from the YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP file ...

What are these “playoffs” you speak of?

Should get honorable mention for best response ever, and winner in the self deprecation category.

Yep, both of them cracked me up.

UPDATE ...

Lost another game one at home last night. My team had a .586 overall record (95-67) and .605 home record (49-32).

So my teams are now 4-19 in my last 23 game one playoff openers at home!

I've decreased (or would that be increased) my futility level to a .174 winning percentage at home for game ones in the playoffs.

P.S. - Does anyone have any photos of HAL getting freaky with farm animals that they can forward me???

"P.S. - Does anyone have any photos of HAL getting freaky with farm animals that they can forward me???"

Do up-state New York women count?

I guess one possible answer would be, in those 22 games, who had the higher priced starting Pitcher.

"P.S. - Does anyone have any photos of HAL getting freaky with farm animals that they can forward me???"

Do up-state New York women count?

Being from Illinois, I'm not quite sure ... Do they?

I guess one possible answer would be, in those 22 games, who had the higher priced starting Pitcher.

Excellent question, I'd have to go back and look, but typically everyone tries to set up their playoffs when possible so that their best pitchers are pitching twice in the 7 games series. So, I'd say my top pitcher is pitching in game one probably 1/2 the time.

But I'll dig in to that.

I realized pretty quickly how big a pain in the ass this is to do, so I just did the last 10 teams that lost game one, here are the matchups:

OPPONENT: MY TEAM: ADVANTAGE:
M.Scott 9.06 J.Verlander 8.61 Wash
P.Martinez 8.12 W.Johnson 10.98 Me slightly
G.Mullin 6.77 W.Johnson 10.98 Me
L.Williams 3.27 B.Henry 3.56 Me slightly
M.Torrez 2.00 T.Burns 2.57 Me slightly
B.Swift 1.72 M.Keough 1.44 Wash
B.Kennedy 2.50 S.Williams .65 Opponent
J.Ring 5.99 G.Conley 6.50 Me slightly
R.Duren 3.94 J.Candaleria 4.13 Opponent slightly
O.Hershisher 4.96 A.Brazle 2.89 Opponent

So based on these results I don't think my opponents had a pitching advantage, if anything I had the advantage slightly.

For the record I went with the better pitcher factoring in park and opponent, not just price. That's why Duren gets the nod over the more expensive Candyman as an example.

UPDATE:

Lost another game 1 at home last night bringing my recent stretch to 4 wins and 20 losses in game ONE playoff games at home.

https://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/game/439818/974

It was Greg Maddux vs Matt Keough in a 60M league, you were probably a 4-1 underdog

It was Greg Maddux vs Matt Keough in a 60M league, you were probably a 4-1 underdog

That's not the point ... LOL ... That one is the extreme and not the norm. See earlier post about pitching matchups. As home team I would probably have been the favorite in 16 of the 24 contests at a minimum.

You're a stats whiz. What are the base odds all things being equal (which they are not) of a team losing 20 out of 24 games?

And I'm not saying HAL is out to get me or anything quite that crazy, it's just amazing the run I've been on, that's all. The bottom line is that when you lose game 1 at home, your odds of advancing to the finals or winning the finals drop dramatically. Ultimately it's all about the freebies.