In the short term, this isn't hard to figure out: The World Series advanced to a seventh game, played between the two teams with the longest championship droughts in existence. There's no question how the playoffs will be remembered, for a little while. Some kind of storybook ending was inevitable. That much was clear before the World Series even began. And fans will remember the playoffs in their own way.
Yet the baseball industry could also be said to have a memory, one that has a tendency to respond to recent trends. Baseball itself is likely to remember these playoffs for what happened with the relievers -- and the trends we saw are unlikely to reverse in October tournaments down the road.
Here's an easy place to start off. I've selected as my data window the wild-card era, stretching back to 1995. In the playoff years since then, how much have starters and relievers been used? This plot has what you need to know:
The lines bounce around, and none of the differences are huge. But, overall, starters have averaged 63 percent of the innings. This year, they wound up at 57 percent. They were that low before only once, in 2004, a year that playoff starters had an ERA over 5.00. This year's playoff starters had an ERA under 4.00. So they pitched less, even though they were reasonably effective.
