Central League Playoffs

Were they serious about that? I assumed it was just some kind of rumour. How can you just change the rules mid-season?

Is that for this season?

I think their argument here would be the uniquness of the situation. This is not regular playoffs but a one off for this season. As you say, how can they change the rules in mid-season?

It seem that there aren't many who were around back when the Central League decided to list standings according to wins instead of winning percentage a few years ago. (I also mentioned this a couple weeks back on the "Radio 1/2 Show" [mentioned here - but my recording cut off before that.] It was an idea meant to create more excitement over each win, but all it did was confuse analyst and fans alike. Nobody liked it, and the scheme was thrown out onto the heap of bad ideas that should never be done again.

Still, the idea that the team with the most wins should have a chance at the Championship Flag did not exactly die. While standings were reinstated as being ranked by winning percentage, it was agreed that if a team finished with more wins than the team with the highest winning percentage, that there would be a playoff between said two teams. This playoff was a continuation of that fateful experiment.

This was all decided years ago, so this is not a change of rules mid-season as many of you seem to think. There simply hasn't been a case in the Central League since then that two teams were close enough to worry about this rule (as pretty much all the teams ran away with the Pennant for the past few years). What you are reading regarding the playoffs now is a clarification of how they will work. (I thought it was a one game playoff, but I haven't had time to look up the details from that time.)

Fear not. Nobody is trying to deny Hanshin the Pennant by changing the rules mid-way. Everyone is just reviewing what was decided a number of years ago so that things go smoothly should this rule come into effect.

I would say choose one or the other. As historically it has been winning percentage I think that this should continue. The idea that there should be playoffs is rather like having your cake and eating it - an absurdity.

- This was all decided years ago, so this is not a change of rules mid-season as many of you seem to think.

Yes, I had a feeling they were just clarifying the existing rule. Thanks for clearing that up, Westbay-san.

Of course it's a strange rule, but it comes about because of all the tied games which are not replayed (although I seem to recall they used to replay these at one stage).

It's obscene! Get to the root of the problem and get rid of this 12 inning rule. These guys get paid enough money to play until there's a result.

It's a shame that with all the talk of playoffs and ways to improve the game, there's no discussion regarding getting rid of tied games!

Yes, and run trains all night! Even if it's just one train per hour from 1am-5am.

Hi westbaystars,

I heard today that the fact that the Tigers have been given a magic number indicates that there will be no playoff. Do you know if the magic number entails winning percentage or number of games won? Probably winning percentage. In any event, if the Tigers (or Chunichi should they make a comeback) make that magic number, that means there will be no playoff between the #1 & #2 in the Central League. At least, that is the latest information I have on this topic.

The magic number "lighting up" means that no other team may control their own destiny. In this case, even if Chunichi wins all 17 of their remaining games (as of end of play on September 17), Hanshin can win all of their remaining games except those against Chunichi (there are 3) and still come out on top.

As you point out, the magic number of 10 will decide the Central League race without a playoff. The reason, however, is that a 10 and 4 (.617) record by Hanshin and 17 and 0 (.600) record by Chunichi will give both teams 87 wins on the season. Because a playoff is to be between the first team in winning percentage and first team in wins, a tie in wins isn't enough - the second place team must have more wins.

Here's the table as of end of play on September 17:

      Hanshin     Chunichi
Wins  W  L  W%    W  L  W%
 87  10  4 .617  17  0 .600
 86   9  5 .610  16  1 .593
 85   8  6 .603  15  2 .586
 84   7  7 .596  14  3 .579
 83   6  8 .589  13  4 .572
 82   5  9 .582  12  5 .566
 81   4 10 .574  11  6 .559
 80   3 11 .567  10  7 .552

As you can see, to clinch with winning percentage, Hanshin's magic number is just 8. This table shows the size of the wall that Chunichi must now overcome (and rely on a Tiger stumble) to even get a playoff.

Source: Nikkan Sports

Strange rule, indeed. A bit too "minor league" for my tastes.

Westbaystars-san, I remember that "most wins" nonsense vividly and thought at the time that it was just a ploy to increase the probability that the Giants would be listed at the top of the standings. The quirks of the schedule, plus the fact that playing in a dome means that the Giants' home games don't get rained out, set things up so that at one point the Giants had played ten more games than their rivals. Consequently, the Giants were in "first place" despite being a whopping 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Swallows! (I made a point of saving a newspaper clipping of those standings.)

Was it Nabetsune who was instrumental in arranging the standings that way? I wouldn't be surprised in the least.

- ...plus the fact that playing in a dome means that the Giants' home games don't get rained out...

But don't they make up the rainouts? In which case a dome wouldn't make any difference to the number of games played.

The games would indeed be made up, but later in the year. So halfway through the season, the Giants would have played more games than other teams (and consequently have more wins). Eventually all rain outs would be made up and everyone would play the full schedule (135 then?), but in mid-season the Giants would have had - and in fact did have - more decisions.

- Eventually all rain outs would be made up and everyone would play the full schedule...

Well that's my point. Whether to have a playoff or not would be determined at the end of the season, not in mid-season. As all the rain outs would have been made up by then, a dome wouldn't make any difference, and so the plan couldn't have been a ploy by the Giants to steal the pennant. It wouldn't have favored any particular team.

But it would have been an effective way to get more and more favorable media exposure for the Giants throughout the season, as they'd be seen to be on top (even if they in fact were not).

More media exposure for the Giants - which just happens to be what Nabetsune craves.

I'm confused how the playoffs work at all. I don't see it in the FAQ. Also, the Pacific League is different?

Could someone please point it out?

The thing is, I hate intra-conference playoffs, as it at least partially negates the regular season and seems like little more than Mickey Mouse-ing the schedule as an excuse to have more high value games. There was even one case three decades ago when the third place Nankai Hawks, because they had the best record in the first half, won the league title in a playoff, which reportedly disgusted everyone rather than doing what was intended, enhancing the Pacific League's profile.

By the way, I also think MLB's playoff format needs retooling (a team must win at least 85 games to qualify, wild card team has to have a good enough record to have won at least one of the other divisions) to keep the integrity of the playoffs intact.

Call me old fashioned, but winners ought to claim the reward while also-rans wait until next year.