*Down to the Wire*: AL East/West/WC race thread.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by cub killer

Only 5 times in baseball history has a team come back from 13 games out to win the division or pennant. Wow. Congrats to the A's, who may have the lowest payroll in all of baseball. Now, hopefully they will open that upper deck. It hurts to see baseball fall so much in Oaktown, that the UD gets tarped.

The 2007 Rockies approve of this late season surge.

And now to root on the Yankees. Go Yanks! I don't want a situation where the best record in the AL does NOT get the #1 seed.

I am a supporter of Yankees failure. Seeding could be determined randomly for all I care.

I find "go Yankees" a repulsive concept.

[palehozenychicty]

Texas seems to be gaining a knack for falling apart at the wrong time. With their talent, this is inexcusable.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by JB98

No miracle, really. Ryan Dempster might have been the Cubs ace, but he's just a No. 4 or No. 5 guy on a contending AL team. He's just not as good as many Chicago folk made him out to be. Even some Sox fans were fooled, wanting KW to acquire Dempster at the deadline.

Look at his numbers since going to Texas, he ultimately would have been more effective than Liriano

[DSpivack]

The Rays are up 2-0 on the O's, but the Yankees are making it a moot point as they've put up 5 runs on Daisuke and lead 5-1.

[SephClone89]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Look at his numbers since going to Texas, he ultimately would have been more effective than Liriano

Yes, but far more expensive.

[JB98]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Look at his numbers since going to Texas, he ultimately would have been more effective than Liriano

I wasn't in love with the Liriano acquisition either.

Dempster has allowed 100 baserunners, including 10 home runs, in 69 innings with Texas.

Liriano has allowed 89 baserunners (7 HRs) in 56 2/3 innings with the Sox.

They both have SUCKED.

Liriano was probably a better gamble because A) The price was less and B) At one point in time, he had enough stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation guy in the American League.

Obviously, that acquisition did not work for the Sox. But, frankly, I think Gavin Floyd is a better pitcher than Ryan Dempster. That's lost on a lot of Chicagoans because Dempster looks pretty good when he's going up against weak NL lineups.

No way in hell I would have given up anything more than a bag of balls for Dempster, which is basically what KW gave up for Liriano.

[cub killer]

Originally Posted by TDog

I am a supporter of Yankees failure. Seeding could be determined randomly for all I care.

I find "go Yankees" a repulsive concept.

lol. Go New York Yankees! Win another division title tonight!

I just find it irresponsible of MLB to wait 16 years until they would address game 163's effect on seeding. I've looked for contingency plans in seasons past, but found nothing. Then finally today, Ken Rosenthal said 163 would count towards it. Then hours later, he switched and said it wouldn't.

It's ridiculous, IMO, that they never made the info public. Bloggers were scrambling left and right trying to find out what the rules were. And I don't like the fact that game 163 counts as a regular season game in all aspects, except for seeding. Then why bother including it in reg season records, they might as well make it a playoff game.

[DSpivack]

Originally Posted by cub killer

lol. Go New York Yankees! Win another division title tonight!

I just find it irresponsible of MLB to wait 16 years until they would address game 163's effect on seeding. I've looked for contingency plans in seasons past, but found nothing. Then finally today, Ken Rosenthal said 163 would count towards it. Then hours later, he switched and said it wouldn't.

It's ridiculous, IMO, that they never made the info public. Bloggers were scrambling left and right trying to find out what the rules were. And I don't like the fact that game 163 counts as a regular season game in all aspects, except for seeding. Then why bother including it in reg season records, they might as well make it a playoff game.

That is all looking like a moot point this year, as Robinson Cano has hit 2 2-run HRs and the Yankees smacked Daisuke in his final start in a Red Sox uniform. NYY leads 7-1.

Baltimore is trailing the Rays 3-0 in St. Pete. It looks like the only question there is where the O's will be playing the Wild Card game. If they win, they will host the Rangers. If they lose, they will travel to Texas.

[cub killer]

Ah, so instead of catching a flight tomorrow morning from DFW to Baltimore, the Rangers can relax at home, and get a practice in. After they return to Arlington tonight.

