Tiebreaker is garbage

[bpilktree]

The fact we may have to go to Toronto because of tiebreaker is not fair. Yes they won 10 to 9 but that is because they had extra game at home.

[eddie83]

The fact we may have to go to Toronto because of tiebreaker is not fair. Yes they won 10 to 9 but that is because they had extra game at home.

What else would you do? That is the best way by far. Having odd number of games means their is no tie.

[ChuckS]

Eh. Do we really need a thread about this? When you play an odd number of games there is one team that is going to have one more home game.

Of all the things to consider an injustice, this is not one of them.

[$Greatness$]

I'd say division record should go first then head-to-head. But I don't really see a problem with this way either. Seems like the OP is grasping at straws for real.

[bpilktree]

I think it should go to division record. That way every team has same number of home and away games. We are 5-4 at home vs them and 4-6 on the road. The extra home game for them is a big advantage especially with our home road record.

[Spy Fox]

I have no problem with the tiebreaker. Just finish ahead of them and it won't matter. And if we wind up tied, well, we should have beat them one more time than we did.

Now what I'd love is a slightly more balanced schedule so that we don't play the same four teams 19 times each.

[ChipTait]

I have no problem with the tiebreaker. Just finish ahead of them and it won't matter. And if we wind up tied, well, we should have beat them one more time than we did.

Now what I'd love is a slightly more balanced schedule so that we don't play the same four teams 19 times each.

Bingo. Twice. Everyone knew the rules before the season commenced. Do the best you can with 162 games.

But... I liked the schedule a whole lot better when there was no interleague play (I know it's never going away) and there was a balanced schedule. Before the most recent expansion, and interleague play, the AL played each opponent 13 times, two home series, and two road. You could purchase a 13-game season ticket package and see every AL team once. The league, networks and owners likely favor the current unbalanced system, as the potential for gate revenue is higher. But when year after year, at least one , if not both, WC teams come out of the AL East, the other two divisions get an advantage due to the unbalanced schedule.

[DrungoHazewood]

What else would you do? That is the best way by far. Having odd number of games means their is no tie.

But if it was an even number they'd need an extra tiebreaker: bare-knuckle boxing. And we know the Jays fail in that.

[Trackmaster]

I would do strength of schedule, or at least strength of schedule in games won. It has by far the largest sample size of any tiebreaker (other than run differential, but that doesn't sit well with me, as it encourages poor sportsmanship). Tiebreaking by common grounds and division record has two fatal flaws:

-Poor sample size, especially for head to head. Obviously divisional is a little better, but much by much.

-Doubles down on head to head and divisional play. The in division and head to head games are already of critical importance, because you are controlling their fates already. I'd like to see the significance of every game spread out more.

Trust me, if you used strength of schedule over a 162 game season, you would never need another tiebreaker. In a perfect world, to encourage better competition, I might even use record outside of division (since you have no leverage over your divisional opponents in those games), but I'm not sure how that would sit for casual American stomachs.

[St. Louis Browns]

I'm hoping we can pull it out though. Schedule gives enough of a chance with Tor at Boston for their final 3. Bought my wildcard game tickets yesterday and hope to be driving up from Norfolk to see it

[DrungoHazewood]

I would do strength of schedule, or at least strength of schedule in games won. It has by far the largest sample size of any tiebreaker (other than run differential, but that doesn't sit well with me, as it encourages poor sportsmanship). Tiebreaking by common grounds and division record has two fatal flaws:

-Poor sample size, especially for head to head. Obviously divisional is a little better, but much by much.

-Doubles down on head to head and divisional play. The in division and head to head games are already of critical importance, because you are controlling their fates already. I'd like to see the significance of every game spread out more.

Trust me, if you used strength of schedule over a 162 game season, you would never need another tiebreaker. In a perfect world, to encourage better competition, I might even use record outside of division (since you have no leverage over your divisional opponents in those games), but I'm not sure how that would sit for casual American stomachs.

For all the complaints about uneven schedules what is the real impact? I did some back-of-the-napkin calculations a few years back and the differences were pretty slight. This isn't a schedule where you go 10-0 partly by playing Southeast Louisiana and Arkansas Tech.

Plus, how do you sell a complicated, detailed mathematical formula to determine playoff spots? "Yea, I know your team had more wins, but trust me... your context-adjusted third order winning percentage was fractionally worse than the Mariners."

[atomic]

I like the wins against opponent better than a ranking the difficulty of the schedule. You play what 19 games against the Blue Jays. I don't think there could be a better tie-breaker. And it is only who gets the game played at their home stadium.

[FlipTheBird]

Unless we're talking homers exclusively, the O's would lose a tiebreaker to Toronto on just about any statistic. It's fair. Just win one more game than they do this weekend and it won't matter.

[sportsfan8703]

Bigger point is that the unbalanced schedule is garbage.

[Tony-OH]

The fact we may have to go to Toronto because of tiebreaker is not fair. Yes they won 10 to 9 but that is because they had extra game at home.

With an uneven amount of games, there is no way to not have one team get one more home game. At the end of the day they beat us one more game then we beat them. If we are tied, they deserve the home game.