How much do you care about winning the division?

[Remember The Alomar]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I go by week.  

Look at DirtyBird way down there, he's like the Toronto Blue Jays of the OH.  Immensely talented but never really reaches his full capabilities and is mad about it all the time.  

Maybe one day he'll ascend and give one of those fancy banners he likes to cook up.

Beginning to think DirtyBird is an Andy Kaufman-esque performance arts project. I will not be convinced otherwise. 

[Moose Milligan]

8 minutes ago, Remember The Alomar said:

Beginning to think DirtyBird is an Andy Kaufman-esque performance arts project. I will not be convinced otherwise. 

Cocaine cookies in the taxi can stand? Possible. 

[Just Regular]

On 6/3/2024 at 10:23 PM, Can_of_corn said:

I'd rather they did but I won't obsess over it,

Life wisdom from the Way Too Early June discussion of this topic.

It is certainly in play the long anticipated Yankee Stadium visit becomes as meaningful as the last week of spring training.

Despite the Orioles and Twins mucking around, the six AL entrants will probably be locked by the last weekend too.

[Fiver6565]

Just now, Just Regular said:

Life wisdom from the Way Too Early June discussion of this topic.

It is certainly in play the long anticipated Yankee Stadium visit becomes as meaningful as the last week of spring training.

Despite the Orioles and Twins mucking around, the six AL entrants will probably be locked by the last weekend too.

I don’t think there’s much chance that the order of the WC teams is locked in by then. We’re only two games up on KC for the top WC and home field for that series. The way this team is trending right now, it’s just as plausible we get the 6 and head to Houston than it is that we get the 4 and host KC/MN. 
 

14 games left. It’s very hard to imagine winning more than half of those, which would put us at 90 wins. KC would have to go 10-4 to overtake us. That’s quite possible. And of course, that’s assuming we actually win 7. We’ve lost 5 of 6. 7-7 is nowhere close to a done deal. If we happen to go let’s say 5-9 instead, then we are certainly staring at a road WC series. Which hey, it worked for the Rangers last year. 
 

The division race is already over, which should be obvious to everyone now. 

[now]

At this point anything is possible. We could do a 1-game WC and Adley could hit a bomb, and everything's cool, we go from there, rolling dice. (Tito Landrum says hi). I mean, last year we were sitting pretty, and it meant nothing. Conversely, this year we look cooked, and it still means nothing in Oct.

[Too Tall]

This year it has meaning only because it means we beat the Yankees. But that don't look good at this time. Beyond that, just get in and DO SOMETHING! Get another shot at BEATING THE YANKES!

[Aristotelian]

Losing the division, as appears highly likely, will be a pretty big letdown. I feel like we have a better team than last year but we have massively underachieved. That said, making the playoffs is way more important than winning the division, and if we get hot and make a deep run all will be forgiven. The problem is, this doesn't look like a team capable of a deep run right now.

[Baseball fandom]

I did of course but that ship has sailed now. 

[Baseball fandom]

51 minutes ago, now said:

At this point anything is possible. We could do a 1-game WC and Adley could hit a bomb, and everything's cool, we go from there, rolling dice. (Tito Landrum says hi). I mean, last year we were sitting pretty, and it meant nothing. Conversely, this year we look cooked, and it still means nothing in Oct.

It's best of of 3 now not one game so knowing this team it would win game one under your scenario but drop the next 2 to lose anyway. 

[LookitsPuck]

The division seems like a pipe dream. They just need to start winning. They’ve been under water for 2.5 months now. Haven’t had a winning month since June. They are who they are. Mediocre and injured.

[fansince1988]

I don't care about winning the division at all. I care about winning a playoff game. I care about winning the World Series. 

[Zola]

 

For me, winning the division is the greatest accomplishment left in the game.

When I was growing up, four teams would qualify for the playoffs: in each league, the best team in the east and the best in the west would face off in a championship series, and the winner would go to the World Series.  Winning the division back then was the due reward for playing great ball all season long. That's how it still should be.

4 hours ago, now said:

At this point anything is possible. We could do a 1-game WC and Adley could hit a bomb, and everything's cool, we go from there, rolling dice. (Tito Landrum says hi). I mean, last year we were sitting pretty, and it meant nothing. Conversely, this year we look cooked, and it still means nothing in Oct.

That's the whole problem with the current playoff system, in a nutshell. Winning a division after playing 162 games should mean a lot. 

As for this year's Orioles, I ceased to be disappointed in them sometime in late July or so. Instead, I regard them as a promising work-in-progress whose best days lie in the years ahead. They are kind of like the Houston Astros just when they started to get good but still weren't a world-class team.

Edited September 14 by Zola
edited for clarity