East vs. West

[SWC75]

I just had a discussion on Bud and the Manchild about the baseball playoffs.

Jim Lerch and I agreed that the current system mutes the pennant races and the playoffs because the September races are for the wild card and that doesn’t make national headlines and keep the sport in people’s minds and the playoffs aren’t won by the best team as usually happens in the other sports but merely by the hot team. Baseball’s top teams have the lowest winning percentages and their worst teams the highest winnings percentages in professional sports because of the pitching rotation, the batting order and the fact that you can’t make physical contact with the other team. It’s impossible to dominate in this sport the way a strong team can in the other sports. Baseball plays twice as many games as basketball and hockey and ten times as many as football and their regular season needs to be protected so a team barely above .500 can’t have a good week and elbow aside a team that’s been better all season to win the title. Finally, baseball is an outdoor warm-weather sport and it makes a lot of difference if it decides its championship in mid-October, (in the weather you see outside today) rather than late October or November, with the players and the fans shivering.

Bud Poliquin agreed with the points I made but said that the trade-off of having more teams and their fans interested down the stretch was a good one because it maintained interest in those cities. He attributed the increases in baseball attendance over the years to the wild card, (not to increases in population and televised games, which create fans, which is what I attribute it to).

Whatever position you take, it’s a worthy subject. I decided to see what the last 21 seasons would have been like if we’d kept the East-West set up with no wild card to see who would have played for the title and what kind of races there might have been. For fun I’ll pretend there was no strike and that the winning percentages would have translated to a 162 game season. I’ll list the league, division, the pennant winning team in that division, their 162 game record and how many games they won their pennants by.

First I have to decide on divisions. One thing that happened in 1994 that I like is that the divisions were made more geographically consistent. Fay Vincent got fired because he wanted to do that and the Bud Selig took over and did it anyway. So I’ll do that but with East-West Divisions. Also, I won’t switch the Brewers and Astros from their original leagues. Here are the divisions I came up with:

AL East: Blue Jays, Brewers, Indians, Orioles, Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees
AL West: Angels, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers, Royals, Twins, White Sox

NL East: Braves, Marlins, Mets, Nationals (Expos), Phillies, Pirates, Reds
NL West: Astros, Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Rockies

1994
AL East: Yankees 100-62 (9g)
AL West: White Sox 96-66 (6g)
NL East: Expos 105-59 (8g)
NL West: Astros 93-69 (11g)

1995
AL East: Indians 112-50 (15g)
AL West: Mariners 88-74 (1g)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (5g)
NL West: Dodgers 88-74 (2g0

1996
AL East: Indians 100-62 (7 1/2g)
AL West: Rangers 90-72 (4 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 96-66 (8g)
NL West: Padres 91-71 (1g)

1997
AL East: Orioles 98-64 (2g)
AL West: Mariners 90-72 (6g)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (9g)
NL West: Giants 90-72 (2g)

1998
AL East: Yankees 114-48 (22g)
AL West: Rangers 88-74 (3g)
NL East: Braves 106-56 (18g)
NL West: Astros 102-60 (4g)

1999
AL East: Yankees 98-64 (1)
AL West: Rangers 95-67 (8)
NL East: Braves 103-59 (6 1/2g)
NL West: Giants 97-65 (2)

2000
AL East: Indians 90-72 (2 1/2g)
AL West: White Sox 95-67 (3 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 95-65 (1g)
NL West: Giants 97-65 (2)

2001
AL East: Yankees 95-65 (5)
AL West: Mariners 116-46 (14g)
NL East: Braves 88-74 (2g)
NL West: Astros/Cardinals tied at 93-69

2002
AL East: Yankees 103-58 (10 1/2g)
AL West: Athletics 103-59 (4g)
NL East: Braves 101-59 (19g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 98-64 (1g)

2003
AL East: Yankees 101-61 (6g)
AL West: Athletics 96-66 (3)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (10g)
NL West: Giants 100-61 (12 1/2g)

2004
AL East: Yankees 101-61 (3g)
AL West: Angels/Twins tied at 92-70
NL East: Braves 96-66 (7g)
NL West: Cardinals 105-57 (12g)

