Being a Detroit Tigers fan I wanted the Tigers to win and the Texas Rangers to lose. If that would have happened, both teams would have ended the season with the exact same record. If that were the case Detroit would have gone on to be the 2nd seed in the America League and played either the Tampa Bay Devil Rays or the Boston Red Sox in the first round with home field advantage in Detroit. If the Detroit Tigers lost then they would have to play the New York Yankees with the Yankees getting home field advantage. If the Tigers won and the Rangers both won the Rangers would finish the season with a better record giving them the second seed and sending the Tigers to New York to start the Playoffs.
The New York Yankees had already clinched the number one seed in the American League. Even though the last game of the season would seem like a pointless game for the Yankees it was anything but. The Yankees were playing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Rays were competing for the AL wildcard. The Rays needed to get a win against the Yankees and for the Baltimore Orioles to beat the Boston Red Sox. If that scenario happened the Rays would be the wildcard and have to play either the Rangers or the Tigers depending on how their games went. If the Rays and Sox both won their games tonight they would go into a one game playoff with each other for the final playoff spot.
On the National League side of the house things were just as interesting. Like the Yankees the Phillies had long clinched the number one seed in their league. The Phillies were still playing for a chance to shape the playoff race. They were playing the Atlanta Braves who were fighting for the National League wild card slot. The Braves were competing with the St. Louis Cardinals for that wildcard slot. If both teams won tonight they would have a one game playoff.
There were several people in my office and we had the games pulled up on MLB.com Radio. We were paying particular attention to the Detroit Tigers game because of our love for our hometown team. The Boston-Baltimore game got stuck on a rain delay in the 7th inning with Boston having a one run lead. We assumed that Boston was going to get the wildcard spot because the Rays were down by several runs to the Yankees. We were paying attention to the Rangers, Angel’s game as well.
Our 12 hour shift came to an end just as the Tigers game ended. We left our facility with the Rangers in a tie, the red sox game paused, and the Devil Rays down by a whole lot. I attended a short meeting, had to do some SGT stuff, and then made my way to the chow hall for breakfast. When I first sat down with my food there was no baseball games on the 4 TV’s in our chow hall. Somebody had notified the chow hall workers of the awesomeness happening within the MLB right now so they turned the TV to the 2 sports channels that we have. On one TV I had Philly-Atlanta and Boston-Baltimore on the other. I was watching intently as I nibbled on my food. I had to eat quickly because I had to get to a meeting. After I was done with my meeting the final day of baseball had come to an end.
The Tigers defeated the Indians 5-4
The Rangers beat the Angels 3-1
That gives Rangers the 2nd seed- home field advantage
The Tigers head to New York to start the playoffs
The Rays beat the Yankees 8-7 in 12
The Red Sox lost to the Orioles 3-4That gives the Rays the wildcard and sends them to Dallas for the first round.
The Cardinals destroyed the Houston Astros 8-0
The Braves lost to the Phillies 4-3 in 13 innings
That gives the Cardinals the Wildcard.
Last night Ozzie Guillen was let go from the Chicago White Sox. I love Ozzie. Today I was glad to see that he was picked up by the Miami Marlins to Manage in 2012. We can look forward to many crazier Ozzie outbursts!
It was also released today that the first game of the 2012 season with be played in Tokyo in on March 28th between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics’. Those same two teams were scheduled to play in March of 2003 but that was cancelled due to the war in Iraq. I want to go to this game. I’m sure it will be incredibly expensive and chances are pretty damned good I’ll have a previous engagement. But if it were possible I would be in Tokyo start the 2012 season.
Today was a pretty awesome last day of the MLB regular season. It would have been way better had I been home to enjoy it but, thanks to technology the excitement wasn’t all lost.
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