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ChineseThe Fall Classic (of Transit) 2009 — Championship Series
It’s looking to be a great baseball season for some of America’s busiest transit systems — at least in MetroRiderLA’s coverage.
Amazingly, teams with stronger transit systems advanced both in real life and the Fall Classic (of Transit). Even more amazingly, the L.A. Dodgers made it past the first round on transit quality. Take a minute to absorb that.
There was only one divergence from this Fall Classic and the real series. The Red Sox eliminated the Angels 3-1, and bad umpiring spotted the Halos their only game. All other games matched the actual winners of the Division Series, but there were no sweeps here. In fact, each of the three games went 3-2. Phillies vs. Rockies proved to be the match-up of the series, as the last games decided on the closest of values. Our own Dodgers squeaked out a victory, but lost on both urban bus and urban rail fronts. St. Louis fielded a better team, but the Dodgers rallied to come back with better intercity rail, a better Web site, and better performance in the 2009 season.
The Fall Classic (of Transit) now moves on to determine which teams will win the American and National League pennants.
The first installment outlined how the Major League Baseball teams fared if the teams’ home transit systems were weighed against each other. The first four games would evaluate transit service: Game 1 was local bus service, Game 2 was urban rail service, Game 3 was mainline rail service and Game 4 was quality of online transit information. If more games are needed, these would be settled by the teams’ actual performance. Game 5 was the 2009 regular season record,
American League Championship Series
Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park) vs. New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium)
Hey, if ESPN milks these two teams to justify its existence, MetroRiderLA can tug at the udders, too. Park your arses and fasten your seat belts, it’s time for
EAST COAST BIAS!!!
The Red Sox and Yankees are not only defending the honor of their respective cities, they are also representing their transit systems: Boston’s MBTA and Gotham’s MTA.
Game 1: Buses
The series against the Angels exposed how weak the Sox are on the bus front. They have more lines, but a weaker service profile (8, 19, 55, 60 and 65) The Yankees, with four high-frequency bus lines (1/2, 6 and 13), take the opener handily. Winner: Yankees.
Game 2: Urban rail
Boston dusts itself off after Game 1 and fields a decent effort in the D branch of the Green Line. It also proves to be no match for the busiest transit system in America, with the triple threat of 3 subway lines serving Yankee Stadium. Could there be shades of 2004 again? The Yankees hope not. Winner: Yankees.
Game 3: Mainline rail
If there is one matchup in the entire series that is a must-see, this is it. The bats are burning as both Boston and New York both field heavy Northeast Corridor and other Amtrak services. The momentum continues with commuter rail with both being served by colossal networks. Fenway and Yankee Stadium even have commuter rail stops for their respective ballparks. However, in the end, New York pulls ahead with more commuter lines offering more service. Winner: Yankees.
Game 4: Transit information
Boston stands on the brink of elimination. Here, though, we see where Boston rekindles the memory of the 2004 series. MBTA, fielding the best transit Web site in the major leagues, overpowers the mediocre MTA.info. Winners: Red Sox.
Game 5: Team records
If you’re looking for a repeat of the magic 2004 season, fuhgeddaboutit. Yankees were the best in the league with a 103-59 record. Boston settled for a wildcard berth this year with a 95-67 record. Winner: Yankees.
New York Yankees win the American League Championship 4-1. Real-life outcome: Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2 to win the American League Championship. Yankees advance to the World Series.
National League Championship Series
Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Battery Park)
Yes, the taunting of Philadelphia is intentional by misnaming Citizens Bank Park. Appropriately enough, the two remaining NL clubs are represented by two agencies most people love to hate: Metro and SEPTA. A lot of it is deserved, frankly. But we’ll leave the snivelgasms to the comments. Would a Metro vs. SEPTA look any different than the Phillies’ 4-1 series victory over the Dodgers to capture the National League pennant? Let’s take to the field.
Game 1: Buses
This matchup sees a lot of RBIs but no true hits. The Dodgers are second worst in the majors for bus access to the stadium. Effectively, there are only two buses to take, and it still involves a long hike up a hill and buses mired in nasty traffic. Worse, the Dodgers could have improved their standing by providing better access through Chinatown. The 110 Freeway is like L.A.’s equivalent of the Great Wall of China.
Philadelphia, it turns out, is not that much better. Line C is the best bus service of the bunch, providing reasonable weekday service that wanes during the weekends. Lines 17 and 71 also run near the Alkaline Flats, but those run hourly and the latter is an industrial shuttle into the docks.
