HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE AL PLAYOFFS
Yankees clinch AL East, but many scenarios remain




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
October 1, 2005

It took 161 games to do it, but the American League championship has finally been decided. Thanks to an 8-4 Yankees victory today at Fenway Park the New Yorkers clinched their eighth straight division title. The Bombers owe a great big thanks to the Sox for that. That’s the Chicago White Sox I mean. The White Sox, who had already claimed the Central Division title when they rolled into Cleveland, took out the Indians with a 4-3 win.

With Cleveland’s loss and the Yankees win the Boston Red Sox will have to win tomorrow to possibly avoid a one-game playoff with the Indians should the Tribe take the last game of their series with White Sox. Otherwise, should Boston win and Cleveland lose the Red Sox will win the wildcard berth even though they will have an identical record with the Yankees. Confused? Let’s see if the situation can be explained.

As in football, the first tie-breaker in any scenario is head-to-head competition. Since New York won today the worst they can do, if they lose Sunday, is have a 10-9 record against the Red Sox this year. That means the Yankees win the season match up. By virtue of winning more games than the Red Sox the Yankees get the division championship. If Boston wins Sunday they will win the wildcard berth outright and the Cleveland Indians get to go home and work on their golf games.

However, should the Indians win and the Red Sox lose on Sunday that scenario would cause a one-game playoff to be scheduled for Monday at Fenway Park to determine the wildcard winner, as both teams would have identical records. The wildcard will also determine who’s packing their bags for which opponent’s park.

The Chicago White Sox no matter what will have home field advantage
throughout the playoffs and the World Series, because they ended up with the best record in the American League. They will also host the first game of the World Series if they get that far by virtue of the American League’s All-star Game victory over the National League back in July.

The other division winners, New York and the Los Angeles Angels, will have to wait to see who comes out as the wildcard winner. Since a division winner can’t meet a wildcard winner from the same division (i.e. New York, Boston or Chicago, Cleveland) in the first round the wildcard winner becomes crucial.

If the Cleveland Indians end up as the wildcard entry then the New York Yankees would travel to Chicago to take on White Sox in the American League Divisional Series, and Cleveland would travel to Anaheim to play the L.A. Angels. Conversely, should the Boston Red Sox win the wildcard they would travel to Chicago and the Yankees would be forced to play the Angels. Either way the Yankees are going to be a road team this year. The only way they host the league championship series is if they get through the first round and play the wildcard winner.

Call me crazy, but if I were the Yankees brain trust I would be rooting my head off for the Cleveland Indians to find a way to beat the White Sox while the Yankees try and win the rubber game of their series with the Red Sox. The last time the Yankees had to play the Angels in the ALDS was in 2002, and they were soundly thrashed by that club three games to one. Of course, that year the Angels also pounded everybody else into submission to win the franchise’s first World Series trophy. The Yankees would match up much better with the White Sox than the Angels.

Let’s not get ahead ourselves. The Yankees can’t worry about who they’ll potentially meet down the road in the playoffs. Their first order of business is to rest a few of the regulars who are banged up. Let some of the kids brought up in September get into the game so they have something to remember during the off-season. It will also give them a chance to showcase what they have and possibly get some attention for next season’s spring training. If it’s Joe Torre’s intention to have Mike Mussina as a post-season starter then I’d rest him and his sore elbow tomorrow and throw out Jaret Wright. However, I’m not the manager and Torre said he’d talk things over with Mel Stottlemyre before making a decision.

One more thing. I think with his performance today and his team winning the division title Alex Rodriguez has secured his second MVP trophy. If I had a vote that’s how I’d cast my ballot. David Ortiz has had a monster season and if by some chance he ends up with the hardware I have no problem with it. He’s definitely deserving of the award. However, A-Rod went 4 for 5, with a home run and an RBI. He also played sparkling defense at third base. Ortiz went 1 for 4 with no home runs or RBI.

For the Yankees and Red Sox the game has more importance than what appears on the surface. The Yankees can control who they face in the first round, and the Red Sox can insure they are in the playoffs without playing an extra game. Sunday’s games should be quite a show. Any predictions?



© 2005 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

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