2005
AL East: Yankees/Red Sox tied at 95-67
AL West: White Sox 99-63 (4g)
NL East: Braves 90-72 (2g)
NL West: Cardinals 100-62 (11g)

2006
AL East: Yankees 97-65 (2g)
AL West: Twins 96-66 (3g)
NL East: Mets 97-65 (12g)
NL West: Dodgers/Padres tied at 88-74

2007
AL East: Indians/Red Sox tied at 96-66
AL West: Angels 94-68 (6g)
NL East: Phillies 89-73 (1g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 90-72 (1g)

2008
AL East: Rays 97-65 (3g)
AL West: Angels 100-62 (11 1/2g)
NL East: Phillies 92-70 (2g)
NL West: Cubs 97-64 (11g)

2009
AL East: Yankees 103-59 (8g)
AL West: Angels 97-65 (10 1/2g)
NL East: Phillies 93-69 (6g)
NL West: Dodgers 95-67 (3g)

2010
AL East: Rays 96-66 (1g)
AL West: Twins 94-68 (4g)
NL East: Phillies 97-65 (6g)
NL West: Giants 92-70 (2g)

2011
AL East: Yankees 97-65 (1g)
AL West: Rangers 96-66 (10g)
NL East: Phillies 102-60 (13g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 94-68 (4g)

2012
AL East: Yankees 95-67 (2g)
AL West: Athletics 94-68 (1g)
NL East: Nationals 98-64 (1g)
NL West: Giants 94-68 (6g)

2013
AL East: Red Sox 97-65 (4g)
AL West: Athletics 96-66 (5 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 96-66 (2g)
NL West: Cardinals 97-65 (5g)

2014
AL East: Orioles 96-66 (6g)
AL West: Angels 98-64 (9g)
NL East: Nationals 96-66 (8g)
NL West: Dodgers 94-68 (4g)

Some races are blow-outs but we have four ties, (to be resolved by single game playoffs), eleven decided by a game and twenty more decided by 3 ½ games or less. There’s one such race in every year except the first and the last. Also, every team has a record of at least 88-74. And finally, each championship is about to be decided right now.

 

[pfister1]

Your change would result in a different World Champion in nine of those years and at least one different participant in the World Series in all but 5 of those seasons. I annotated your standings with the actual World Series participants for that year and we may not have ever had a bloody sock or a Red Sox World championship. Hmmmm might be a pretty good idea.

1994
AL East: Yankees 100-62 (9g) World Series Cancelled due to Player Strike
AL West: White Sox 96-66 (6g)
NL East: Expos 105-59 (8g)
NL West: Astros 93-69 (11g)

1995
AL East: Indians 112-50 (15g) World Series Braves over Indians
AL West: Mariners 88-74 (1g)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (5g)
NL West: Dodgers 88-74 (2g0

1996
AL East: Indians 100-62 (7 1/2g) World Series Yankees over Braves
AL West: Rangers 90-72 (4 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 96-66 (8g)
NL West: Padres 91-71 (1g)

1997
AL East: Orioles 98-64 (2g) World Series Marlins over Indians
AL West: Mariners 90-72 (6g)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (9g)
NL West: Giants 90-72 (2g)

1998
AL East: Yankees 114-48 (22g) World Series Yankees over Padres
AL West: Rangers 88-74 (3g)
NL East: Braves 106-56 (18g)
NL West: Astros 102-60 (4g)

1999
AL East: Yankees 98-64 (1) World Series Yankees over Braves
AL West: Rangers 95-67 (8)
NL East: Braves 103-59 (6 1/2g)
NL West: Giants 97-65 (2)

2000
AL East: Indians 90-72 (2 1/2g) World Series Yankees over Mets
AL West: White Sox 95-67 (3 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 95-65 (1g)
NL West: Giants 97-65 (2)

2001
AL East: Yankees 95-65 (5) World Series Diamondbacks over Yankees
AL West: Mariners 116-46 (14g)
NL East: Braves 88-74 (2g)
NL West: Astros/Cardinals tied at 93-69

2002
AL East: Yankees 103-58 (10 1/2g) World Series Angels over Giants
AL West: Athletics 103-59 (4g)
NL East: Braves 101-59 (19g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 98-64 (1g)

