AL Playoff Thread 2013

[grandy]

Updated

Tampa has caught up to Texas for WC home-field, however Texas has the head-to-head advantage and would host the game. Seattle is eliminated from the playoffs. NY and Baltimore could be eliminated from the AL East as early as today.

 

[lonesometiger]

Majic number down to 9

 

[tigermud]

Cleveland only .5 out of a wild card spot as of 9-15

 

[grandy]

Updated

Still no position changes, however Cleveland is now half a game back of both WC teams. Bostons magic number drops to 4 (3 to clinch a playoff spot). Detroit is going to have to play some really good baseball here at the end if they want home field, Oakland and Boston haven't been making this easy lately, both 8-2 in their last 10.

Playoff relevant series starting today or tomorrow
Texas @ Tampa - 4
Cleveland @ KC - 3
Baltimore @ Boston - 3

 

[motownwebguy]

Grandy

You mean Baltimore and New York could be eliminated today from winning the Division -- not a Wild Card Berth.

Or do I have that wrong? Can three teams from the same Division play after the regular season ends?

Did I miss some fine print in Wild Card language? Is the 2nd AL Wild Card team not starting until 2014?

 

[grandy]

Grandy

You mean Baltimore and New York could be eliminated today from winning the Division -- not a Wild Card Berth.

Correct, Baltimore and New York wouldn't be able to pass Boston in the AL East, however both of them can still win WC spots.

Or do I have that wrong? Can three teams from the same Division play after the regular season ends?

Did I miss some fine print in Wild Card language? Is the 2nd AL Wild Card team not starting until 2014?

Divisions won't be an issue in the WC. The two AL teams with the best records who aren't leading divisions will make the WC, regardless of where they play. It's entirely possible for Tampa and Baltimore, Baltimore and NY, or Tampa and NY to play in the Wild Card play-in game.

 

[grandy]

Updated

Tampa overtakes the struggling Rangers to gain the top WC spot. Cleveland fails to take advantage of the Texas loss and remains 0.5 game back. Boston could clinch a playoff berth as early as tonight. Detroit's magic number falls to 7.

I doubt LA is going to do anything, but I wanted to mention they've quietly been making a run. Over the last three weeks or so they've won 18 of 24, however they're still 8.5 out of the WC.

 

[grandy]

Updated

Texas and Tampa swap places again in the WC. Toronto is officially eliminated from playoff contention.

 

[kalinecountry]

http://blog.detroitathletic.com/201...-decisions-cost-the-tigers-in-the-postseason/
Will Leyland's Player friendly decisions cost the Tigers in the Postseason?
from Detroit Athletic

 

[grandy]

I was curious about home-field advantage and came across this article. It's pretty interesting, the advantage surprised me.

link‎

 

[kalinecountry]

Grandy...
Some places when you copy from already copied it doesn't work,
newton 83 explained a while back about eliptic somethings..
you might have to go back to original link and re edit. for link to work.

 

[grandy]

Grandy...
Some places when you copy from already copied it doesn't work,
newton 83 explained a while back about eliptic somethings..
you might have to go back to original link and re edit. for link to work.

Fixed it

 

[grandy]

Updated

Tampa and Texas swap again, so Tampa has the top WC spot. All the remaining teams chasing the WC won last night except Cleveland resulting in a 2.5 game separation between 5 teams for the last WC spot.

Some notable series coming up this weekend
Baltimore @ Tampa - 3
Texas @ KC - 3

 

[grandy]

Added remaining series for the last 3 series among playoff contenders

I'll re-post it here

Boston
vs Toronto
@ Colorado
@ Baltimore

Oakland
vs Minnesota
@ LA Angels
@ Seattle

Detroit
vs. Chicago Sox
@ Minnesota
@ Miami

Tampa
vs Baltimore
@ NY Yankees
@ Toronto

Texas
@ KC
vs Houston
vs LA Angels

Cleveland
vs Houston
vs Chicago Sox
@ Minnesota

Baltimore
@ Tampa
vs Toronto
vs Boston

NY Yankees
vs San Francisco
vs Tampa
@ Houston

KC
vs Texas
@ Seattle
@ Chicago Sox

 

[grandy]

Must suck for all the other wild card contenders to see Cleveland facing the 3 worst teams in the AL to finish out the season.

 

[grandy]

Updated

Boston has clinched a playoff spot. Texas and Tampa swap again, Texas has the head-to-head advantage now and Tampa needs to finish ahead of them if they want to play the wild card in Tampa.

Boston can clinch the AL East tonight, their magic number is 1, so either a Boston win or a Tampa loss will do it.

Oakland's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is at 3.

Other elimination possibilities tonight
- LA Angels from the playoffs with a loss AND a Texas win AND a Tampa win
- KC from the AL Central with a loss AND a Detroit win

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.blessyouboys.com/2013/9/20/4745882/mlb-playoffs-tiebreakers
MLB playoffs tiebreaker chart.
from bybtb

 

[grandy]

Updated

Boston clinches the AL East. Cleveland has overtaken Texas for the 2nd WC spot. Oakland could clinch the West as early as tonight.

It's quite possible that we'll see all the AL divisions wrapped up with a week to go.

 

[grandy]

Updated

No changes as far as playoff position. Oakland's magic number drops to 1 and Detroit's drops to 2, both can clinch today. Even with a strong September, the LA Angels fall short as they were eliminated from playoff contention last night. KC was eliminated from AL Central contention last night.

Clinching scenarios
Detroit (division) - Detroit win AND Cleveland loss
Detroit (playoff berth) - Detroit win AND Texas loss
Oakland (division) - Oakland win OR Texas loss

 

[grandy]

Oakland clinched the AL West with the Rangers loss, I'll update everything once the AL games wrap (an hour or so)