Better Off With 6 Seed Than 5 Seed

[king koji]

On 9/29/2025 at 4:26 PM, notin said:

Yankee Fan Paranoia.  Very common.

Back in 1995,  the Yankees beat the Red Sox in game 161 to clinch the AL East , leaving Boston with the sole wild card.  In game 162, the Yankees trotted out their B Team and lost.

The problem was the Yankees had won the AL East but not home field.  They needed to either win their final game or for the Angels to lose to the Rangers. 
 

The Rangers, managed by ex-Yankee skipper Buck Showslter - not a Steinbrenner fan at all - trotted out his own B Team and lost, giving the Angels home field against the Yankees.

As he was still alive at that point, George Steinbrenner went on an absolute tirade, blasting Showalter and going on about the importance of respecting the game for other teams that still have stakes.

Given that the Yankees didn’t take their own game seriously- and they did control their own destiny - was Steinbrenner right in this instance?

 

This was probably 2005. 1995 Sox won AL East.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, king koji said:

This was probably 2005. 1995 Sox won AL East.

It wasn't Showalter (92-95). Would have had to be Torre? 

They ended the season vs the Sox in 96 and 05. I couldn't find any quotes about Steinbrenner blowing up about it.

In 05: The Yankees wrapped up another AL East title Saturday at Fenway Park. But New York's loss to Boston on Sunday cost the club home-field advantage in this series and sent the team trekking across the country.

Steinbrenner repeatedly has expressed confidence in Torre. Asked this week through spokesman Howard Rubenstein what he had to say about the manager, the Boss declined to respond, with Rubenstein saying Steinbrenner was concentrating on the end of the season.

[notin]

2 hours ago, king koji said:

This was probably 2005. 1995 Sox won AL East.

It was 2005.  Thank you for the correction…

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

It wasn't Showalter (92-95). Would have had to be Torre? 

They ended the season vs the Sox in 96 and 05. I couldn't find any quotes about Steinbrenner blowing up about it.

In 05: The Yankees wrapped up another AL East title Saturday at Fenway Park. But New York's loss to Boston on Sunday cost the club home-field advantage in this series and sent the team trekking across the country.

Steinbrenner repeatedly has expressed confidence in Torre. Asked this week through spokesman Howard Rubenstein what he had to say about the manager, the Boss declined to respond, with Rubenstein saying Steinbrenner was concentrating on the end of the season.

Showakter was managing Texas in 2005 and started his B team in the last game against the Angels, possibly to try to stick it to Steinbrenner.  Steinbrenner erupted about Showalter not taking the game serious as it had implications that affected the Yankees, despite the Yankees playing their own B team when they controlled their own destiny

Naturally a few years later in 2011, the Yankees lost the last game of the year to Tampa despite leading by 7 in the 8th inning and did not use Mariano Rivera.  That Tampa win eliminated the (very unworthy) Red Sox team from the postseason.

That was Fun Steinbenner Yankee Logic - other teams apparently owe it to the Yankees to take games with postseason implications seriously, but the Yankees owed no such courtesy to anyone else.

So naturally they looked for conspiracies about losing out to Toronto…

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

Showakter was managing Texas in 2005 and started his B team in the last game against the Angels, possibly to try to stick it to Steinbrenner.  Steinbrenner erupted about Showalter not taking the game serious as it had implications that affected the Yankees, despite the Yankees playing their own B team when they controlled their own destiny

Naturally a few years later in 2011, the Yankees lost the last game of the year to Tampa despite leading by 7 in the 8th inning and did not use Mariano Rivera.  That Tampa win eliminated the (very unworthy) Red Sox team from the postseason.

That was Fun Steinbenner Yankee Logic - other teams apparently owe it to the Yankees to take games with postseason implications seriously, but the Yankees owed no such courtesy to anyone else.

So naturally they looked for conspiracies about losing out to Toronto…

BOSTON – Buck Showalter’s decision to replace his regulars early in a game against the Angels yesterday raised eyebrows in the Yankees’ clubhouse.

If Showalter’s Rangers had beaten the Angels, the Yankees would have copped home-field advantage against the Angels in the ALDS that starts tomorrow night in Anaheim.

But when the Yankees lost to the Red Sox, 10-1, and the Angels beat the Rangers, 7-4, the Yankees had no chance of hosting three games in the best-of-five ALDS.

“I was surprised,” Joe Torre said. “I could see if his team was in the playoffs and he wanted to rest his players. I don’t understand that.”

Alex Rodriguez, who played for Showalter in Texas, echoed Torre’s feelings.

