What is it with the expanded playoffs these days? Twelve teams in the postseason for major league baseball.

There will be a twelve-team bracket for the college football playoffs.

(Twelve is not a particularly “magic” number, by the way.)

One of the greatest hitters in baseball history was Ted Williams. He played in the days when only one team from each league would go to the postseason. You played all season to get to the World Series. No playoffs.

Williams only made the postseason one time and came just one game away a couple other times. In 1946, his Boston Red Sox fell to the St. Louis Cardinals four games to three.

In fact, Williams didn’t hit all that great in that series. He had five singles in 25 at bats for a .200 average. He walked 5 times, bringing his on-base percentage to .333. Nothing spectacular.

Williams is still the record holder for on-base percentage at a whopping .482. There were a few years where he topped .500. The gambling activity in the Fenway Park bleachers was rampant. It was basically a coin flip if Williams would reach base or not. Unheard of for the pedestrian ballplayer.

But Williams was not known as a spectacular fielder. Yet there were moments where he became a complete baseball player.

In the All-Star Game one year, it was a close game, and he was playing his regular left field position. A fly ball was hit to the wall in left and Williams made a spectacular catch and rammed into the wall very hard.

The game went into extra innings. The “Splendid Splinter” hit the winning home run to give the American League the victory in the Midsummer Classic. After the game, he started complaining about his arm.

So, Williams went to the hospital, and they x-rayed him. He had hit the game-winning dinger with a broken arm.

As always,

Brian

P.S. – Ted Williams was mentally and physically tough, qualities he maintained throughout his life. He was certainly an eccentric cat, and one of my colleagues once worked with him briefly and could testify to his eccentricity.

But Williams put in the work. He dedicated himself to a craft and wasn’t going to finish second fiddle to anyone.

He did, of course, not always finish in the top statistical slot (many times) but his mindset forbade him to think that way.

We’re ramping up the Inner Sphere program once again. This fall, we are in a sprint to get your systems in place so that you can meet your goals.

The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.

Sometimes it’s just a shift in mindset. We help with that.

To sign up for our waiting list, go here:

We’re going to start back up by the end of the month, so it’s important to get on that list to get more information to see if we’re a good fit.