Home Field Advantage
Ozzie Guillen has been there, done that. I don't mean managing the A.L. All-Star team over the N.L.'s stars, which he did last night, 3-2. I do mean trailing by one run in the ninth inning, with his team down to its last out and nobody on base, and going on to win. Why it seems like only yesterday that it happened. Actually, it was three days ago that Oz and the White Sox pulled off that feat in the 19-inning marathon over the Red Sox.
The All-Star Game was a cakewalk by comparison, requiring only a regulation nine innings to finish off the Senior Circuit. Paulie Konerko, Chicago's own Cap'n Crunch, had two hits on the night, including the first hit in the ninth inning that got the rally started when the A.L. was on the short end of a 2-1 score. Jermaine Dye had earlier tapped one back to the mound for the first out of the inning, and Jim Thome broke his bat on a ground out in his only plate appearance in the eighth inning. Mark Buehrle and Bobby Jenks were warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth in case Mariano Rivera needed help -- he didn't -- and A.J. Pierzynski, who caught all 19 innings in the heat on Sunday, was the only A.L. position player not to make it into the game (as Ozzie had forewarned him). Jose Contreras, whom Oz had thought about starting, was scratched from the roster because he had pitched so long on Sunday.
The win secured home field advantage for the American League in the World Series this October, for the third time in the three years that the All-Star Game has been the deciding factor in who hosts the Fall Classic. But the question is whether it really matters. Over those last three World Series, the home team has won seven games and the visiting team has won seven (2-2 last year and the year before, and 3-3 in 2003), which doesn't seem like much of an advantage to me. However, Tom Boswell of the Washington Post notes that the team with the home field advantage has won 17 of the last 20 World Series. By the way, if the old system were in place, this would be the A.L.'s turn to host games 1, 2, 4, and 7 anyway.
In other All-Star Game-related news, Bud Selig and I agree on one thing and disagree on another. Selig said what I said last Sunday: If Manny Ramirez was healthy enough to play the entire series against the Sox, he should have been in Pittsburgh last night. However, according to the Post, the Commish is thinking about "prevent[ing] all-star starting pitchers from starting the final game of the first half." I'm not sure how you enforce it, but I don't like the idea. It's a good idea to try to make the game meaningful, but not at the expense of the regular season. Speaking of which, the Good Guys resume play on Friday against the Yankees, with Contreras likely to start against the Yankees. Go Sox!
Ozzie Guillen has been there, done that. I don't mean managing the A.L. All-Star team over the N.L.'s stars, which he did last night, 3-2. I do mean trailing by one run in the ninth inning, with his team down to its last out and nobody on base, and going on to win. Why it seems like only yesterday that it happened. Actually, it was three days ago that Oz and the White Sox pulled off that feat in the 19-inning marathon over the Red Sox.
The All-Star Game was a cakewalk by comparison, requiring only a regulation nine innings to finish off the Senior Circuit. Paulie Konerko, Chicago's own Cap'n Crunch, had two hits on the night, including the first hit in the ninth inning that got the rally started when the A.L. was on the short end of a 2-1 score. Jermaine Dye had earlier tapped one back to the mound for the first out of the inning, and Jim Thome broke his bat on a ground out in his only plate appearance in the eighth inning. Mark Buehrle and Bobby Jenks were warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth in case Mariano Rivera needed help -- he didn't -- and A.J. Pierzynski, who caught all 19 innings in the heat on Sunday, was the only A.L. position player not to make it into the game (as Ozzie had forewarned him). Jose Contreras, whom Oz had thought about starting, was scratched from the roster because he had pitched so long on Sunday.
The win secured home field advantage for the American League in the World Series this October, for the third time in the three years that the All-Star Game has been the deciding factor in who hosts the Fall Classic. But the question is whether it really matters. Over those last three World Series, the home team has won seven games and the visiting team has won seven (2-2 last year and the year before, and 3-3 in 2003), which doesn't seem like much of an advantage to me. However, Tom Boswell of the Washington Post notes that the team with the home field advantage has won 17 of the last 20 World Series. By the way, if the old system were in place, this would be the A.L.'s turn to host games 1, 2, 4, and 7 anyway.
In other All-Star Game-related news, Bud Selig and I agree on one thing and disagree on another. Selig said what I said last Sunday: If Manny Ramirez was healthy enough to play the entire series against the Sox, he should have been in Pittsburgh last night. However, according to the Post, the Commish is thinking about "prevent[ing] all-star starting pitchers from starting the final game of the first half." I'm not sure how you enforce it, but I don't like the idea. It's a good idea to try to make the game meaningful, but not at the expense of the regular season. Speaking of which, the Good Guys resume play on Friday against the Yankees, with Contreras likely to start against the Yankees. Go Sox!
posted by Sherm Lollar at 8:07 AM
1 Comments:
Well Sherm, does the home field advantage make a difference in seven-game series? Forget about when the Series is less than seven because it is the seventh game that is the tie-breaker. A little research shows that the home field advantage does not make much of a difference in the seventh game. Since 1924 when MLB went to a seven game format there have been 32 times when the series has gone to seven games. Of those 32 7th games the home team has won 15 while losing 17. This is pretty darn close to 50% which shows no significant advantage to the home team.
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