2003
AL East: Yankees 101-61 (6g) World Series Marlins over Yankees
AL West: Athletics 96-66 (3)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (10g)
NL West: Giants 100-61 (12 1/2g)

2004
AL East: Yankees 101-61 (3g) World Series Red Sox over Cardinals
AL West: Angels/Twins tied at 92-70
NL East: Braves 96-66 (7g)
NL West: Cardinals 105-57 (12g)

2005
AL East: Yankees/Red Sox tied at 95-67 World Series White Sox over Astros
AL West: White Sox 99-63 (4g)
NL East: Braves 90-72 (2g)
NL West: Cardinals 100-62 (11g)

2006
AL East: Yankees 97-65 (2g) World Series Cardinals over Tigers
AL West: Twins 96-66 (3g)
NL East: Mets 97-65 (12g)
NL West: Dodgers/Padres tied at 88-74

2007
AL East: Indians/Red Sox tied at 96-66 World Series Red Sox over Rockies
AL West: Angels 94-68 (6g)
NL East: Phillies 89-73 (1g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 90-72 (1g)

2008
AL East: Rays 97-65 (3g) World Series Phillies over Rays
AL West: Angels 100-62 (11 1/2g)
NL East: Phillies 92-70 (2g)
NL West: Cubs 97-64 (11g)

2009
AL East: Yankees 103-59 (8g) World Series Yankees over Phillies
AL West: Angels 97-65 (10 1/2g)
NL East: Phillies 93-69 (6g)
NL West: Dodgers 95-67 (3g)

2010
AL East: Rays 96-66 (1g) World Series Giants over Rangers
AL West: Twins 94-68 (4g)
NL East: Phillies 97-65 (6g)
NL West: Giants 92-70 (2g)

2011
AL East: Yankees 97-65 (1g) World Series Cardinals over Rangers
AL West: Rangers 96-66 (10g)
NL East: Phillies 102-60 (13g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 94-68 (4g)

2012
AL East: Yankees 95-67 (2g) World Series Giants over Tigers
AL West: Athletics 94-68 (1g)
NL East: Nationals 98-64 (1g)
NL West: Giants 94-68 (6g)

2013
AL East: Red Sox 97-65 (4g) World Series: Red Sox over Cardinals
AL West: Athletics 96-66 (5 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 96-66 (2g)
NL West: Cardinals 97-65 (5g)

2014
AL East: Orioles 96-66 (6g)
AL West: Angels 98-64 (9g)
NL East: Nationals 96-66 (8g)
NL West: Dodgers 94-68 (4g)

 

[Opus]

I just had a discussion on Bud and the Manchild about the baseball playoffs.

Jim Lerch and I agreed that the current system mutes the pennant races and the playoffs because the September races are for the wild card and that doesn’t make national headlines and keep the sport in people’s minds and the playoffs aren’t won by the bets team as usually happens in the other sports but merely by the hot team. Baseball’s top teams have the lowest winning percentages and their worst teams the highest winnings percentages in professional sports because of the pitching rotation, the batting order and the fact that you can’t make physical contact with the other team. It’s impossible to dominate in this sport the way a strong team can in the other sports. Baseball plays twice as many games as basketball and hockey and ten times as many as football and their regular season needs to be protected so a team barely above .500 can’t have a good week and elbow aside a team that’s been better all season to win the title. Finally, baseball is an outdoor warm-weather sport and it makes a lot of difference if it decides its championship in mid-October, (in the weather you see outside today) rather than late October or November, with the players and the fans shivering.

Bud Poliquin agreed with the points I made but said that the trade-off of having more teams and their fans interested down the stretch was a good one because it maintained interest in those cities. He attributed the increases in baseball attendance over the years to the wild card, (not to increases in population and televised games, which create fans, which is what I attribute it to).

hatever positon you take, it’s a worthy subject. I decided to see what the last 21 seasons would have been like if we’d kept the East-West set up with no wild card to see who would have played for the title and what kind of races there might have been. For fun I’ll pretend there was no strike and that the winning percentages would have translated to a 162 game season. I’ll list the league, division, the pennant winning team in that division, their 162 game record and how many games they won their pennants by.

