Let's get this started. 22.5 hours until Twins-Yankees in the south Bronx.

Wild Card Round:

Minnesota v New York
Santana v Severino
Wednesday, 7pm CT on ESPN

Colorado v Arizona
Gray v Grienke
Thursday, 7pm CT on TBS

Winners to Cleveland and Los Angeles.

It physically pains me to root for the Yanks... but they have at least some small chance of beating the Indians. The Twins have 0%

I am rooting for the Twins. Maybe Cleveland will sweep quickly then be overly rested.

If not Houston to win it all, I am rooting for the Twins. Remarkable turnaround for them

Yankees over Twins
DBacks over Rockies

Yankees over Indians
Astros over Red Sox

Dodgers over DBacks
Nationals over Cubs

Astros over Yankees
Nationals over Dodgers

Astros over Nationals

And the Yankee circle jerk has begun

Better than David Ross though

Jeez...Yankees doing Yankee things

Twins up 3-0 in 1st. Yankees Bullpen already warming up with only 1 out

And it's now a BP day

That hurts when your starter doesn't get out of the 1st inning in a 1 game playoff

Can anyone explain to me how the wild card games are not incredibly idiotic? 162 game season. The wild card teams are separated by 6 games in both leagues. Yet they play a one game winner take all. Dumb dumb dumb.

BowSowy said:

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The Milkman said:

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It physically pains me to root for the Yanks... but they have at least some small chance of beating the Indians. The Twins have 0%

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The Twins were 5-3 in Cleveland this year, including winning 5 of the last 6.

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They only played them 6 times after the all star break and were 2-4. I think most people agree the 2nd half Indians were light years better than first half and more indicative of who they really are. The twins swept them in the first half, but that happens. The CWS swept the Astros, but no one would say they like their odds vs us in the postseason.

I personally don't think they stand much of a chance in a 5 game series, but I hope I'm wrong!

PhatMack19 said:

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That hurts when your starter doesn't get out of the 1st inning in a 1 game playoff

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Not just 1 inning, 1 out!

And the Yanks were 2-5 against the Indians this year. I don't think either team stands a chance

Ag_07 said:

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Gigemags382 said:

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Can anyone explain to me how the wild card games are not incredibly idiotic? 162 game season. The wild card teams are separated by 6 games in both leagues. Yet they play a one game winner take all. Dumb dumb dumb.

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Simple

Puts an importance on winning your division and having 2 WCs keeps more team in it and stretches the drama all the way to the end of the season.

Think it's great for the game all around.

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Fair enough. I don't follow until the playoffs. Just seems odd on the surface when I first looked at it.

Quite possible that neither starting pitcher will make it out of the first inning. Bullpens gonna get some work in tonight.

1st inning = 1hr

This is working out really well for the Yankees. Bullpen can take care of this game, and Severino can pitch game 2 against the Tribe.

Idiotic pitching there.

Chapman hitting 103 mph on the gun

Feel bad for the Twins, especially considering their turn around from last year to this year. Yankees winning that game is just boring.

Ag_07 said:

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Gigemags382 said:

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Can anyone explain to me how the wild card games are not incredibly idiotic? 162 game season. The wild card teams are separated by 6 games in both leagues. Yet they play a one game winner take all. Dumb dumb dumb.

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Simple

Puts an importance on winning your division and having 2 WCs keeps more team in it and stretches the drama all the way to the end of the season.

Think it's great for the game all around.

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As much as I hate it... it's done the job of keeping the last few months of baseball interesting for many teams and changing the landscape (it's a lot harder for a team still a few games out of the wildcard-2 spot to deal it's stars).

Not really all that much different than the 5-game DS series... Why do we feel like 7 games is the proper # of games to determine the better team in the World Series and Championship Series, but in the Divisional Series it's just 5?

But I guess it all adds up to what IMO makes the MLB postseason the best postseason in all of sports -- you play 162 games to build a record and separate yourself from the pack and then right off the bat you are playing another great team in a short series that can end your season in 3 games. No 1 seed playing 8 seed then 4 seed then finally getting a challenge 3 rounds into things... You play for 6 months straight and right from playoffs jump street your season could realistically be over in the blink of an eye. It's brutal, but it's why the wins are so rewarding.

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But I guess it all adds up to what IMO makes the MLB postseason the best postseason in all of sports -- you play 162 games to build a record and separate yourself from the pack and then right off the bat you are playing another great team in a short series that can end your season in 3 games. No 1 seed playing 8 seed then 4 seed then finally getting a challenge 3 rounds into things... You play for 6 months straight and right from playoffs jump street your season could realistically be over in the blink of an eye. It's brutal, but it's why the wins are so rewarding.

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I think postseason baseball is awesome, but I think we do a disservice to the game by invalidating what happens in 162 based on what happens in the next 11 (or 12). I think the American sports narrative of "they are the champs, they are the best" fits the least in baseball.

We should be able to hold in our heads that that the WS champ might not be the best team, and that's ok.

That also has a little bit to do with baseball being the least "team" of the major team sports.

One pitcher can almost single-handedly win a game (and therefore a series) for a team. With the other major sports whether it's via double-team, blitzing, etc... you can force other players to beat you.

free_mhayden said:

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That also has a little bit to do with baseball being the least "team" of the major team sports.

One pitcher can almost single-handedly win a game (and therefore a series) for a team. With the other major sports whether it's via double-team, blitzing, etc... you can force other players to beat you.

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I think you've got this backwards. If this were true, the Angels would be perennial contenders.

free_mhayden said:

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That also has a little bit to do with baseball being the least "team" of the major team sports.

One pitcher can almost single-handedly win a game (and therefore a series) for a team. With the other major sports whether it's via double-team, blitzing, etc... you can force other players to beat you.

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Say what???

Baseball is the most team sport of all of them. Maybe except for football. Basketball is far and away the least team sport. The team with the best player is usually always at the top. That's not the case in baseball.

And how can one pitcher win a series if he only appears in one or two games throughout a series?

Disagree. Baseball is for the most part a bunch of individual accomplishments by a group of players on a team.

Starting pitcher dictates who is most likely to win the game. A lot of different things can happen in the game involving the other players but much of it is random.

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That also has a little bit to do with baseball being the least "team" of the major team sports.

One pitcher can almost single-handedly win a game (and therefore a series) for a team. With the other major sports whether it's via double-team, blitzing, etc... you can force other players to beat you.

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I think its' less that pitchers just dominate and more that variance comes into play (ie, Mike Trouts .083 BA due to 3 game sweep by the Royals) and it WILL matter what your defensive sub-.250 hitter does at the plate.

Cubs won the WS because theirs (Montero) got a hit and CLE's (Martinez) didn't.

This is probably a discussion for a separate thread but it's interesting.

Then how did the White Sox manage to be the worst team in baseball when they had the best pitcher in baseball in Sale?