ALCS: Recapping the Head-to-Head Matchups from 2016

The ALCS has officially been set as the Cleveland Indians will play host to the Toronto Blue Jays with just seven games potentially separating them from a trip to the World Series. Who will take home the American League Pennant and have home-field advantage in the World Series thanks to the All-Star Game victory earlier this summer? That’s hard to say right now but while we wait let’s look at what these two teams have done against each other head-to-head this season. Maybe it gives us a hint of what’s to come, or maybe not. They do call it the “second season” for a reason you know.

Enjoy.

Rk	Date	Tm		Opp	W/L	R	RA	Win	Loss	Save
Rk	Date	Tm		Opp	W/L	R	RA	Win	Loss	Save
81	Thursday, Jun 30	TOR		CLE	L	1	4	Carrasco	Dickey	Allen
82	Friday, Jul 1	TOR		CLE	L	1	2	Bauer	Barney
83	Saturday, Jul 2	TOR		CLE	W	9	6	Grilli	Otero	Osuna
84	Sunday, Jul 3	TOR		CLE	W	17	1	Happ	Kluber
122	Friday, Aug 19	TOR	@	CLE	L-wo	2	3	Manship	Osuna
123	Saturday, Aug 20	TOR	@	CLE	W	6	5	Biagini	Tomlin	Osuna
124	Sunday, Aug 21	TOR	@	CLE	L	2	3	Clevinger	Cecil	Allen

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference. 

Predicting Tonight’s AL Wild Card Winner

Okay ladies and gentleman. We’ve previewed the game and we know what each offense has done against the other’s starting pitcher for the night so now all that’s left is to pick a winner. Truth be told I think home field advantage is a pretty minimal advantage in Major League Baseball in most cases but I think the Toronto faithful proved last postseason that they can be the key factor in a game. In short, they can get loud and that has to get inside the head of the pitching and for that reason I have the Toronto Blue Jays winning this game tonight.

I can see this turning into an offensive explosion for both team’s due to the big stage and the pressure with the Blue Jays winning the game 6-2. Buck Showalter won’t be happy but I have a feeling millions of Yankees fans will be when they see him drop his head and walk into the dugout after the loss. Just a hunch. I guess you’ll have to tune in here in a couple of hours to see if I’m right.

Full Disclaimer: I’m hardly ever right so don’t bet the bank on it. 

Two More Days till Baseball Open Thread

The All Star Break is in full swing and we’re moving more towards the “break” aspect of it and less away from the fan experience. The Home Run Derby is in the books, congratulations to Giancarlo Stanton, and home field advantage has been decided for the World Series now that the All Star Game is in the books. Now we’re left anxiously waiting for baseball to resume back on Friday.

The New York Yankees will welcome the Boston Red Sox to the Bronx on Friday to kick off the unofficial second half of the season in what should be the beginning of a tough schedule for the Yankees. The team should definitely “define” or “declare” themselves after this stretch but we won’t know for at least two more days. Two more days!

Can you tell I’m already missing baseball? Enjoy the open thread tonight everyone. Two more days.

2016 MLB All Star Game Thread

The 2016 MLB All-Star Game is upon us. The American League and the National League with home-field advantage in the World Series on the line. This one counts unfortunately so let’s get to it. The American League starter for Ned Yost will be Chris Sale while the National League starter for Terry Collins will be Johnny Cueto. The game will be played at 8:00 pm ET inside Petco Park and can be seen on FOX.

Let’s win it just because. Because it counts and because we should. Go Team AL!

Official All-Star Game Rosters for Tonight’s Contest

Tonight the American League and the National League square off head-to-head in the 2016 Edition of the MLB All-Star Game. The starting pitchers have been named, the starters have been voted on and the final vote candidates’ campaigns are done. It’s time for baseball so here are the rosters for tonight’s contest inside Petco Park.

2015 MLB All-Star Game Preview

Tonight on FOX the 86^th annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game will take place inside the home of the Cincinnati Reds. In just a few short hours the Great American Ball Park, which saw some of the league’s best home run hitters display their power last night and which saw the future of the sport showcasing their talents on Sunday, will see 76 of the best MLB players facing off head-to-head for bragging rights for their respected leagues and home field advantage in the World Series. The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on FOX as Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros starts for the American League and will face off against Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League.

Here are the rosters for both teams tonight:

American League:

C: Salvador Perez

1B: Albert Pujols

2B: Jose Altuve

SS: Alcides Escobar

3B: Josh Donaldson

LF: Adam Jones

CF: Mike Trout

RF: Lorenzo Cain

DH: Nelson Cruz

Catchers: Russell Martin and Stephen Vogt.

Infielders: Mark Teixeira, Jason Kipnis, Brock Holt, Brian Dozier, Manny Machado, Mike Moustakas, Jose Iglesias, Prince Fielder.

Outfielders: Brett Gardner, JD Martinez.

Pitchers: Chris Archer, Dellin Betances, Brad Boxberger, Zach Britton, Wade Davis, Hector Santiago, Kelvin Herrera, Felix Hernandez, Dallas Keuchel, Darren O’Day, Glen Perkins, David Price, Chris Sale.

IR: Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera, Kansas City LF Alex Gordon

Sonny Gray replaced due to pitching on Sunday.