First I have to decide on divisions. One thing that happened in 1994 that I like is that the divisions were made more geographically consistent. Fay Vincent got fired because he wanted to do that and the Bud Selig took over and did it anyway. So I’ll do that but with East-West Divisions. Also, I won’t switch the Brewers and Astros from their original leagues. Here are the divisions I came up with:

AL East: Blue Jays, Brewers, Indians, Orioles, Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees
AL West: Angels, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers, Royals, Twins, White Sox

NL East: Braves, Marlins, Mets, Nationals (Expos), Phillies, Pirates, Reds
NL West: Astros, Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Rockies

1994
AL East: Yankees 100-62 (9g)
AL West: White Sox 96-66 (6g)
NL East: Expos 105-59 (8g)
NL West: Astros 93-69 (11g)

1995
AL East: Indians 112-50 (15g)
AL West: Mariners 88-74 (1g)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (5g)
NL West: Dodgers 88-74 (2g0

1996
AL East: Indians 100-62 (7 1/2g)
AL West: Rangers 90-72 (4 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 96-66 (8g)
NL West: Padres 91-71 (1g)

1997
AL East: Orioles 98-64 (2g)
AL West: Mariners 90-72 (6g)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (9g)
NL West: Giants 90-72 (2g)

1998
AL East: Yankees 114-48 (22g)
AL West: Rangers 88-74 (3g)
NL East: Braves 106-56 (18g)
NL West: Astros 102-60 (4g)

1999
AL East: Yankees 98-64 (1)
AL West: Rangers 95-67 (8)
NL East: Braves 103-59 (6 1/2g)
NL West: Giants 97-65 (2)

2000
AL East: Indians 90-72 (2 1/2g)
AL West: White Sox 95-67 (3 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 95-65 (1g)
NL West: Giants 97-65 (2)

2001
AL East: Yankees 95-65 (5)
AL West: Mariners 116-46 (14g)
NL East: Braves 88-74 (2g)
NL West: Astros/Cardinals tied at 93-69

2002
AL East: Yankees 103-58 (10 1/2g)
AL West: Athletics 103-59 (4g)
NL East: Braves 101-59 (19g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 98-64 (1g)

2003
AL East: Yankees 101-61 (6g)
AL West: Athletics 96-66 (3)
NL East: Braves 101-61 (10g)
NL West: Giants 100-61 (12 1/2g)

2004
AL East: Yankees 101-61 (3g)
AL West: Angels/Twins tied at 92-70
NL East: Braves 96-66 (7g)
NL West: Cardinals 105-57 (12g)

2005
AL East: Yankees/Red Sox tied at 95-67
AL West: White Sox 99-63 (4g)
NL East: Braves 90-72 (2g)
NL West: Cardinals 100-62 (11g)

2006
AL East: Yankees 97-65 (2g)
AL West: Twins 96-66 (3g)
NL East: Mets 97-65 (12g)
NL West: Dodgers/Padres tied at 88-74

2007
AL East: Indians/Red Sox tied at 96-66
AL West: Angels 94-68 (6g)
NL East: Phillies 89-73 (1g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 90-72 (1g)

2008
AL East: Rays 97-65 (3g)
AL West: Angels 100-62 (11 1/2g)
NL East: Phillies 92-70 (2g)
NL West: Cubs 97-64 (11g)

2009
AL East: Yankees 103-59 (8g)
AL West: Angels 97-65 (10 1/2g)
NL East: Phillies 93-69 (6g)
NL West: Dodgers 95-67 (3g)

2010
AL East: Rays 96-66 (1g)
AL West: Twins 94-68 (4g)
NL East: Phillies 97-65 (6g)
NL West: Giants 92-70 (2g)

2011
AL East: Yankees 97-65 (1g)
AL West: Rangers 96-66 (10g)
NL East: Phillies 102-60 (13g)
NL West: Diamondbacks 94-68 (4g)

2012
AL East: Yankees 95-67 (2g)
AL West: Athletics 94-68 (1g)
NL East: Nationals 98-64 (1g)
NL West: Giants 94-68 (6g)

2013
AL East: Red Sox 97-65 (4g)
AL West: Athletics 96-66 (5 1/2g)
NL East: Braves 96-66 (2g)
NL West: Cardinals 97-65 (5g)

2014
AL East: Orioles 96-66 (6g)
AL West: Angels 98-64 (9g)
NL East: Nationals 96-66 (8g)
NL West: Dodgers 94-68 (4g)

Some races are blow-outs but we have four ties, (to be resolved by single game playoffs), eleven decided by a game and twenty more decided by 3 ½ games or less. There’s one such race in every year except the first and the last. Also, every team has a record of at least 88-74. And finally, each championship is about to be decided right now.

