Gratuitous baseball post - please ignore
Expos 0, Braves 8.
Phillies 2, Mets 3 (11)
The Braves have tied the Phillies for the division lead. The Marlins gain a half game by taking the day off, and the Mets move up a whole game.
There are two teams tied for first, and two teams tied for third just one game behind them. Isn't it about time to start fantasizing about a four-way tie at the end of the season?
The way I can figure it is this: in order for the four-way tie to occur, each team has to continue to play mediocre baseball, especially inside the division. With the unbalanced schedule, and teams from the same division playing each other three times as often as the rest of the league, this seems likely. If all four teams manage to tie, they will have weak records overall, reminiscent of the '73 Mets and the '85 Royals. Thus, the wild card team must come from elsewhere (Cubs, Reds, Brewers, Giants, Padres?) and the wild card will be stronger than the NL East teams. Four teams battling for just one spot, not two . . .
You can't hold a round-robin tournament between the four teams, because there's a chance that three teams would end up at 2-1 at the end, and only one team gets eliminated with an 0-3 record. It has to be single elimination like March Madness. I think the seeding would have to be based on records within the NL East. The Braves would get the first seed, Marlins second, Mets third, and Phillies fourth.
First and fourth play each other, second and third play each other. That's a shame, because the Braves own the Marlins this year, and the Marlins own the Phillies this year. Can the Braves tame the Phillies? Can the Mets squish the Fish? Stay tuned.
The good news about teams with records that weak is that they tend to surprise some people in the postseason. The '73 Mets, at 83-79, made it to the World Series before falling to the Oakland A's. The '85 Royals, at 85-77, upset the Cardinals after defeating Toronto and falling behind three games to one in the World Series. An umpire helped them a little bit in Game Six, but the Cardinals collapsed the next day, exhausted from their whining the night before.
This gives me some hope as a Braves fan who's not too impressed with the team's play thus far. But at least they're heating up. And I'll have a chance to see the Phillies and the Mets over the Labor Day weekend, now that I've bought my tickets. I finally had an opportunity to use that credit from a cancelled flight back in April. Now I just have to hope that Delta declares bankruptcy AFTER the third quarter report comes in.
Which reminds me, I still owe y'all some Hannah photos.
Phillies 2, Mets 3 (11)
The Braves have tied the Phillies for the division lead. The Marlins gain a half game by taking the day off, and the Mets move up a whole game.
There are two teams tied for first, and two teams tied for third just one game behind them. Isn't it about time to start fantasizing about a four-way tie at the end of the season?
The way I can figure it is this: in order for the four-way tie to occur, each team has to continue to play mediocre baseball, especially inside the division. With the unbalanced schedule, and teams from the same division playing each other three times as often as the rest of the league, this seems likely. If all four teams manage to tie, they will have weak records overall, reminiscent of the '73 Mets and the '85 Royals. Thus, the wild card team must come from elsewhere (Cubs, Reds, Brewers, Giants, Padres?) and the wild card will be stronger than the NL East teams. Four teams battling for just one spot, not two . . .
You can't hold a round-robin tournament between the four teams, because there's a chance that three teams would end up at 2-1 at the end, and only one team gets eliminated with an 0-3 record. It has to be single elimination like March Madness. I think the seeding would have to be based on records within the NL East. The Braves would get the first seed, Marlins second, Mets third, and Phillies fourth.
First and fourth play each other, second and third play each other. That's a shame, because the Braves own the Marlins this year, and the Marlins own the Phillies this year. Can the Braves tame the Phillies? Can the Mets squish the Fish? Stay tuned.
The good news about teams with records that weak is that they tend to surprise some people in the postseason. The '73 Mets, at 83-79, made it to the World Series before falling to the Oakland A's. The '85 Royals, at 85-77, upset the Cardinals after defeating Toronto and falling behind three games to one in the World Series. An umpire helped them a little bit in Game Six, but the Cardinals collapsed the next day, exhausted from their whining the night before.
This gives me some hope as a Braves fan who's not too impressed with the team's play thus far. But at least they're heating up. And I'll have a chance to see the Phillies and the Mets over the Labor Day weekend, now that I've bought my tickets. I finally had an opportunity to use that credit from a cancelled flight back in April. Now I just have to hope that Delta declares bankruptcy AFTER the third quarter report comes in.
Which reminds me, I still owe y'all some Hannah photos.