Rod Allen: “Back in 2014, the Detroit Tigers rolled in the playoffs with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and David Price, who had already won Cy Youngs. They got SWEPT by the Baltimore Orioles so anything is possible. We’ve already seen this three-headed monster thing (Zack Greinke, Garrett Cole, Justin Verlander) and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Rob Parker: “It’s not as automatic as people think. As you said, the Tigers had the three REIGNING Cy Young winners, and they got swept by the Orioles in the Division Series. Other things are involved besides great starting pitching.”
Rod Allen: “And the Tigers had the best player in baseball at the time, Miguel Cabrera, too.”
Listen to MLB insider Rod Allen join The Odd Couple to debate with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker whether or not the Houston Astros should be the heavy favorite to win the World Series a couple days after shocking the baseball world with their acquisition of superstar former Cy Young starting pitcher Zack Greinke.
The surprising move seemed like a deathblow to the American League championship hopes of the heavily contending New York Yankees, currently with the league's best record, as well as the dangerous, home run-happy Minnesota Twins.
Check out the audio below as Rob Parker and Rod Allen remind everyone about the 2014 Detroit Tigers, who rolled into the playoffs with the three best pitchers in the AL, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and David Price, the three Cy Young award winners in succession. They were then unprecedentedly swept out of town by a hard-hitting Baltimore Orioles team anchored by a fleet of sluggers the likes of Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis, J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop.