2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

More craziness in the NL West: D'backs-Giants and Padres-Dodgers have gone extra innings each of the last two days. Bochy taking full advantage of expanded rosters, using 11 pitchers in loss Tuesday.

 

I did some research about the whole run differential for the Baltimore Orioles.

Five Division champions have been outscored.

Code:

[B]Year  Team                  RS   RA    RD   W-L   Exp W-L    Playoff Outcome[/B]
1984  Kansas City Royals    673  686  -13  84-78   80-82     Lost ALCS 3-0
1987  Minnesota Twins       786  806  -20  85-77   79-83     Won ALCS 3-1, Won WS 4-3
1997  San Francisco Giants  784  793   -9  90-72   80-82     Lost NLDS 3-0
2005  San Diego Padres      684  726  -42  82-20   77-85     Lost NLDS 3-0
2007  Arizona D-Backs       712  732  -20  90-72   79-83     Won NLDS 3-0, Lost NLCS 4-0

I found the '97 Giants record pretty interesting.

I checked boxscores and the Giants allowed 10+ runs in 18 games. That seems like a lot for a first place team. Here are the scores for those 18 games, all losses.

19-3
15-4
15-4
15-6
14-13
14-2
12-3
12-3
12-2
11-7
11-0
11-6
11-0
11-5
10-3
10-7
10-3
10-7

The Giants allowed 223 runs and scored just 78 runs for a -145 run differential.

I also check the Giants top 18 scoring games. They scored 10+ runs in only 8 games.

17-4
16-4
16-2
14-7
13-14
11-5
11-5
10-3
9-5
9-2
9-1
9-1
8-7
8-6
8-6
8-5
8-5
8-5

The Giants scored 192 runs and allowed 87 runs for a +105 run differential. They were 17-1 in these 18 games.

But check this out. The Giants were 51-36 W-L (.586) in the first half despite being outscored by 18 runs (383 RS, 401 RA). Yet in the second half the Giants outscored their opponents by 9 runs (401 RS, 392 RA) yet only had a 39-36 W-L (.520) record. They also had a 23-17 W-L record in 1-run games, not a stupendous record. That 1997 Giants were one strange team.

Another pretty lucky team was the Cleveland Indians in the 20s.

In 1922, they were 78-76, .506, with a seasonal 49 run deficit.
2nd Half, 42-32, .568, Run Differential -28

From 1929-1930, they were 162-144, .529. Both years being over .500. But for those 2 years straight, they were outscored.
1607 Runs For
1651 Runs Against

The 1905 Tigers were outscored by 92 runs (512-604) and still had a 79-74 W-L record.

 

I don't think the Yankees are a good enough baseball team to come back. Joel Sherman raised some issues that have hurt the club...

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/too_many_hrs_allowed_lack_swoon_sgUegMQLwEvwqS84wnEFNL

FYI, with Sherman and the new addition of Ken Davidoff, the NY Post now has the two best baseball writers in New York.

 

The Yankees don't have to come back, just stop falling.

 

Balk-a-day Bob with the plate tonight in Tampa-St. Pete. Can't find a link anywhere, but his running of Maddon a year or two ago is still my favorite.

"Fuck you Bob!"......"NO....FUCK YOU JOE!"........Pretty easy to hear in a stadium full of 7200.

 

Gutless Bob Davidson, as Skip Caray used to call him. He would toss Bobby Cox at least twice a year, it seemed.

 

If the Yankees do continue their fall, oop's head is going to explode as MLB's top five payrolls -- plus the Dodgers, who might have snuck into the top tier with all their trades -- potentially miss the playoffs.

 

Yes, because one bad year erases being able to by their way into the post season all but one season since the mid-90s. :

Oh, and the Dodgers? The team that was able to buy Adrian Gonzalez for a pennant chase while the Reds do nothing and the Pirates try to plug leaks with guys like Gaby Sanchez?

Again, for those of you who are slow, money does not guarantee success every year. It just buys a significant advantage and sometimes it is enough to purchase a World Series (see the last one the Yankees won).

 

It's time to begin rooting for convoluted tiebreaker scenarios, at least for me. We get two one-game playoffs guaranteed from now on, but I'm greedy.

If the AL finished as it entered today, Baltimore and New York would have to play a one-game tiebreaker, with the loser then traveling to Oakland to play another one-game playoff.

 

But, but, but they have Jetes, the best shortstop, captain and all-around human being of all time. [/Manky]

 

I love that possible scenario.

 

And if the Yankees don't make the playoffs ... MLB will expand the playoffs again!