I hated the one-game playoff initially but I admit I’m a fan now. It guarantees at least one sudden-death game in the post-season, where every pitch matters. And yet the losing team can’t really complain because they should have won their division. If MLB ever did away with the DH and fully integrated the AL and NL, it might be better served realigning the league to have a Western and Eastern league or conference - whatever you wanna call it. Do that and scrap the divisions. Do what the NBA does and distribute games so that the bulk of them are in the conference but that there is essentially an equal # of non-division and non-conference series/games. And then have the top four teams from each conference play each other in a best 4 of 7 series.
I like it. My preference would be to do away with the wildcard altogether, so that only division winners make the playoffs…but the only way to do that at this point would be to realign into 4 divisions per league, and I don’t think that’s workable. So given that there’s going to be a wildcard, having it be one-and-done gives value to actually winning your division.
If you don’t like the prospect of playing 162 games, only to lose out on a one-game playoff, then play well enough to win your division…then you don’t have to worry about it.
I wonder what the odds were one month ago, right after Bryce Harper got hurt, that Washington would clinch a playoff berth before the Dodgers.
Or right before the start of the Dodgers’ two long losing streaks.
I ended up watching the end of that stupid game at almost 2am (EDT) this morning after being unable to fall asleep.
The Dodgers tried like hell to blow it. OK, in fairness to Jansen, the two infield singles were just bad luck. But at 3-2 to Posey with the bases loaded, I had resigned myself to believing that the Dodgers’ season was just cursed. Amazing escape, there.
Overall, that was still not a great game for the Dodgers. They left 13 men on base, and I think 10 of those were in the first four innings. It wasn’t pretty. But we’ll take the W by any means necessary at this point. Hopefully this’ll loosen up the team (and in particular, the pitching staff). Especially now that they’ve clinched a playoff spot.
In other news, how friggen’ good is Corey Kluber? Very nice of him to tell the Indians to conserve some runs for someone who needs them. Complete game shutout, five hits, no walks, eight strikeouts. Happy for the Indians’ streak to remain intact. Their magic number is 5.
Will be interesting to see how the Dodgers play toward the end of September. It doesn’t look good now - that’s for sure. Even if their pitching improves, they’re just not getting the same kind of run production, and that’s a problem. I seem to recall that the Cardinals had this issue toward the end of 2015 and it took a toll on its pitching staff heading into the playoffs, having to protect leads in low-scoring game night after night. They were gassed by the time they faced the Cubs in the division series.
Fair point. In 13 games so far this month, they’ve averaged only 2.69 runs per game, and six of those games have seen them score either 1 or 0 runs. However, there are signs. Despite their continued failure to cash in on some big run opportunities, they’re averaging 4.2 runs per game in the last five outings. So they still aren’t generally hitting in “clutch” situations, but they’re hitting better overall in the last week.
We shall see.
Losing games in early September really isn’t a problem. Its especially not a problem if it’s because you aren’t getting hits in clutch situations, because that’s random chance, not a skill or lack thereof.
I do’t have the numbers handy, but I think it pretty well established that a team’s fortunes in the playoffs are correlated with their performance all season, and not correlated at all with how they do in September. You mentioned the Cardinals in 2015, but
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The Cardinals didn’t lose their series with the Cubs because their bulklpen was gassed from protecting leaders. They lost because they had three games in a row where the starting pitcher just didn’t have it, and
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The Cardinals themselves were, in 2006, the ultimate example of how September crap can turn into October gold.
Anyway, let’s talk Indians.
Fewer than 25,000 people showed up in Cleveland to watch them win their 20th in a row.
What the hell?
In 2002, when Oakland won 20 in a row, they packed the house to see it. And that’s Oakland, and a stadium about as attractive and appealing as the adjoining parking lot. If the Toronto Blue Jays last night had been up for their 20th straight win you would have had to buy tickets for the right to stand in line to buy tickets. Why aren’t Cleveland fans showing up to see this? It’s not like there should be a lot of built up apathy or doubt, they’re the defending league champions.
Forget it, Rick. It’s Cleveland.
My wife has been listening to me bitch about the Indians’ attendance issues since 2010. I don’t get it, either. I’ve certainly met my share of diehard Tribe fans all over the country (DC, New York, LA and Oakland, anyway). They’re out there. I know there are a couple of diehards on this board who live in Cleveland. They’ve got a great stadium and a great team these last two years. It boggles the mind.
I’m not bitching, though. I’m genuinely curious as to what’s going on. Cleveland has drawn good crowds before. I’m curious as to WHY. In my honest opinion “the fans suck” is never the answer; there’s always some explanation as to why attendance blows. Stadium, location, economy, something.
24,000 for a historic game when the home team is kicking five hundred different kinds of ass is something that needs explaining.
I’ve got the Indians game on.
It’s 2017, for Christ’s sake. Lose the Chief Wahoo logo. It’s disgusting.
They did it. 21 in a row.
So the Marlins/Brewers series has been moved to Milwaukee from Miami. I don’t hear the Cubs whining, unlike the Brewers earlier this year.
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That was last night. Tuesday. Weekday night. Working class town with a smaller population than back in the 1990s glory days.
Today, Wednesday, arguably more a historic game, 29, 346. Starting time 12:10PM. Working class town taking the whole day off. Not likely to happen.
Saturday afternoon against Baltimore–30,409. Not a historic game. Saturday, no one taking off work.
BTW, capacity of Progressive field–35,200.
During the streak, the Indians have played Detroit 7 times, outscored them 47-8
They ‘didn’t have it’ because they had been gassed. That’s not the only reason – the Cubs were hitting the cover off the ball, too. There’s that. But the Cardinals rotation was spent. That was a factor.
True, but the Cardinals benefited from the absence of Pedro Martinez from the Mets rotation. A healthy Martinez, and we’d never have remembered 2006 Cardinals.
and outscored KC 20-0 in 3 games
Only four games during the streak were against teams over .500.
So I went to Citi Field for the first time yesterday to see the Yanks play Tampa. Citi Field is so much nicer than Shea it is ridiculous. They did a good job.
The game itself was frustrating despite the win for my Yanks. We’ve had a bad habit of late of knocking the starters out early and never adding on more runs and I feel like Joe G. is making stranger decisions this year. He yanks pitchers out at odd times but won’t pinch hit in obvious situations.
I really hope this four-out save strategy using Chapman isn’t the way forward for Girardi. I was mystified when he pulled Betances, and after suffering through the rest of eighth with Chapman, I was hoping he’d bring in Robertson for the ninth. The Yankees lucked out with the last three batters being lefties. Chapman faced four righties and gave up a single and two walks.
I assume the pinch hitting situation your referring to was Romine against Romo with the bases loaded?