I have faith in Nova. Not much in the lineup and almost none in Hughes.

At least we can bank on the Yankees not losing on Thursday.

I hope Don’s okay.  Strange that he’s not here to liven things up.

I would probably rather not face Texas in the first round of the playoffs, so if winning the WC obviates that possibility, I’m ok with that.

I would probably rather not face Texas in the first round of the playoffs, so if winning the WC obviates that possibility, I’m ok with that.

I stopped having preferences for playoff opponents after I preferred Cleveland in 2007.

I stopped having preferences for playoff opponents after I preferred Cleveland in 2007.

Everyone looms.

Detroit in 2006 too.

Given the randomness of the playoffs, I’d take homefield over guessing at playoff matchups.

I would probably rather not face Texas in the first round of the playoffs, so if winning the WC obviates that possibility, I’m ok with that.

Detroit in 2006 too.

Cleveland back in 1997!  Everyone was glad that the Yankees weren’t facing Seattle.

You root for the Yankees, you root for them to win every game. 

Dassit.

Interesting that you bring up playing on the road. I recall seeing a stat, back in the 80’s, to the effect that 2/3 of all world series were clinched on the road. That doesn’t mean much in and of itself but it seems to me that over the last 20 years or so, home teams tend to win close games, especially extra-inning ones, with a much higher frequency than in the past. I’m pretty sure this is the case and I have a theory as to why this is the case.

Can anyone confirm this?

Can anyone confirm this?

No, but I can confirm the sick feeling I have when a game is close and approaches the 9th inning on the road and the agita I have the next morning.

The Yanks seem to have had a lot of walkoff wins in the postseason since 1995. They’ve also had some walkoff losses. The only extra-inning win by a road team in their games I can remember is Game 4 of 1996 against Atlanta. Unless there was also 1 in Minnesota, another Joe Nathan special (involving a double by A-Rod).

That’s all I remember. I think this is true of other teams too

Interesting that you bring up playing on the road. I recall seeing a stat, back in the 80’s, to the effect that 2/3 of all world series were clinched on the road. That doesn’t mean much in and of itself but it seems to me that over the last 20 years or so, home teams tend to win close games, especially extra-inning ones, with a much higher frequency than in the past. I’m pretty sure this is the case and I have a theory as to why this is the case.

I think this is true, but you also have to factor in that the team that starts at home in a series is usually better than their opponent, so the fact that they are able to win the series in fewer than seven games has less to do with home field advantage being unnecessary and more to do with the better team winning the series.

Damn you and your logic SG.  That makes a ton of sense.

I got into an argument yesterday with someone who was claiming that the age of the franchise was a predictor of postseason success in a given season than a team’s record through 145 games.  It was truly, stupendously, unbelievably stupid.  I was trying to make the point that Ruth and Gehrig really didn’t have that much sway on the 2009 postseason, but he was having none of it.

[13] - I’m not sure I understood. The question is whether and why the home team in any give postseason game seems to win such a high percentage of the games ending in extra innings or where the winning run is scored in the 9th inning.

The question is whether and why the home team in any give postseason game seems to win such a high percentage of the games ending in extra innings or where the winning run is scored in the 9th inning.

Sorry, was responding to the first two sentences about 2/3 of all World Series being clinched on the road.