National League:

C. Buster Posey

1B: Paul Goldschmidt

2B: DJ LeMahieu

SS: Jhonny Peralta

3B: Todd Frazier

LF: Joc Pederson

CF: Andrew McCutchen

RF: Bryce Harper

Catchers: Yasmani Grandal, Yadier Molina.

Infielders: Adrian Gonzalez, Anthony Rizzo, Joe Panik, Troy Tulowitzki, Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Brandon Crawford.

Outfielders: Ryan Braun, AJ Pollock, Justin Upton.

Pitchers: Madison Bumgarner, AJ Burnett, Clayton Kershaw, Aroldis Chapman, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Zack Greinke, Carlos Martinez, Mark Melancon, Shelby Miller, Jonathan Papelbon, Francisco Rodriguez, Trevor Rosenthal, Michael Wacha.

IR: Miami RF Giancarlo Stanton, St. Louis RF Matt Holliday, Miami 2B Dee Gordon.

Max Scherzer ineligible after pitching Sunday.

This should be a fun game with all the rookies and first-timers attending and whether you feel like the game should count or not I think you should watch it. Let the debates about changing the game happen when we have nothing to watch on Wednesday and Thursday, tonight Major League Baseball’s best and brightest stars take center stage in the All-Star Game. Go Teixeira, go Betances and go Gardner! Pete Rose, just go away. 

All-Star Game & World Series Home Field Advantage

So there I was sitting at work on Monday, in a meeting of course, when my phone goes off to update me on the latest MLB All-Star Game voting. I saw that, along with a few dirty looks from co-workers, Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales joined five other Kansas City Royals in the starting lineup for the American League while Brian McCann, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran were all among American League All-Star leaders on the ballots. With home field advantage for the World Series on the line I got to thinking would I rather see Teixeira at first base or Hosmer. McCann or Salvador Perez. A-Rod or Morales. Ellsbury or Lorenzo Cain. Then I got thinking, does it really matter?

So I did my research as I wondered how often a team with a better record lost out on their completely earned and justified home field advantage in the World Series because their team of All-Stars lost the Mid-Summer Classic just four months earlier. The first season where the All-Star Game actually meant something and somewhat counted was in 2003 meaning that 12 World Series have been affected since the inception of the rule that the team representing the league that won the All-Star Game would have home field advantage in the World Series.

Let's take a look at who won each of those two All-Star Games, which teams represented the American and National Leagues in the World Series those past 12 seasons, and whether the All-Star Game "counting" mattered or not. 

2003

American League beat National League 7-6

AL representative in World Series: New York Yankees (101-61)

NL representative in World Series: Florida Marlins (91-71)

World Series winner: Florida Marlins  4-2

2004

American League beat National League 9-4

AL representative in World Series: Boston Red Sox (98-64)

NL representative in World Series: St. Louis Cardinals (105-57)

World Series winner: Boston Red Sox 4-0

2005

American League beat National League 7-5

AL representative in World Series: Chicago White Sox (99-63)

NL representative in World Series: Houston Astros (89-73)

World Series winner: Chicago White Sox 4-0

2006

American League beat National League 3-2

AL representative in World Series: Detroit Tigers (95-67)

NL representative in World Series: St. Louis Cardinals (83-78)

World Series winner: St. Louis Cardinals 4-1

2007

American League beat National League 5-4

AL representative in World Series: Boston Red Sox (96-66)

NL representative in World Series: Colorado Rockies (90-73)

World Series winner: Boston Red Sox 4-0 

2008

American League beat National League 4-3

AL representative in World Series: Tampa Bay Rays (97-65)

NL representative in World Series: Philadelphia Phillies (92-70)

World Series winner: Philadelphia Phillies 4-1

2009

American League beat National League 4-3

AL representative in World Series: New York Yankees (103-59)

NL representative in World Series: Philadelphia Phillies (93-69)

World Series winner: New York Yankees 4-2

2010

National League beat American League 3-1

AL representative in World Series: Texas Rangers (92-70)

NL representative in World Series: San Francisco Giants (92-70)

World Series winner: San Francisco Giants 4-1

2011

National League beat American League 5-1

AL representative in World Series: Texas Rangers (96-66)

NL representative in World Series: St. Louis Cardinals (90-72)

World Series winner: St. Louis Cardinals 4-3

2012

National League beat American League 8-0

AL representative in World Series: Detroit Tigers (88-74)

NL representative in World Series: San Francisco Giants (94-68)

World Series winner: San Francisco Giants 4-0

2013

American League beat National League 3-0

AL representative in World Series: Boston Red Sox (97-65)

NL representative in World Series: St. Louis Cardinals (97-65)

World Series winner: Boston Red Sox 4-2

2014

American League beat National League 5-3

AL representative in World Series: Kansas City Royals (89-73)

NL representative in World Series: San Francisco Giants (88-74)

World Series winner: San Francisco Giants 4-3

2015

Yet to be determined.... stay tuned 

*bolded denotes who would have had home-field advantage due to record

As you can see in the twelve seasons where the All-Star Game actually counted the numbers of teams who would have had home-field advantage without the game actually meaning something was eight of the twelve instances. The team with home-field advantage has won eight of those twelve World Series while interestingly enough two of those series have gone all seven games. In those pair of seven game series only last year's Kansas City Royals lost with the home-field advantage making you wonder how the game would have went if the shoe were on the other foot. While the game should not count for anything and definitely should not determine what league will have the home-field advantage in the World Series I'm not quite sure it's worth jumping up and down for because it hasn't negatively affected that much.