“He is the manager and has the right to do as he chooses,” A-Rod said. “There is a code of honor with so much on the line. But you can’t control what people do. It is what it is.”

Conspiracy theory lovers believe Showalter, a former Yankee manager, was sticking it to George Steinbrenner by removing his regulars early.

The Boss didn’t comment on the situation.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

It was Girardi, last day of 2011. Yanks had 1st clinched, and a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the 8th in Tampa. 

Rays were battling the really Red Flops for the Wild Card -- when there was only one. Yankees played just about everyone on their roster except Mariano Rivera that day: 16 position players and 11 pitchers -- the last third who did their best to blow the game.

Girardi could've stopped the bleeding any time he wanted if he brought in Mo, but he just sat there smiling, because even if the Red Sox won, they'd have to play the Rays the next day in a one game playoff... and burn up more arms and legs, and not rest all their end of the year aches and pains.

Of course, when Pap and Crawl Cawful blew it in Baltimore, it made Longoria's walk-off HR even better for NY... except, oops, until they got eliminated in the first round by the Tigers in the Bronx.

[king koji]

Welp, I hope the "you try to win EVERY game crowd" is happy with our win over Detroit in Game 162.

Instead of facing easy-to-beat Cleveland, we got the buzz saw Yankees and a quick exit. Take a bow!!!!!

[Old Red]

2 hours ago, king koji said:

Welp, I hope the "you try to win EVERY game crowd" is happy with our win over Detroit in Game 162.

Instead of facing easy-to-beat Cleveland, we got the buzz saw Yankees and a quick exit. Take a bow!!!!!

You’re welcome. The Yankees were a buzz saw?🙈  You had 2 Flawed teams playing against each other, and the Red Sox had more flaws than the Yankees in the 3 games.🤮

[king koji]

Thread title proved correct. Sox would have beat Cleveland, we mightve beaten Seattle on guile. Detroit could've knocked out Yanks. We just HAD to win game 162 and "hold on" to that 5-seed.....SMH.

[dgalehouse]

1 hour ago, king koji said:

Thread title proved correct. Sox would have beat Cleveland, we mightve beaten Seattle on guile. Detroit could've knocked out Yanks. We just HAD to win game 162 and "hold on" to that 5-seed.....SMH.

The Sox called up and started the worst pitcher they had at AAA. Turns out, he pitched a decent game. They rested their top relievers . The second tier bullpen also did well. The Tigers were not cooperating.   What more could they do ?  You cannot reasonably expect them to tell the players to go out there and deliberately throw the game. 

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, king koji said:

Thread title proved correct. Sox would have beat Cleveland, we mightve beaten Seattle on guile. Detroit could've knocked out Yanks. We just HAD to win game 162 and "hold on" to that 5-seed.....SMH.

You should have been happy after 3 years of not making the postseason to this year getting in, and when you do to be able, and willingly take on all comers. The Red Sox were flawed, and that’s why they didn’t win. Didn’t hit, didn’t make the plays on D when they needed to, or run the bases when they needed to.🙈

[king koji]

9 minutes ago, Old Red said:

You should have been happy after 3 years of not making the postseason to this year getting in, and when you do to be able, and willingly take on all comers. The Red Sox were flawed, and that’s why they didn’t win. Didn’t hit, didn’t make the plays on D when they needed to, or run the bases when they needed to.🙈

Yeah, I know all that.

Having said that we WOULD have beat Cleveland. 

[mvp 78]

5 hours ago, king koji said:

Yeah, I know all that.

Having said that we WOULD have beat Cleveland. 

Could

[king koji]

8 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Could

Having the 6 seed is BETTER than having the 5-seed. Not just this year but EVERY year. Baseball has a problem.

[Old Red]

11 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Could

Just like could with the Yankees.

[Hugh2]

4 hours ago, king koji said:

Having the 6 seed is BETTER than having the 5-seed. Not just this year but EVERY year. Baseball has a problem.

Maybe, is the problem bigger or smaller than years past? 
 

for the longest time the playoffs were just two teams from each league facing off to see who plays the World Series.  You could have the second best team in baseball missing the playoffs every single year.  
 

im not sure there’s a perfect system.  Perhaps they could get rid of the wild card and just admit the top 8 teams in each league getting rid of the bi

[dgalehouse]

The expanded playoffs lead to some situations that are not fair to everyone. And they cheapen the long regular season and pennant races.  But they keep more fans interested and are a moneymaker for MLB, so they are here to stay. Anyway, if you finish third in a five team division , do you really deserve another shot at the gold medal ?