Baseball Notes And Update As It Heads, To Its 12 Team Tournament

Some notes and updates, as baseball 2024 winds into its 12 team tournament which commences on Tuesday October 1st.

Essentially all but the N.L. West one eighth “div” winners are known as they will be the Phillies, Brewers, Yankees, Guardians and Astros.

In that N.L. West, the Dodgers sans the tiebreaker that would decide things if the teams end with identical records after 162 games, lead “S.D.” by three games (read it 2 plus in the “loss”) with 3 upcoming, at now 62 years old (started in ’62 where the great pennant race ended in heartbreaking fashion for L.A. as the Giants rallied incredibly, both in the season and the last game to win the pennant) still beautiful Dodger Stadium.

The wild card race with 4 of the 6 such teams unknown (Baltimore and “S.D.” (at least) will qualify and likely, very likely be “4” seeds and thus host all of the maximum 3 games of the best of three (12 to 8) series) is very much up in the air.

In the less complicated N.L. the Mets and Arizona (Diamondbacks) are tied for spots 5 and 6 (the Mets have the two team tiebreaker vs “Az,” as I looked up after one site had both Arizona and the Mets (4-3) vs the other), 2 games ahead of the Braves, who do have the 2 team tiebreaker vs Az and would have it with at least 2 wins in the upcoming at Atlanta 3 game set vs the Mets.

Detroit under A.J. Hinch (maybe Hinch and Det vs his ex team, Houston, also since they are in opposite A.L. brackets, a battle of brothers in law managers (Balti under Brandon Hyde and Houston under Joe Espada) in the ALCS, is possible between the ‘Stros and O’s, however, would require wins by each team as the higher seed/”Fave” followed by lower seeded, but likely slight “fave,” Houston vs Cleve and the toughest, but far from a big longshot, entailing the O’s, overtaken in “el div,” by the Yankees, but then “best of 5 ing” them in the “div” series/”Qtrs”) and sans the tiebreaker vs either Minne or K.C. has 74 losses, Minne has 75 but the tiebreaker vs either Det or K.C. while Sea, which dissipated a (4-0) lead at Texas in the 2024 champion Rangers’ last 2024 home tilt, has 76 losses.

Finally way out on the esoteric spectrum, again as in ’67, the Twins had a terrible late season Sunday at Fenway Park. Then it doomed their 1 of 2 pennant chances while yesterday’s 2 losses in a split admission “double dip” after Saturday’s rain caused game postponement, leaves the Twins “on the outside looking in,” but still with a good chance (details above) to make the 12 team tournament.

In yesterday’s second game loss as in ’67’s season final the Twins tallied 3 runs, while (“holy esoteric Batman and others) the last out was made by a Twins’ player with an alliterative name, Byron Buxton yesterday and Rich Rollins (they also had a Rich Reese, who played in that final tilt) in ’67.

Current Detroit “Mgr,” (they have won 11 of 14, to actually lead in the w/cd race) A.J. Hinch, pictured above as a Houston manager, guided the Astros to the 2017 title.