White Knuckler
1. Carlos Silva lets guys on base all the time. If they're on first, I mentally add them to to outs for the inning, they're not a problem unless there are two outs (no dp to induce) or are RISP. But when Kyle Lohse lets guys on base, I get scared. Tonight, the leadoff batter got on in 1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th. And then more batters got on, yet somehow only two of them touched home base. Apparently Kyle likes the challenge of letting a guy get to second and then keep him from scoring. Kind of the Cat Osterman method of pitching. Only Kyle Loshe is no Cat Osterman, but what the hell, it worked tonight.
1a. I looked at my blogger profile. I am the only person in blogger with "Cat Osterman" in my interests.
2. Can BJ Ryan start tomorrow? We've scored three off him in 1.2 IP, and 3 runs off the rest of the O's pitchers in 18 IP.
3. I think we may be able to trace Morneau's troubles to the day he let his hair get cut. It used to stick out the bottom of his batting helmet, now it's neat and short. Time to let it grow out.
4. I really thought Luis R was safe at home in the 3rd, but the replay showed that he did not touch the plate. Good call, Mike Winters!
4a. I like Luis R batting leadoff.
5. Back in first in the WC race, tied with the Yanquis. We are put in first because they've so far won the season series against the NYYs, but tie breakers are only used in seeding, right? Not in deciding who makes the playoffs. If we're tied with the Yankees at the end of the season and we won the season series 4-2, we've still got to play them a one-game playoff to see who wins the wildcard. If we're tied with Baltimore and New York and they are also tied for first in the east, Baltimore and the Yankees play one game to decide who wins the east and the loser plays one game with the Twins. But, if the Twins are back and the second-place team in the East automatically gets the wild-card, then it goes to a tie-breaker, right? We are close to a situation where 3 teams could be tied for the AL East and the Twins tied for the WC. First the 3 teams in the east have to decide who wins (2 games, decided by lot) and then the two losers play against the Twins. But I could have the rules wrong. And I don't feel like checking. If a tie-breaking procedure can be used to keep a team out of the playoffs, something is wrong with baseball.
1a. I looked at my blogger profile. I am the only person in blogger with "Cat Osterman" in my interests.
2. Can BJ Ryan start tomorrow? We've scored three off him in 1.2 IP, and 3 runs off the rest of the O's pitchers in 18 IP.
3. I think we may be able to trace Morneau's troubles to the day he let his hair get cut. It used to stick out the bottom of his batting helmet, now it's neat and short. Time to let it grow out.
4. I really thought Luis R was safe at home in the 3rd, but the replay showed that he did not touch the plate. Good call, Mike Winters!
4a. I like Luis R batting leadoff.
5. Back in first in the WC race, tied with the Yanquis. We are put in first because they've so far won the season series against the NYYs, but tie breakers are only used in seeding, right? Not in deciding who makes the playoffs. If we're tied with the Yankees at the end of the season and we won the season series 4-2, we've still got to play them a one-game playoff to see who wins the wildcard. If we're tied with Baltimore and New York and they are also tied for first in the east, Baltimore and the Yankees play one game to decide who wins the east and the loser plays one game with the Twins. But, if the Twins are back and the second-place team in the East automatically gets the wild-card, then it goes to a tie-breaker, right? We are close to a situation where 3 teams could be tied for the AL East and the Twins tied for the WC. First the 3 teams in the east have to decide who wins (2 games, decided by lot) and then the two losers play against the Twins. But I could have the rules wrong. And I don't feel like checking. If a tie-breaking procedure can be used to keep a team out of the playoffs, something is wrong with baseball.
posted by amr at 7/19/2005 11:59:00 PM
2 Comments:
The issue of breaking a 3-way tie involving both a division and the wild card spot came up in 2000, when the A's, Mariners, and Indians nearly pulled off the feat. As I recall, if they had all tied to end the season, the A's and Mariners would've played 1 game to decide the division, loser out, while the Indians would have taken the wild card.
See, the loser of the playoff game (technically a regular season game) would have put that club a half game behind the Indians, therefore that team wouldn't have been tied with the Indians anymore. Ergo, that team is SOL.
As fate played out, the trainwreck was averted when the Indians finished a game behind Seattle--because Cleveland had dropped 2 games to the last-place Twins in the final week.
However, if the Twins should tie the top 2 East teams, it would be good for our team because Minnesota would have an automatic playoff berth.
What would happen if the Twins tied two other 2nd place teams for the wild card spot? I dunno.
While it's not part of my profile, I too, have an interest in Cat Osterman. Don't tell Lucy.
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