Baseball Toaster: The Griddle : They're too tough, they wouldn't fall

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Chicago Cubs	97	64	.602	C1
2	Philadelphia	92	70	.568	E1
3	Los Angeles Dodgers	84	78	.519	W1
4	Milwaukee	90	72	.556	C2
5	New York Mets	89	73	.549	E2
6	Houston	86	75	.534	C3
7	St. Louis	86	76	.531	C4
8	Florida	84	77	.522	E3
9	Arizona	82	80	.506	W2
10T	Colorado	74	88	.457	W3
10T	Cincinnati	74	88	.457	C5
12T	Atlanta	72	90	.444	E4
12T	San Francisco	72	90	.444	W4
14	Pittsburgh	67	95	.414	C6
15	San Diego	63	99	.389	W5
16	Washington	59	102	.366	E5

American League

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Los Angeles Angels	100	62	.617	W1
2	Tampa Bay	97	65	.599	E1
3	Chicago White Sox	89	74	.546	C1
4	Boston	95	67	.586	E2
5	New York Yankees	89	73	.549	E3
6	Minnesota	88	75	.540	C2
7	Toronto	86	76	.531	E4
8	Cleveland	81	81	.500	C3
9	Texas	79	83	.488	W2
10	Oakland	75	86	.466	W3
11	Kansas City	75	87	.463	C4
12	Detroit	74	88	.457	C5
13	Baltimore	68	93	.422	E5
14	Seattle	61	101	.377	W4

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The Metro Area Battles

New York

W L GB

Yankees 89 73

Mets 89 73

Baltimore/DC

W L GB

X - Orioles 68 93

Nationals 59 102 9

Chicago

W L GB

X - Cubs 97 64

White Sox 89 74 9

LA/Orange County

W L GB

X - Angels 100 62

Dodgers 84 78 16

SF/Oakland

W L GB

X - Athletics 76 85

Giants 72 90 4.5

X - Clinched

So long and thanks for playing this year

1. Washington (8/31)
2. Seattle (9/1)
3. Pittsburgh (9/6) *
3. San Diego (9/6) *
5. Baltimore (9/8)
6. Oakland (9/8)
7. Atlanta (9/9)
8. Kansas City (9/9)
9. Cincinnati (9/10)
10. Texas (9/13)
11. Detroit (9/15)
12. San Francisco (9/17)
13. Colorado (9/18)
14. Cleveland (9/19)
15. Toronto (9/21)
16. New York Yankees (9/23)
17. St. Louis (9/23)
18. Florida (9/23)
19. Arizona (9/25)
20. Houston (9/26)
21. New York Mets (9/28)
22. Minnesota (9/30)
23. Chicago Cubs (10/4)
24. Milwaukee (10/5)
25. Chicago White Sox (10/6)
26. Los Angeles Angels (10/6)
27. Los Angeles Dodgers (10/15)
28. Boston (10/19)
29. Tampa Bay (10/29)

* - Teams eliminated at same time

The last batter to reach on catcher's interference was ...

Seth McClung of Milwaukee by Koyie Hill of the Cubs on September 26, 2008.

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They're too tough, they wouldn't fall

2008-08-29 19:40

by Bob Timmermann

The Washington Nationals continue to do their impression of Captain Jacoby, the master of the "La Paloma." They've been shot and mortally wounded and yet they stay alive.

The Nats will try to stave off elimination tonight at home against Atlanta. One loss and they're finally done. But I hope they at least manage to get the Maltese Falcon to Sam Spade.

Odalis Perez pitches for the Nats to save their season against Jorge Campillo.

Some people live for pennant races. Others just live to watch teams get mathematically eliminated.

UPDATE - The Brewers won their 78th game tonight to eliminate the Nats from wild card contention.

However, the Nats held on to win 7-3 tonight against Atlanta to keep their faint NL East hopes alive.

They would need:

the Mets to lose every game they play except two of their remaining five against the Marlins.
the Phillies to sweep a 3-game series at New York and then lose five of their remaining six against the Marlins and then lose every other game.
the Marlins would have to finish the season by going 7-20 with the seven wins coming against the Mets and Phillies as mentioned (8-19 or 9-18 might work too.).
the Braves would have to win no more than 3 of their 6 games scheduled against the Rockies and Astros while winning all their games against the Mets, Phillies, and Marlins, while losing all their games to the Nationals.
the Nationals would have to win every remaining game.

UPDATE 2 - Saturday night, the Nats stayed alive with a 9-8 win over the Braves.

The Marlins beat the Mets 4-3 and the Phillies beat the Cubs 5-2.

So... The Nats can get no better than a tie for first. The Phillies would have to sweep the Mets in New York, but win no other games. The Mets would have to win two of their remaining four games with the Marlins, but no others. The Marlins would win eight games (six against the Phillies and two against the Mets, but no others) and the Braves would have to win no more than 3 of 6 against Houston and Atlanta, but win all other games. The Nats cannot lose again.

Time is getting short for America's Team. There could be other permutations that would keep the Nats alive, but I like the multiteam tie.

In a far simpler scenario, Seattle will be eliminated with a loss to Cleveland or a Boston win.

Comments

2008-08-29 20:16:23

1. dan310

I'll lay you 10,000-to-one. 100,000,000-to-one if you want to go for the Nat's-Mellencamp quiniela.

2008-08-29 20:45:39

2. Travis08

I think you mean that the Phillies need to lose five of their remaining six against the Marlins. Also the Marlins could go 8-19 (or 9-18, with the Nationals winning the playoff).

2008-08-30 08:48:15

3. Woden325

Are you going to put the "So Long and Thanks for Playing" list back in the sidebar this year, Bob?

2008-08-30 09:02:03

4. Ember Nickel

I liked your allusion to the Death Star in the post below. Deep down inside the Nats are just lovable little* Wookies that nevertheless fend off the Imperial Army.

*Ish.

2008-08-30 10:44:34

5. Bob Timmermann

I believe the Nats would be killed off this afternoon if the Phillies beat the Cubs.

2008-08-30 13:55:15

6. xaphor

Bob, I'm all aboard with this implication that the NL East title is a fake.

2008-08-30 22:55:11

7. Gagne55

5 Since the Marlins have a margin of two games besides the must wins over New York and Philly, they could conceivably win all six against Philly rather than 5/6. So Washington lives.

2008-08-30 22:59:06

8. Gagne55

Oops. There was an update. I is idiot.