Tiebreaker season
Posted by Josh on September 27, 2007 under Baseball, Brewers | 
3 Comments
Usually when I think about looking at tie-breakers at the end of the season, I’m thinking about the NFL. For the last 6 or 7 years, as long as the Packers had playoff hopes, I would begin figuring odds and ideal scenarios for the Packers to get the highest seed possible with 3 (and sometimes 4) weeks to go in the season. Exhibit A, B, C.
But this year, tiebreaker season comes 3 months early. With 4 games to go (of 162 instead of 16), none of the NL teams have locked up a playoff berth, and there is still potential for a 5-way tie, which would require 4 days worth of 1-game playoffs. Jayson Stark of ESPN outlines the possibilities here. [EDIT: that link worked for about 24 hours. Likewise, MLB.com had a link that had detailed breakdown of how the 5-way tie would work, but they've also updated their page instead of keeping it around as an archive, though Google has a cached copy it for now.]
Fortunately, none of those scenarios involve the Brewers. Unfortunately, they’re still 2 games back of the Cubs. Baseball Prospectus has their odds of winning the division at about 10% (this link is not static, the odds will change as games are finished). Not very good odds, but still: THE BREWERS ARE IN A PLAYOFF HUNT! I keep reminding myself of this because it’s so crazy and exciting. What’s more, is that I will be able to watch the Brewers tomorrow night (ESPN Friday night baseball), and probably the day after (FOX Saturday baseball). I am optimistic about the team’s chances; they’re playing at home, Chicago’s on the road. But two games is a lot to overcome in 4 days.
Regardless of the outcome, it’s very likely the Brewers will clinch their first winning season since 1992, and they’re poised to do even better next year (as long they figure out their pitching problems). So, there’s a lot to be happy about, not the least of which is meaningful games in late September.
Go Brew Crew!