This will rear its head in another game, but finding the schedules to these routes on SEPTA’s Web site is research worthy of a master’s thesis. It’s a whole lotta work wading through the site just to find these schedules.
Game 1 is a yawner, and the real losers are the (transit) fans. Winner: Dodgers.
Game 2: Urban rail
The Phillies show what they are made of. Dodgers lose the game before taking the field. The Broad Street Line is the player of the day. Winner: Phillies.
Game 3: Mainline rail
Despite the Dodgers’ valiant efforts with a busy western Amtrak hub, its Metrolink commuter rail service doesn’t hold a candle to the Northeast Corridor and its powerful Regional Rail network. Proximity to New Jersey adds more oomph to this lineup. Winner: Phillies.
Game 4: Transit information
Phillies are up two games and the series is beginning to look bad for the Blue Crew, yet it’s a guarantee that Game 4 will be the Achillies heel for the Phillies. If the Phillies advance to the World Series (of Transit), wear protective eyegear before comparing MTA.info and SEPTA.com. It’ll be disappointing.
If the Dodgers win, that leaves L.A. with the best Web site with the teams remaining in the series. Winners: Dodgers.
Game 5: Team records
Only two games separate the National League’s two best teams this year. Fortunately, the Dodgers had the NL’s best record, 95-67. Philadelphia was close behind with 93-69. Dodgers are able to do in fantasy what they couldn’t do on the field. Winners: Dodgers.
Game 6: Dodgers vs. Phillies in 2009
The Dodgers and Phillies were close this season, with the Blue Crew winning 4 of 7 games in the regular season. Winners: … Ha ha! Not so fast! Don’t pop those champagne corks just yet. Postseason play counts, too. The Dodgers and Phillies played each other 12 times. Dodgers won 5 games, but lost the other 7. The Dodgers protest this development, but when everything settles down, the Phillies pull ahead to force a decisive Game 7. Winners: Phillies.
Game 7: ESPN stadium comparison
Those geniuses at ESPN held a series a few years ago to rate a fans’-eye view of all Major League Stadium ballparks. It assessed things most people care about (food, beer, sight lines, seat comfort) and even something that MetroRiderLA couldn’t care less about, parking. For this seventh and final game, we turn it to the ESPN experts to determine which team has a better park, Dodger Stadium or Citizens Bank Park. The rankings come from ESPN’s baseball stadium rankings.
Of Dodger Stadium, Eric Neel calls it:
… a pristine, 41-year-old, sun-splashed jewel, tucked up in the Los Angeles hills, a place where baseball in the warm night air is the thing.
No wacky sideshow diversions, no post-modern self-conscious “character.” Just a simple structure carved into the hill, an open-air theater waiting for the drama of each game (which lately means waiting to see how the poor Bums will scratch out their one run a night) to unfold.
Its total: 82.5. Its ranking among 30 parks: 10.
Neel then reviewed the Phillies’ ballpark, opened in 2004. It was written in 2004, and the reference is dated to quote here. So how did Neel score Citizens Bank Park?
Its total: 85. Its ranking among 30 parks: 4.
Whoa! Irony alert. Once again, the deciding game factors on a score of 10 and 4. In the 2009 NLCS, Phillies beat the Dodgers 10 to 4 to advance to the World Series. Here, the Phillies is ranked the fourth-best ballpark in Major League Baseball, six places ahead of the Dodgers 10th. Epic! Winners: Phillies.
Philadelphia Phillies win the National League Championship Series 4-3. Real-life outcome: Phillies win the National League Championship Series 4-1. Phillies advance to the World Series.
So amazingly, the Fall Classic (of Transit) mirrors the outcome of Major League Baseball’s World Series, albeit with the teams much more competitive in the blogosphere than out in the field. Dodgers put up a fight to take Philly to the max, but it wasn’t meant to be. The Dodgers strength in stadium transit should have surprised most observers, though.
The World Series (of Transit) 2009 will be embargoed until the conclusion of the World Series. Most readers here can discern the outcome pretty quickly, but come back for the smartass analysis that has come to define this series.
If other Southern California pro sports teams reach the playoffs, a similar rundown of transit tournaments is likely. Remember, come back to MetroRiderLA after the conclusion of the World Series to see if either the Yankees or the Phillies can take the World Series (of Transit).
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