Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

Heard this asked on radio last night.

Suppose Texas, NY, and Baltimore all finish with the same record. Baltimore and NY would have to play an extra game to determine division winner. Does that game count in their record for determining home field advantage? Or would other tie breakers determine home field advantage if East winner plays Texas in ALCS?

I was under the impression that 1-game playoff games are only played in the event that a playoff spot is on the line. Since all 3 teams have playoff spots clinched, I would imagine no games to be played and just the normal tiebreakers apply.

Of course I could be wrong, but that's the way I assumed it.

If a game does need to be played, I would assume it would count. W/L records change, players stats count. I dont see why it wouldn't factor into tiebreakers.

I am not certain about the NYY/BAL vs TX tiebreaker (I think that just falls to head to head but am not certain) but if NYY and BAL finished tied, they will have to play a tiebreaker on Thurs to decide the division winner. The loser of that game will have to travel to OAK (assuming OAK hangs on) for the 1 game Wildcard matchup to decide the division series setup.

This just changed with the addition of the second wildcard as in the past a tiebreaker would not have been needed they would have just gone with the head to head record.

And yes, stats count for tiebreaker games (well actually I am only 50/50 on that).

I believe Bud Selig said that due to the major difference between being a wild card and a division winner there will be no tie breakers and all ties will have a 1 game playoff.

If NY and BAL are tied they will have a 1 game playoff. Historically 1 game playoffs for a pennant count as game 163. If that were the case and after 162 games Bal, TEX, NY all had the same record...the winner of the one game playoff between NY and BAL would actually have a better record than TEX by a 1/2 game and would get home field I guess.

I am tempted to think mrhacktastic is right. But does not seem fair. You otherwise tie a team but because someone else ties them for division lead they play another game. It is guaranteed one of those 2 will will and thus be better than that third team outside that division.

Assuming this is right interpretation guess I need to hope Texas stays 1 game better than both NY and Baltimore.

A lot of evenly matched teams this year and home field advantage just might be the difference maker in road to world series.

You forgot to hope they would stay one game better than the A's.

I did find the official answer on this. That extra game to determine the division winner would not have counted for home field advantage.

That was surprising how Rangers blew that lead in last 10 games. Never thought they would let that happen. The local media and fans are livid and are turning on the team. Not terribly surprised. North Texas does not have the most intelligent sports fans. They too quickly get a sense of entitlement.

Been a huge problem for the Cowboys. Team has not sniffed a championship in over a decade and fans still argue anything short of a super bowl win is beneath the team's standards.

Baseball fans no different. You would think ti hear some of them we are the Yankees. We are not the same as we were under Hicks and more money is available but will never be in that same revenue class as yankees. And just like every other team we will have to outwork them and be smarter, and even lucky. I don't think most of the local fans realize how lucky the team was the last 2 years. Yes, there is lots of talent but last year Rangers did not lose any games to injury from their rotation. That almost never happens.

Speculation abounds about what happened to the team down the stretch. One could point to losing Lewis and Feliz. That hurt but every team usually has injuries to overcome. I think they lost thier aggressiveness. Team simply quit stealing bases second half of season. You have to at least have the threat of doing so to force pitchers to throw fastballs to Josh instead of the steady diet of junk off the plate.

Hats off to the Athletics. I never thought they could hang in there all year with all those rookie pitchers. Have to be impressed with leading majors in HRs second half while playing in that ballpark. I did not think they would hold off the Angels, let alone capture the division. Angels have to be talking to themselves after spending 300 mil and still missing playoffs.

Entire division has to be concerned with all those rookie starters for Oakland. They only figure to get better and are under control for another 5 years. With that cheap but good pitching Oakland could probably afford to add another bat to lineup next year and still have low budget.

I think the AL West is poised to be the best division in league for the next 3-5 years.