Make up games

LongtimeBravesFan · September 29th, 2008, 07:39 PM

The White Sox played a make up game today that they needed to win to force a tie breaker tomorrow.

We often see a game rained out and an announcement made that it will be made up if it affects the playoff races. Has this ever happened before that a make up game had to be played to decide a playoff spot (or force an extra game, like the one today)?

Zen653 · September 29th, 2008, 07:58 PM

Royals vs. Indians, October 5th, 1981. Royals needed to win one of two makeup games to win the "second half" division championship in a strike-shortened season. The Royals defeated the Indians 9-0.

In 1973, the Mets, Pirates and Cardinals finished the regular season within a half game apart from each other for the NL East division crown. The Pirates needed to play a makeup game against the Padres, and the Mets needed to play a makeup doubleheader against the Cubs. The Pirates lost their game against the Padres.

ESPN - Regular season not quite over yet for White Sox, Tigers - MLB

jtur88 · September 30th, 2008, 06:18 AM

However, in 1972, Detroit finished 86-70, and Boston 85-70, a half game behind. Why was the make-up game NOT played?

Grandstander · September 30th, 2008, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtur88

However, in 1972, Detroit finished 86-70, and Boston 85-70, a half game behind. Why was the make-up game NOT played?

The lost games were not rainouts, they were lost to MLB's first labor strike which delayed the start of the season by 13 days. If you add up the game totals above, you'll notice that they come to only 156 games for Boston and 155 for Detroit. It had been decided that since it would be impractical to try and make up six or seven games, no games would be made up and however many you had left on your schedule at the end of the strike, that's how many you would play.

LongtimeBravesFan · September 30th, 2008, 11:01 PM

I understand about not making up an entire week of games but it seems like Boston got screwed. It would have been better if they'd selected one of Boston's cancelled games at random and played that game to give both teams an equal number of games played.

jtur88 · October 1st, 2008, 02:51 AM

Bowie Kuhn's split season was probably the blackest day in the history of basesball. Even worse than the Black Sox scandal, because there was more financial greed involved. If one team had two games fewer on their second-half schedule than another, they had a clear advantage, because in the event of a tie above .500, the team with fewer games has a higher WL pct.

The Dodgers were declared the winner of the first half, with a half-game lead over Cincinnati. The Reds wound up the season with the best record overall im the Majors, biut was not one of the 8 teams to make the playoff. Instead, with knowledge aforethought, Kuhn gave a playoff spot to the Dodgers, who went only 27-26 in the second half. Guess which city is a more lucrative TV market? Do you think Kuhn knew that? Even worse, the Yankees were 24-25 in the second half. Guess who had been declared in June by the commissioner from his New York office to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs?

Grandstander · October 1st, 2008, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

I understand about not making up an entire week of games but it seems like Boston got screwed. It would have been better if they'd selected one of Boston's cancelled games at random and played that game to give both teams an equal number of games played.

No one was screwed. The decisions about how many games to play was made before play resumed. Playing one game fewer could have as easily worked out to Boston's advantage. Detroit played one more game, but that game could have been won or lost. Had they lost it, then they would be a half game behind Boston and been "screwed." It wasn't as though the win already existed when the decision was made.

and jtur.....you are describing the circumstances of the 1981 strike, not '72.

Steve Avery · October 27th, 2008, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtur88

Bowie Kuhn's split season was probably the blackest day in the history of basesball. Even worse than the Black Sox scandal, because there was more financial greed involved. If one team had two games fewer on their second-half schedule than another, they had a clear advantage, because in the event of a tie above .500, the team with fewer games has a higher WL pct.

The Dodgers were declared the winner of the first half, with a half-game lead over Cincinnati. The Reds wound up the season with the best record overall im the Majors, biut was not one of the 8 teams to make the playoff. Instead, with knowledge aforethought, Kuhn gave a playoff spot to the Dodgers, who went only 27-26 in the second half. Guess which city is a more lucrative TV market? Do you think Kuhn knew that? Even worse, the Yankees were 24-25 in the second half. Guess who had been declared in June by the commissioner from his New York office to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs?

