Baseball Writing

Taking a rooting interest out of the mix, I don’t think there is a better sporting event than an elimination game in baseball. Tonight, although not officially part of the “post-season,” the Twins play the White Sox in Chicago with the American League’s Central division title at stake: loser goes home, winner goes on to play the Rays on Thursday.

After a quick check on Retrosheet, tonight marks the 12th time in baseball history that two teams ended the regular season in a tie and needed an additional game (or games) to determine who plays on. Again from Retrosheet: The American League has always played a single game for this purpose, while the National League staged a best of three series through 1962, after which it switched to the single game format as well. These games are truly “playoff” games to be distinguished from the consistent MLB designation of “postseason” for the current multiple series procedure (Division Series, League Championship Series, World Series).

Tonight’s game is the 2nd one-game playoff of the decade, after last year’s Rockies/Padres match-up which determined the N.L. Wild Card in dramatic fashion, and the first to settle a division title since 1995 when the Mariners bombed the Angels behind Randy Johnson.

One game that I always confuse as being a one-game playoff, took place 21 years ago at Tigers Stadium. On the last day of the 1987 regular season, the Tigers (97-64) played the Blue Jays (96-65), with Toronto needing a win to force a one-game playoff. It didn’t happen. Larry Herndon’s home run in the bottom of the 2nd off Jimmy Key was the only run of the game as both starters went the distance in a classic 1-0 pitchers’ duel. For the Tigers, it was Frank Tanana who pitched the complete game shutout and clinched the A.L. East in the process.

For some reason, I always think of that game being on a Monday afternoon . . . it wasn’t, it was on a Sunday. ABC picked up that game that day (maybe Al Michaels on the play-by-play?), and I remember watching it from start-to-finish.

The most famous of the “play-in” games are probably the ’78 game in Fenway Park; the Giants/Dodgers game in ’51 and the Cleveland/Boston game in ’48 (the Denny Galehouse game).

Of the ones I’ve been around for, I didn’t watch much of the Padres/Rockies game last year, which is a shame because it was an absolute classic. I was in Philadelphia back in 1998 at a concert when the Giants played the Cubs at Wrigley to determine that year’s Wild Card winner in the N.L. I did watch the Mets/Reds tilt in ’99 when Al Leiter shut down Cincinnati completely, pitching a two-hit shutout in a game that was never a contest. So after more than two decades of watching baseball, tonight’s game is certainly a rarity and definitely the kind of game that I haven’t witnessed many times.

While I can’t guarantee being tuned into every pitch, the game will be on at all times, albeit in the background for at least part of the night. As I’m sure dads can relate to, the bedtime process is rarely a subtle one, and rarely quick and easy. Baseball takes a back seat under those circumstances.

Prediction? Twins 6, White Sox 4. I’ll buck public opinion, which seems to be tilted strongly towards Chicago. The Twins are 35-46 on the road this year, and 2-7 at U.S. Cellular Field, which seems to be the main motivation in picking the Sox tonight. Even with Danks going on short rest, the starters seem to cancel each other out as both don’t have good numbers of late or against their respective opponent.

When thinking that the winner of this game flies to Tampa after tonight, it’s amazing to think that the Rays are a very-winnable series away from playing in the ALCS.