SPORTS

[Dargo]

The San Francisco Giants won their 10th straight...

Question for ya here, laffite:

Has there ever been a time in recent memory in which every team in one division has had a record over .500 this late in the season?

(...I'm referencing of course the present standings in the AL East)

[jimimac71]

I never count my chickens before they hatch.
The Giants can sometimes stink it up after the All-Star Game.
Looking more and more like The A's are heading to Vegas.
People are wondering what to do with the Oakland ball yard.
Maybe they have forgotten what happened to Candlestick Park.
I don't think any city needs to baseball teams. Not LA, not NY, nor Chicago.
There are 30 teams and 50 states. Spread out the fun.
Portland, Oregon should have a baseball team.
For me, this is real baseball:
https://mavericksindependentleague.com/ ... volcanoes/
I have not been in Oregon for years, but could see the stadium in Keizer from the Interstate.

[scsu1975]

Has there ever been a time in recent memory in which every team in one division has had a record over .500 this late in the season?

(...I'm referencing of course the present standings in the AL East)

I checked the 1969 season because I remember the National League West was a real dogfight down the stretch. Every team (except the hapless San Diego Padres) had a record of .500 or above. There may have been other seasons that were closer, but this one stuck out in my mind:



Atlanta Braves 93 69
San Francisco Giants 90 72
Cincinnati Reds 89 73
Los Angeles Dodgers 85 77
Houston Astros 81 81
San Diego Padres 52 110

[Dargo]

Has there ever been a time in recent memory in which every team in one division has had a record over .500 this late in the season?

(...I'm referencing of course the present standings in the AL East)

I checked the 1969 season because I remember the National League West was a real dogfight down the stretch. Every team (except the hapless San Diego Padres) had a record of .500 or above. There may have been other seasons that were closer, but this one stuck out in my mind:



Atlanta Braves 93 69
San Francisco Giants 90 72
Cincinnati Reds 89 73
Los Angeles Dodgers 85 77
Houston Astros 81 81
San Diego Padres 52 110

Thanks for the reply here, Rich. Yep, I'd say your example might just come the closest in these regards and during a season's final standings sort of scenario.

However, I would think the chances of this sort of thing happening now days and this far into a season might have increased since the advent of the Central Divisions in 1994 and perhaps even more so since 1997 and when Interleague play began, and considering that the so-so teams of one league can now play some of the more hapless ones in the other.

(...so whadda YOU think, you old math teacher, you?...you're still good with numbers, right?!)

[laffite]

The San Francisco Giants won their 10th straight...

Question for ya here, laffite:

Has there ever been a time in recent memory in which every team in one division has had a record over .500 this late in the season?

(...I'm referencing of course the present standings in the AL East)

Probably but perhaps not at the end of the season. A reverse example is the AL Central. A team with a .500 record leads the Division. The disparity as you probably know is due to the scheduling. Just a few years ago each team played a team in the same division 19 times. Now it's 11. That means that each team in a 5-team division plays just 44 games within their division. 44 out of 162, a mere 34%. But the Division winner is not predicated on 44 games, rather 162, Do you smell a fault? With this scheme a team can win a division being, say, five games over .500 which brings up the question, are they even qualified for the playoffs? No, they shouldn't because there will no doubt be teams in other Divisions who have better records but will not qualify. If the season were to end today, the Central Division winner with a record 38-38 will go ot the playoffs, while the Orioles, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox get fucked.

Rich, is my math okay? I never got past Algebra 3 ...

[laffite]

Dargo, I didn't see your last, so my post to you might have been redundant.

[laffite]

I never count my chickens before they hatch.
The Giants can sometimes stink it up after the All-Star Game.
Looking more and more like The A's are heading to Vegas.
People are wondering what to do with the Oakland ball yard.
Maybe they have forgotten what happened to Candlestick Park.
I don't think any city needs to baseball teams. Not LA, not NY, nor Chicago.
There are 30 teams and 50 states. Spread out the fun.
Portland, Oregon should have a baseball team.
For me, this is real baseball:
https://mavericksindependentleague.com/ ... volcanoes/
I have not been in Oregon for years, but could see the stadium in Keizer from the Interstate.

Curious, what DID happen to Candlestick Park? Just a rename, right? Or more?

[Dargo]

Curious, what DID happen to Candlestick Park? Just a rename, right? Or more?

Nope, it was demolished in 2015.

(...although it is said that the ghosts of Willie McCovey and Dwight Clark still haunt the grounds)

[GaryCooper]

[jimimac71]

OOPS! "I don't think any city needs to two baseball teams. Not LA, not NY, nor Chicago."
Dargo is correct. Candlestick was destroyed. I seem to recall it took quite some time.

[laffite]

After picking on the Padres these past several days, time now for a little well-earned praise. They have won two in a row by 10-0 and 11-3 and no doubt are hoping that maybe this is it, out of the doldrums and a turnaround. They are still about nine games back, which is still a concern made worse in that there are three teams ahead of them. With the season nearing half way done, it means that at least two of those teams will have to experience a good measure of melt down and the Padres a good measure of winning a hell of a lot more that they are doing now in order to outlast that third team in from of them. The odds are against them, not only to win the Division, but to secure a Wild Card spot. They are currently far behind in that race too. Let's face it, they are probably toast, but hope reigns if you are an optimist.

[Dargo]

After picking on the Padres these past several days, time now for a little well-earned praise. They have won two in a row by 10-0 and 11-3 and no doubt are hoping that maybe this is it, out of the doldrums and a turnaround. They are still about nine games back, which is still a concern made worse in that there are three teams ahead of them. With the season nearing half way done, it means that at least two of those teams will have to experience a good measure of melt down and the Padres a good measure of winning a hell of a lot more that they are doing now in order to outlast that third team in from of them. The odds are against them, not only to win the Division, but to secure a Wild Card spot. They are currently far behind in that race too. Let's face it, they are probably toast, but hope reigns if you are an optimist.

The team I kind'a feel the same way about would be the Angels.

(...would love to see Ohtani and Trout in postseason play, but I doubt that's going to happen either)

[LiamCasey]

Could be worse, folks. Your favorite baseball team could only be good enough for 4th place in the woebegotten AL Central.

[laffite]

The Angels beat Colorado (another s*** inter-league game) by a score of 25-1. I tried to post highlights but the clip kept skipping. The internet is getting harder to use, seems to me. Popular sites like CBSsportsline have so much activity on the page, commercials and popups, that the page jumps all over the place.. I'm really getting fedup. The skipping of these highlights are ridiculous.

[GaryCooper]