The Yankees have a real chance of winning 100 games but still finishing ten games out of first place.
The Orioles have lost 112 games and are playing .291 ball. They are an incredible 60.5 games behind the Red Sox, and 35 games out of 4th place.
The Dodgers are fighting St. Louis for the 2nd WC spot but are only 1 game from winning their division outright, which means that Colorado, who has been leading the west virtually the entire season, could actually be completely out of the playoffs in two more days.
The Orioles are absolutely in the running for being the worst team in modern baseball history. I haven’t really looked too hard at it, but there aren’t that many other contenders, especially if you dismiss first year expansion teams.
When he was ejected, CC had only thrown 55 pitches and the Yankees were leading 11-0. If he avoided melting down, 7 innings should have been a breeze. Heck, he could have hit a guy in the 8th if it was so important to him.
Baseball’s unwritten rules are just plain dumb most of the time. CC didn’t try to hit Bauers; it was an ordinary inside pitch and Bauers brought his hands right to the ball by starting his swing. And then Kittredge tried to decapitate Romine. Why? What kind of fucked up thinking has you throwing at his head? And then CC felt honor bound to “protect” his catcher. The whole thing was ridiculous.
But damn, $500K. You know you’re rich when pissing it away doesn’t bother you in the slightest.
Cardinals are out of the playoff picture! I know they should field a respectable lineup tomorrow but hopefully their minds will be on the golf courses.
So the Yanks set the all-time team home run record today. Apparently they also decided to give CC the $500k bonus he was only 2 innings short of. I think that is pretty classy of them.
The Brewers have erased the Cubs’ lead in the NL Central. Both are now 94-67, and though the Cardinals were eliminated from the playoffs tonight, they can still play spoiler against their rivals. For this weekend, at least, I’m a Cards fan.
Kind of goes with the three 100-win teams in the AL. Anyone know off hand if the AL was superior to the NL in interleague this year, and if so, by how much?
I’m liking Milwaukee’s chances in the NL. Think they’re getting hot at just the right time. Vegas appears to disagree with me, having them the lowest of the five remaining teams that could win the NL title. https://www.oddsshark.com/mlb/odds/futures
Do it by Pythagorean runs? Summed WAR for each of the players?
I’d think you’d have to put one of the recent putrid Astros teams in there, like 2013. 51-111 is pretty damned bad, with a 610/848 Runs Allowed/Scored. I want to say their team salary that year was just above the League possible minimum for a 25 man team.
OTOH, the Orioles are rocking already a 613/883. Ugh.
I would argue though that if you forced that '13 Astros team to play in a division with the Red Sox and Yankees—and shoot, the Rays too with 89 wins so far—they’d have come out a lot worse than they did. Oakland at 96 wins, and Texas at 91, never mind the Angels at 78 and Mariners at 71, doesn’t compare to the meat grinder the East was this year.
Congrats to the Milwaukee Brewers for making the playoffs. As a Cards fan, we’ve owned y’all over the years, but the Brew Crew swept us late and helped drive the stake in our hearts. I think the Brewers are legit, and if they can survive their playoff game against LA/Colorado, then they’ll be a legit threat to take the NL title.
As a Cubs fan, I’ve always had great respect for Milwaukee, and they’ve been the team that’s been concerning me the most in our division over the years (and, obviously, most so now, as they’re tied with the Cubs and can force at least a playoff today for the NL Central if they win, or take it outright if they win and the Cubs lose.) That said, unlike the Cards, I actually can root for the Brewers, should it come to that. I’ve always liked Wisconsin and their teams (well, maybe maybe not the Packers, so much, but I don’t loathe them with quite the ferocity of most Bears fans). But, hopefully, it does not come to that.
There’s essentially a double-elimination tournament starting tomorrow in the NL. Just win one of the next two, and you advance. Lose two in a row, and you’re gone. It reminds me of the playoffs and World Series for college teams. The Braves are the only team that doesn’t have to go through the rigamarole.
As of right now the Indians, Dodgers and Rockies all have 91-71 records. The latter two play one more game that counts as a regular season game for stats and so forth. Does it also count for determining home filed advantage of one of them meets the Indians in the World series? If so one would have a 92-71 record and get it, the other would have a 91-72 record and not get it.
I realize there are follow-up rules for determining home filed advantage, but those do not come into effect if record determines it.
