Being torn in two directions

[xiphias]

Okay, I've made my decision on this one, but. . .

Tonight is the first game of a three-game Sox/Yankees series, opening at Fenway Park, in which the Sox are one game behind the Yanks, first and second in the division, with the outcome of this three-game series deciding who is going to the playoffs.

It's also the opening night of Serenity.

Just sayin'. As it is, I'm going to the movie with a whole bunch of friends and family (and if anyone else wants to show up, Woburn Showcase cinemas, at the intersection of 38 and 128, 7:15 showing).

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Yup. It's a race between three teams for two spots. There was a segment on the news this morning explaning all the possible outcomes. The most interesting outcome, I think, is for the Sox to take two out of three, and the Indians to win, which would lead to a three-way tie for first place, requiring two tiebreaker games.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

It would be interesting if the Sox, Yankees, and Indians all ended up with the same record, because it would as you say result in two before-the-playoff playoff games, one for the AL East title and one for the Wild Card.

It would suck, though, some for the team winning the East, potentially more for the team winning the Wild Card, and (obviously) most for the team not going to the playoffs at all. The team winning the East would have to use one of their better starting pitchers, so wouldn't have him available for the first few games of the ALDS. The team winning the Wild Card would have to use at least one, and possibly two (if the AL East team wins it) of their better starting pitchers. That would put both teams at a potentially significant disadvantage in the ALDS, unless of course they end up playing each other.

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

If by "unless of course they end up playing each other" you mean some permutation of the Yanks and the Sox getting in after multiple 1-game playoffs, remember that they cannot face each other in the ALDS. Wild cards play the team with the strongest record unless that is their division winner, in which case the strongest division winner plays the weakest, and the middling winner plays the wild card in ALDS play.

I suspect this complication, more than anything else, is why the league didn't seriously consider saying "screw it" in the NL, where the West will be won by default, and most of the teams in the east (plus Houston in the central) all are more deserving of playing lots of October baseball.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

I know the Sox and Yankees can't meet each other in the DS. I meant that it's possible that, in the three-way tie situation, the Indians could beat the loser of the East, and then meet the winner of the East in the DS.