To make this whole dark episode even 'better,' I seem to recall the suggestion of first-half champions possibly 'throwing games.' There was some sort of rule that you couldn't win 'both halves' and so the second place team with the better record of the two halves would win (or something like that).

Better yet both the Reds (whom you cited) and the Cardinals would have been full-season champs. Instead, we got another NY-LA World Series. Yep, there was no greed there, was there?

Steve Avery · October 27th, 2008, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grandstander

No one was screwed. The decisions about how many games to play was made before play resumed. Playing one game fewer could have as easily worked out to Boston's advantage. Detroit played one more game, but that game could have been won or lost. Had they lost it, then they would be a half game behind Boston and been "screwed." It wasn't as though the win already existed when the decision was made.

and jtur.....you are describing the circumstances of the 1981 strike, not '72.

The fact remains that a pennant should not be lost (or won) on the basis of playing a different number of games. Nowadays, of course, this would be no problem since there are no pennant races. Boston would get in as a wildcard. In fact - with today's alignment - Boston would have won the East, the White Sox the Central, the A's the West - and Detroit would have been the Central wildcard.

Grandstander · October 27th, 2008, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Avery

The fact remains that a pennant should not be lost (or won) on the basis of playing a different number of games. .

I'm impressed that your opinions carry the weight of facts.

I agree that it would have been better had it not happened, but my point was that since it was agreed upon before play resumed, there was no ambush, no unfairness. Any team playing an additional game faced the same win/loss risk in that game as in any other game. There was no alteration of odds.

September 29th, 2008, 07:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
LongtimeBravesFan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,655	Make up games The White Sox played a make up game today that they needed to win to force a tie breaker tomorrow. We often see a game rained out and an announcement made that it will be made up if it affects the playoff races. Has this ever happened before that a make up game had to be played to decide a playoff spot (or force an extra game, like the one today)?

September 30th, 2008, 06:18 AM	#3 (permalink)
jtur88 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 7,857	However, in 1972, Detroit finished 86-70, and Boston 85-70, a half game behind. Why was the make-up game NOT played? __________________ ------------------ When people ask what I hope to see before I die, I answer that I've already seen too much.

October 1st, 2008, 02:51 AM	#6 (permalink)
jtur88 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 7,857	Bowie Kuhn's split season was probably the blackest day in the history of basesball. Even worse than the Black Sox scandal, because there was more financial greed involved. If one team had two games fewer on their second-half schedule than another, they had a clear advantage, because in the event of a tie above .500, the team with fewer games has a higher WL pct. The Dodgers were declared the winner of the first half, with a half-game lead over Cincinnati. The Reds wound up the season with the best record overall im the Majors, biut was not one of the 8 teams to make the playoff. Instead, with knowledge aforethought, Kuhn gave a playoff spot to the Dodgers, who went only 27-26 in the second half. Guess which city is a more lucrative TV market? Do you think Kuhn knew that? Even worse, the Yankees were 24-25 in the second half. Guess who had been declared in June by the commissioner from his New York office to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs? __________________ ------------------ When people ask what I hope to see before I die, I answer that I've already seen too much. Last edited by jtur88; October 1st, 2008 at 02:54 AM.

September 29th, 2008, 07:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 7,274	Royals vs. Indians, October 5th, 1981. Royals needed to win one of two makeup games to win the "second half" division championship in a strike-shortened season. The Royals defeated the Indians 9-0. In 1973, the Mets, Pirates and Cardinals finished the regular season within a half game apart from each other for the NL East division crown. The Pirates needed to play a makeup game against the Padres, and the Mets needed to play a makeup doubleheader against the Cubs. The Pirates lost their game against the Padres. ESPN - Regular season not quite over yet for White Sox, Tigers - MLB

September 30th, 2008, 11:01 PM	#5 (permalink)
LongtimeBravesFan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,655	I understand about not making up an entire week of games but it seems like Boston got screwed. It would have been better if they'd selected one of Boston's cancelled games at random and played that game to give both teams an equal number of games played.