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MLB Talk - 2010 Season

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Closest to clinching are Cincinatti with magic number of 4, folowed by the east divisions leaders of both leagues for either Division or wild card.

How do you figure out the magic number? I tried looking on MLB's page but I couldn't make head nor tail of it. :confused:

Both Wests are up for grabs, the NL especially!

Even with Josh Hamilton down, do you really think anyone other than Texas has the chance to clinch the AL West? Closest is Oakland, who's 7.5 games back...
 
So, clint, only 1/5 DS games at the Wild Cards' park, 1/7 at the CS, if they get that far and 1/7 games in the WS, right?

What would you have done in 2002, with both wild cards making the big show?

EDIT (to MLB): Standings page.

Standings page fine print said:
E# - Elimination Number, the combined number of wins (by the first place team) and losses (by the trailing team) that will eliminate the trailing team from winning the division. The Elimination Number for any team is determined by adding their number of losses to the number of wins for the team leading the division, and subtracting that total from 163. The Elimination Number for the second place team is the "Magic Number" for the first place team. "E" indicates that the team has been eliminated from winning the division. WCGB - Wild Card games behind. WCE# - Wild Card Elimination Number.

AL west: could happen, though I see I may have confused Elimination number with the games behind in a dyslexic moment
 
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The one out of five thing would only be for the initial show. Also, it's to prevent exactly what happened in 2002. The first place teams should have some sort of perk for winning their divisions.
 
The one out of five thing would only be for the initial show. Also, it's to prevent exactly what happened in 2002. The first place teams should have some sort of perk for winning their divisions.

*playfully frustrated sigh* You're killing me with that remark!
You'da made it more difficult, sure, but that would not outright prevent the 2002 "Wild Card Series" scenario.
 
It's true, there's no guarantees. That being said, I do think the odds should be stacked in the favor of the Division winners, the team with the best record in particular. The Wild Card should have an uphill battle to take the win.
 
^ I'll buy that sentiment, however I think that where they get seeded (playing the best record) is uphill enough.
 

That's the page I was talking about. I'm still trying to decipher it. :confused:

The Elimination Number for the second place team is the "Magic Number" for the first place team. So I'm looking at the AL East...the second place team is Tampa Bay, then? Its Elimination number is 10. So *that's* the magic number for the Yankees? Yesterday I heard it was only 5, and then after they beat the Rays last night they said it was 3.

Also, I just checked the Rays' page, and it says that the Rays' magic number is 6. On that standings page, Boston (the next team after that) has an elimination number of 3...

So how have I messed this up? :brickwall:

Side note: Those SNY guys are hilarious when they do the "Safe and secure...New York Life" thing. :guffaw: First time I've ever heard Gary Cohen compared to a lounge singer. :lol:
 
...

So how have I messed this up? :brickwall:
I reckon that in those contexts, "magic number" is defined in sense of securing a playoff berth of any kind, not necessarily the division title.

MLB's definition of the magic/elimination number relationship is as quoted.
 
I imagine they're strikeouts where they were caught looking.

That's correct.


On a different note... what in the name of Stan Musial happened to the Cardinals this season? :vulcan: In the span of a little over a month, they've gone from leading the NL Central to trailing by 8 games. The Reds' magic number is now 4! :eek: The Reds have played decent ball since they were swept in mid August by the Cards. However, the Cardinals have gone 12-24 since then. They've lost the division more than the Reds have won it, me thinks.

Shades of the '69 Cubs...

As baseball has expanded, the playoffs have not. The addition of only one wildcard spot is not enough when a team like the Yankees or the Red Sox can simply buy their way into a playoff berth every year.

Major League Baseball either needs to expand the playoff format or switch to a hard cap system to create some level of parity in the game.

You are quite wrong there. When the four expansion teams were added in '69, the playoffs were expanded from just to World Series to the World Series and a League Championship Series for each league. When MLB expanded in 1998, they added two League Division Series to each leagues playoffs.

I don't see where you get the notion that baseball's playoffs have never been expanded. To be honest, I wish that the NBA and NHL would adopt playoff structures similar to MLB's. The way things are, half the teams in the NBA and NHL make their respective playoffs, making the first round or two of playoffs absolutely worthless.
 
I'm also going to join the choir in regards to the playoff format. I like the way it is in MLB since few teams make it in. I don't want half the league to have a presence. One thing I would do is maybe change the Wild Card so that they only get one home game. As it is, I feel that the Wild Card has too much power.

They don't technically have more power, they just happen to play better than the other team they go up against. They never get homefield, that in itself should be a reasonable harm. Afterall, they could technically have the second best record in their League. Being a Wild Card in baseball doesn't mean they're bad, just not the best team overall.
 
I think the Rockies realistic chances at the pennant are done with last night's result, barring a late season measles outbreak. I also think Ubaldo pitched himself out of the Cy Young race as well.

At least they made it interesting, and who knows, they might still run the table. ;)
 
They don't technically have more power, they just happen to play better than the other team they go up against. They never get homefield, that in itself should be a reasonable harm. Afterall, they could technically have the second best record in their League. Being a Wild Card in baseball doesn't mean they're bad, just not the best team overall.

I'll disagree with that, slightly, as I think I see what the other guys are asking about.

Basically, it's set up as a 2-2-1 format right now, and first to 3 wins, right? If the WC team wins one of the first two in the away park, they've then got 2 home games to try and wrap it up, which is a nice advantage. Win both away games, and it's really over. if it was 2-1-2, it would at least force the WC team to win it all on the road, really, or crush the other team. Even worse in the 7 game series, with the 2-3-2 format, as if you split the first two, the pressure is totally off.

They won't do that, as they want fans of both teams involved, but i can kinda see that.
 
They don't technically have more power, they just happen to play better than the other team they go up against. They never get homefield, that in itself should be a reasonable harm. Afterall, they could technically have the second best record in their League. Being a Wild Card in baseball doesn't mean they're bad, just not the best team overall.

I'll disagree with that, slightly, as I think I see what the other guys are asking about.

Basically, it's set up as a 2-2-1 format right now, and first to 3 wins, right? If the WC team wins one of the first two in the away park, they've then got 2 home games to try and wrap it up, which is a nice advantage. Win both away games, and it's really over. if it was 2-1-2, it would at least force the WC team to win it all on the road, really, or crush the other team. Even worse in the 7 game series, with the 2-3-2 format, as if you split the first two, the pressure is totally off.

They won't do that, as they want fans of both teams involved, but i can kinda see that.
Bingo. I agree that it won't happen, I don't have to like it though :lol:
 
In a 2-2-1 format, they still have to win on the road. This argument would be true with any best of 5 series. The home team still has the advantage because they can win out if they win all their home games or will have a huge advantage if they win one road game. It seems an unreasonable disadvantage for the Wild Card team otherwise. Do you just not want the series to be competitive? One way to reduce upsets would be to go with a best of 7 series with a 2-2-1-1-1 format. That's generally considered the best way to get the home team to win.
 
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