4/29/2023 Cleveland @ Boston

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
48,195
I will go to my grave arguing that mlb should scrap divisions entirely. And seed the playoffs 1-6 (best overall records in AL and NL. And if that means that the entire AL east makes playoffs than so be it.
Record, by division:

AL East: 84-48 (.636)
AL Central: 51-80 (.389)
AL West: 59-73 (.447)
NL East: 70-62 (.530)
NL Central: 70-60 (.538)
NL West: 61-72 (.459)

The entire AL East is playing at a 103-win pace. The entire AL Central is playing at a 63-win pace.
Out-of-division record:

AL East: 65-29 (.691)
AL Central: 40-69 (.367)
AL West: 43-57 (.430)
NL East: 49-41 (.544)
NL Central: 51-41 (.554)
NL West: 37-48 (.435)

This is wild. Against non-AL East competition, AL East teams, in aggregate, are playing at a 112-win pace.
Divisions, by run differential:

AL East: +158
AL Central: -153
AL West: -17
NL East: -7
NL Central: +86
NL West: -67

AL East rules once again.

My god the AL Central is so bad.

The AL West, non-Oakland: +100. Oakland: -117
View: https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/1652339120566329344?s=46
 

LynnRice75

a real Homer for the Sox
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
7,586
Oviedo, FL
Game 28
Only two pages for yesterday’s thread.
A mundane matchup or impending dread?
Is it a sign the season’s in ruins,
or were we busy watching the Bruins?
Perhaps some of us go out Friday night.
My life is dull. I stay home, watch, and write
couplets and struggle with meter and rhyme,
wondering if it’s a grand waste of time.
Yet, deep in my heart, I hope that it’s not.
I wait for the day the Sox will get hot,
get guys on base and actually score’em,
and back fun and fans to this forum.
Though writing these poems may take time to do,
I’d love to write more than one-sixty-two.
 

LynnRice75

a real Homer for the Sox
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
7,586
Oviedo, FL
I will go to my grave arguing that mlb should scrap divisions entirely. And seed the playoffs 1-6 (best overall records in AL and NL. And if that means that the entire AL east makes playoffs than so be it.

Even in the current fomat, it's possible for the enitre AL East to make the playoffs. With the balanced schedule, it is feasible for the East to send a division winner and all four wild cards. Seeding would still be wonky, but wild card teams have often had better records than divisional winners.
 

derekson

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2010
6,799
A Valdez-Arroyo middle infield with Bello on the mound... that's something
 

InsideTheParker

persists in error
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
42,500
Pioneer Valley
How likely is it this game will be played? It's been raining for the last 16 hours here in NYC.
If Wunderground is right, they should get today's game in. (EDIT: the hourly forecast just changed and now it looks wetter. Damn.)
Here in WMA about 2 hours west of Fenway, it hasn't rained for several hours and the sun is trying to come out.
I was watching Pirates/Nats on mlbn while making lunch, and Rich Hill stranded the bases loaded with Nats. Guess the Sox are not the only stranders.
 
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Petagine in a Bottle

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 13, 2021
15,127
The central divisions are largely filled with small market, lower revenue teams. I imagine the current divisional alignment allows them a much better chance at competing (or at least the illusion of doing so) than scrapping divisions would.