Good stuff.

I have to ask. When you were a kid, did you play Stratomatic Baseball or Status Pro? I loved baseball as a kid. I was given the 1975 Status Pro game as a gift. It really hooked me on statistics. My friends and I ended up playing the 1975, 76, and 77 seasons over the next few years. I still have the stats tucked away for each team. (Been meaning to put them on a computer...maybe someday.) It really taught me a lot about the nuances of managing a baseball team, especially AL vs NL.

Anyways appreciate the effort you put in your posts.

 

[SWC75]

Good stuff.

I have to ask. When you were a kid, did you play Stratomatic Baseball or Status Pro? I loved baseball as a kid. I was given the 1975 Status Pro game as a gift. It really hooked me on statistics. My friends and I ended up playing the 1975, 76, and 77 seasons over the next few years. I still have the stats tucked away for each team. (Been meaning to put them on a computer...maybe someday.) It really taught me a lot about the nuances of managing a baseball team, especially AL vs NL.

Anyways appreciate the effort you put in your posts.

I remember having a baseball game, a hockey game and a basketball game. Stratomatic has a fmailair ring to it. But the players were from about a decade earlier.

 

[pfister1]

Good stuff.

I have to ask. When you were a kid, did you play Stratomatic Baseball or Status Pro? I loved baseball as a kid. I was given the 1975 Status Pro game as a gift. It really hooked me on statistics. My friends and I ended up playing the 1975, 76, and 77 seasons over the next few years. I still have the stats tucked away for each team. (Been meaning to put them on a computer...maybe someday.) It really taught me a lot about the nuances of managing a baseball team, especially AL vs NL.

Anyways appreciate the effort you put in your posts.

How about Cadaco All Star Baseball?

 

[SWC75]

I long ago realized I could create my own games by using percentages. What percentage of the time does a pitcher walk a guy, strike him out, get him to hit into an out or give up a hit? Same thing with the batter. Average them. use a 100 spinner, (I have an old one from one of those old games) to determine the result. What percentage of a batter's hits are singles, doubles, triples and home runs? Again, use a 100 spinner to determine that result. How often does a base-runner attempt to steal a base? How often is he successful? If a base is open during an at bat, use your 100 spinner to determine is the player attempts to steal it and if he's safe. On batted outs, use total chances to determine who he hits it to and fielding percentage to determine if there is an error. You got yourself a ball game.

Basketball and hockey: How many possessions are there in a game? What percentage of shots will be attempted by each player? What percentage are assisted? Use the spinner to determine who tries to make a shot and if it's assisted. Increase the shooting percentage by a certain amount if there's an assist. Figure out the percentage of blocks and steals the other team gets per possession and maybe the difference between their defensive shooting percentage and the leagues and make an adjustment.

For football you need plays and defenses. create a results chart: what happens when you run one play against a certain defense. So you won't get the same result all the time, limit results to loss, short gain, moderate gain, long game. Make a list of 100 possible results for each, throwing in some penalties, turnovers and a great defensive play that turns what should have been a big gain into a loss or plays where a tackle might get broken or a guy fall down and you'd get more yards than expected. Then use you 100 spinner to find out which result you get. You could multiple the yards by the ratio of yards each team gains/surrenders vs. a league average.

This is not so much for party games as it is for fantasy results. The 1927 Yankees vs. the 1961 Yankees and the winner takes on the 1998 Yankees. The 80's Lakers vs. the '90s Bulls. The Rocket's Canadiens vs. the great One's Oilers. How would the 2007 Patriots do against the 1972 Dolphins? What would a four team playoff in college have been like in past years? It's a device for imagining games.

 

[Opus]

How about Cadaco All Star Baseball?

I def remember that game (at least the spinners) I think my older brother had that.