Thunderdome.
Thunderdome.
Still not really sure who would be the best 1-game matchup, if the Reds can't pull the division out. May not be a right answer.
Rounding third and heading for home...
162-game playoff. Baseball is a marathon.
Funny thread. We had better hope there is no such tie situation! The Central teams would be beating each others brains out while the East and West winners would be drinking beer and watching on TV as their arms rested. A pitching advantage pretty damn hard to overcome.
I don't think it can be overstated that winning the division is imperative, and clinching it at least 2 games before seasons end to get the rotation lined up. I don't really like the idea of clinching a week or more before seasons end.
That may be the situation with LA and Atlanta. Is "losing your edge" a real thing, or just a myth?
I'd rather be the team that clinches a WC with a week left and no shot at the division than the team that keeps trying to win the division until the last day, just misses, and ends up having to start their #4 starter in the WC game. But this whole format really begs for a 6 way tie involving 2 divisions and both WCs.
"Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons
If the season had ended yesterday, with the Pirates and Cards tied for the Central lead and the Reds 2.5 back of both for both the division and the WC, there would be 2 1-game playoff games.
Pirates - Cards would be played first and the loser would have to play a second 1-game playoff at their home against the Reds. So the Reds would get a day off but not know which city they were playing in until the first game was complete. The loser would limp into the WC play-in game having lost a 1-game playoff the day before. Seems like an unusually good scenario for the second-place WC team going into the 1-game playoff.
Last edited by Unassisted; 08-26-2013 at 11:10 AM. Reason: Grammar fixes.
/r/reds
I never like playing good teams coming off a loss (as opposed to a bad team coming off a loss, who's apt to just keep losing), so would disagree with your characterization of "limping". A wounded Cardinal or Pirate team knowing they just missed their chance to move ahead to the divisional round, and knowing today is win or go home, would likely be loaded for bear.
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