominant, but solid. They get it done. They win the West. Better than the Padres, better than the Dodgers. Deserved the top spot.
MAD DOG:
AND MIKEY—THE DODGERS!! OH MY GOOOODNESS! LAST YEAR’S WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!! FALL APART!! SEVENTY-NINE AND EIGHTY-THREE! TERRIBLE! A LOSING RECORD!! THEY DON’T EVEN GET TO DEFEND THE TITLE! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?!?
You wanna talk collapse? You wanna talk disappointment? THAT is the definition! You win the World Series and come back with THAT?! Pathetic!! Absolutely pathetic!!
FRANCESA:
No excuses for the Dodgers—none. They didn’t pitch, they didn’t hit, and they didn’t respond to adversity. Champions find a way. They didn’t. Simple.
Padres—nice little club, but seven games back. Rockies—seventy-five wins, irrelevant. Giants—sixty-five wins, absolute disaster. Again.
Miami—seventy-nine wins, they were scrappy. But nothing more. Just a middle-of-the-pack team.
And the Phillies—Dog, go ahead…
MAD DOG:
THE PHILLIES!! DISASTER! UTTER DISASTER! SIXTY-SIX WINS! ONE OF THE WORST TEAMS IN BASEBALL! THEY WERE LAST IN THE PLAYOFFS SEVEN YEARS AGO! WHAT HAPPENED?! COLLAPSED! ABSOLUTELY COLLAPSED!
You talk about needing a rebuild—THE PHILLIES NEED A REBUILD, A RESET, A REBOOT—EVERYTHING!
FRANCESA:
So the NL playoff picture is set like this:
Byes: Atlanta, Milwaukee
Wild Cards: Pittsburgh at Washington, Mets at Arizona
Atlanta and Milwaukee are the two big dogs. Washington is the feel-good story. Pittsburgh is the scrappy challenger. Arizona is dangerous. The Mets… well, they’re the Mets. Could win, could implode, who knows.
But the Dodgers?
The champs are home. Watching.
And that tells you everything you need to know about this league.
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