For what it is worth, Wright has been ruled out for the ALDS, but might be back for later series.
They lobby to travel together so they can get a volume discount on the capicola, provolone and ciabatta. Now I want a sangwich.
I might be alone in this, but I hate Ernie Johnson as a baseball announcer more than almost anything. We complain a lot here about announcers who either talk too much or too little or say dumb things, but Ernie Johnson is worse because he just has no idea what's going on. He calls popups and home runs exactly the same. It sucks all the joy out of the game and I hate it.
I hit post instead of reply. Anyway, what I had in mind was which team would that help more, and maybe I'd rather not take a start away from Buchholz or Rodriguez and send Price out there a second time instead. Porcello though, how could you not want him for a (maybe earlier) game at Fenway, unless innings pitched this year may be catching up with him. Stay away, you bad ol 'cane.
Lots of folks have attempted to answer this question. No satisfying answer has been reached, for some of the reasons you identified.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/do-mlb-preseason-projections-matter-in-the-playoffs/
Could say the same thing about the Red Sox.
I think that's exactly backwards. The team who wins the actual playoff games is the best team. The only scenario where one could say the "best team" does not win is one where an otherwise dominant team loses solely because of erroneous calls. In that case the actual performance of a team is discounted because of events external to the play itself.
So your position is that the 85 win Twins proved themselves to be a better team than the 98 win Tigers in 1987?
You mean the 4-1 Twins v the 1-4 Tigers? Yes. Unless you think, for some reason, those games shouldn't count or something.
Since 1980,
Of course they should count. What I discount is that short series proves the Twins were the better team. A big difference in the 162 game record has much more meaning to me. In fact, in 1987 the Twins has a negative run differential. They were a mediocre team that got hot at the right time.
The Twins also arguably benefited from the fixed alternating schedule that awarded them home field advantage in both the ALCS and World Series despite having the worst record of post-season qualifiers that season. I don't think there's any arguing that they had a distinct HFA playing in the Metrodome that October. Gotta wonder if starting that series in Tiger Stadium leads to a different outcome, or at least a longer series.
I understand your argument, but I think we're just going to disagree on this.
You seem to be arguing that there should no cutoff for making the playoffs. Have all teams make the playoffs and if the last place team beats the first place team in a one-game playoff in the first round, that proves they were the better team.
I think there's a couple of related issues that can easily get conflated.
What do they gain from announcing this? Will Buch be available in the pen for game 1?
Based on tweets from other beat guys, I think this was less an announcement by the team and more that they informed Buchholz (which makes sense from a preparatory standpoint) and he made the announcement.
Clay has come a long way since his two "banishments" to the pen. Now shut down some Cleveland bats!
I'll continue to take the minority opinion that it was logical extrapolation. My post was an absurd reaction to the idea that the 1987 Twins, (who made the playoffs by the extreme good fortune of the AL West being much weaker than the AL East that season and had the fifth best record in the AL when only two teams per league made the playoffs) could be considered the best team because they won a couple of small sample size series. There are many seasons where reasonable arguments can be made that the tournament winner was the best team in baseball without having the best 162 game record. 1987 is not one of them.
That's shocking to me. I thought he'd be a good lefty specialist. That probably means Tazawa makes the roster.
None of the Red Sox starters has ever won a game in the post-season, so all we can do is hope that past results are no guarantee of future performance. I have as much faith in Buchholz as I do in any pitcher not named Porcello.
No doubt. Wrong thread for this discussion. I want news of the Sox-Indians series, not the 1987 World Series.
Price has never won a game as a starter, but he's been the winning pitcher twice in the post season in relief. One time was against Boston (2008 ALCS). Baseball Reference gives post season stats for all players.