And I guess the Orioles will travel from Tampa to Arlington late tonight after the game. They'll have the prime time game on Friday, Stl-Atl will be the early matchup.

[Hitmen77]

Originally Posted by DSpivack

Oh, I know, was just riffing off of the post I quoted.

Still an exciting game. Crazy finish in the AL West; per Elias, no team has ever had this big of a comeback with so few games remaining.

They were down 5 games with 9 to play; HR just put the score at exactly that, 9-5, somewhat ironically.

Good for them. They're the opposite of the 2009-12 White Sox by coming on strong at the end instead of collapsing at the end.

The A's first division title since 2006. They actually finished 1st or 2nd every year between 1999 and 2006. Their worst record in that stretch was 88 wins. After 2006, they haven't been between 74 and 81 wins.

Maybe someday they'll get a new stadium and they can start drawing more fans.

[tstrike2000]

Moneyball 2: Electric Boogaloo.

[DSpivack]

Originally Posted by Hitmen77

Good for them. They're the opposite of the 2009-12 White Sox by coming on strong at the end instead of collapsing at the end.

The A's first division title since 2006. They actually finished 1st or 2nd every year between 1999 and 2006. Their worst record in that stretch was 88 wins. After 2006, they haven't been between 74 and 81 wins.

Maybe someday they'll get a new stadium and they can start drawing more fans.

I've read that Selig is sitting on a report on the area restrictions the A's are seeking to change so they can move into the Giants' territory.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by cub killer

lol. Go New York Yankees! Win another division title tonight!

I just find it irresponsible of MLB to wait 16 years until they would address game 163's effect on seeding. I've looked for contingency plans in seasons past, but found nothing. Then finally today, Ken Rosenthal said 163 would count towards it. Then hours later, he switched and said it wouldn't.

It's ridiculous, IMO, that they never made the info public. Bloggers were scrambling left and right trying to find out what the rules were. And I don't like the fact that game 163 counts as a regular season game in all aspects, except for seeding. Then why bother including it in reg season records, they might as well make it a playoff game.

In baseball, seeding is a silly thing to be concerned with. Teams play wildly different schedules, and some teams match up better against teams with better records. Hypothetically, if the White Sox were in the postseason, they would match up better against the Yankees than against the A's. Seeding by wins and losses for most teams in most years might as well be random.

This isn't football, where I am guessing every team plays pretty much the same schedule and win-loss record is due to a team's success with nothing to do with some teams having easier or more difficult schedules.

[DSpivack]

Originally Posted by TDog

In baseball, seeding is a silly thing to be concerned with. Teams play wildly different schedules, and some teams match up better against teams with better records. Hypothetically, if the White Sox were in the postseason, they would match up better against the Yankees than against the A's. Seeding by wins and losses for most teams in most years might as well be random.

This isn't football, where I am guessing every team plays pretty much the same schedule and win-loss record is due to a team's success with nothing to do with some teams having easier or more difficult schedules.

This is basically true, although 2 games are determined by your finish in the previous season:

• There are 6 games within your division (4 teams per division).
• There are 4 games shared with your divisional opponents against a division from the opposite conference (rotating each 4 years as there are 8 NFL divisions).
• There are 4 games shared with your divisional opponents against teams from another division within your conference (rotating every 3 years, as there are 3 other divisions within the conference).
• That leaves just 2 games determined by finish: you play teams from the other 2 divisions in your conference (not yours, not the one you were already scheduled to play), who finished in the same position you did in the previous season (you finish 3rd, you play a 3rd place team from the previous season).

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by TDog

This isn't football, where I am guessing every team plays pretty much the same schedule and win-loss record is due to a team's success with nothing to do with some teams having easier or more difficult schedules.

Wow this could literally not be any more wrong. NFL teams play a 16-game schedule so with the annual home-and-home series with divisional opponents, you only play 13 teams in a league of 32. Schedule difficulty varies widely in football, much moreso than baseball where at least every team plays every other in its own league.

Maybe try not to comment on subjects you are clearly ignorant on.