have the Red Sox *really* clinched a playoff spot?

Bill McBlueState

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Tue Sep-28-04 09:49 AM
Original message

have the Red Sox *really* clinched a playoff spot?

Here are the AL wildcard standings:

Boston... 94 62 Anaheim.. 88 68 -6.0

Each team has six games left, so Anaheim *could* finish with the same record as the Sox.

But Boston has guaranteed themselves a postseason appearance. Anyone have an explanation?

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DelawareValleyDem

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Tue Sep-28-04 09:56 AM
Response to Original message

1. I think it

has something to do with the fact the Anaheim plays Oakland in the last three games, and a sweep there (necessary to catch the Sox) would give Anaheim the division title and not the WC

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Bill McBlueState

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Tue Sep-28-04 10:07 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. yep, that's it

It's interesting how a "second-order" effect like the fact that Anaheim plays Oakland three more times isn't accounted for in the algorithms that do a lot of the online standings.

For instance, espn.com hasn't put the "z" for "clinched a playoff spot" next to the Red Sox, since their computers apparently can't look beyond the teams' records. I suppose it would be pretty hard to design a program that accounts for teams' remaining schedules.

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