-
Applying reasoning of many enemies of electoral college, baseball world series should not be played, crown should go to Houston with Rockies second place, as those two scored more points in the regular season - Yankees scored more than Dodgers — more claim to represent “baseball” than Dodgers even if Astros and Yankees in same arbitrary association (league)
- Dodgers fifth in their league in total scoring, illegitimate to be called second place as if better that the others. Dodgers 12 in MLB scoring — UNFAIR to others*
- Whole structure of Major League Baseball is undemocratic in so many ways
- INDIANS WERE ROBBED!
- Do away with “leagues” and partisanship, let the people decide
OK, we are maybe beating an analogy to death but the baseball statistical sites linked to below will give others similarly inclined fodder for similar or even alternate views. An article in Town Hall by Constitutional scholar triggered our little venture. More importantly the book the author has written provides sound sociopolitical reasoning behind the founding fathers’ design of the electoral college system. They definitively did not believe in direct democracy for the presidential election. Our whole system of government is designed to protect basic individual God-given rights from political tyrannies of the majority / mob rule.
Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie . . . and the Electoral College? (excerpt)
Believe it or not, the rules of baseball teach us something about the United States Constitution—and last week’s American League Championship Series demonstrated this point beautifully. . . .
Imagine what would happen if a team could earn a berth in the World Series by scoring the most runs throughout the course of a single baseball season.
Such a revision might allow a team to succeed by having a few great games and several very poor games. Perhaps teams would rely too heavily on players who hit well against a particular type of pitcher. Excellent performances throughout the season would not be required to earn the championship. A few, stellar performances could suffice.
Baseball champions should be more well-rounded than that. They should be able to perform well in a variety of circumstances and against a variety of pitchers. They should be able to win at home or away. They should be able to persevere even if their best player gets injured.
Isn’t all of this just like the Electoral College?
Presidential candidates don’t work to obtain the most individual votes (runs scored). Instead, they work to obtain the most states’ electoral votes (games won). The Founders did not want presidential candidates to obtain the White House simply because they could accumulate high vote totals in a few big states or large cities. They hoped that the most well-rounded candidate would win the presidency. The Electoral College creates incentives for exactly this type of behavior: The most successful candidates tend to be the ones who reach out to a variety of voters.
Much has been made of the fact that Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump by almost 3 million votes in the national tally last year. Shouldn’t she rightfully be president? Who cares that more than 20 percent of Clinton’s 65.8 million votes came from only two states, California and New York? Democracy demands that we respect the outcome of the national popular vote. . . .
Tara Ross is the author of The Indispensable Electoral College: How the Founders’ Plan Saves Our Country from Mob Rule (Regnery Gateway).
Major League Baseball sortable stats
Also related team statistics here.
Addenda from V’pac – Hillary Clinton would not have been a majority president having received 48.18% of the popular vote as more than half of the country wanted someone else. Trump received 46.09% of the popular vote a 4.5% difference reflecting statistics run up by one candidate where the other essentially chose not to compete. Trump won 304 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton’s 227, bettering her by 34% in the game that counted. He did so via a superior strategy consistent with the founders’ design of “the game” — that a few populace states not rule the rest. Election calculations via statistics from the Federal Election Commission.
R Mall
Map below via Politico, shows counties won by Trump – 2016 general election
*Rockies 824 v s Dodgers 770 total runs — 5 Nat league teams outscored the Dodgers
Well done.