10-1-24 – By Josh Booth – @bridge2buctober on X
THE POSTSEASON BEGINS TODAY
I don’t need to remind anyone reading this that the Pirates will once again miss Buctober. If we were told this in March, we would not be surprised.
I’m looking around the league at how this season went and who made the postseason and couldn’t help but notice a few interesting facts. After all, what is baseball without interesting numbers and quirky little statistics? Trivia, for lack of a better word.
WHO’S OUT?
I’ll start with who didn’t make the postseason. With Monday’s odd double header to decide the final two teams, the Braves and Mets split a 2-game, and it seemed inevitable it would play out the way it did. Had one team swept the other, the Diamondbacks would have made it in. Instead, they split, and Arizona finished 89-73 and missed the postseason.
The Texas Rangers, who beat the Diamondbacks in 5 games in the 2023 World Series, will also miss the postseason with a 78-84 record in 2024.
The last time the two teams who met in the previous year’s World Series missed the postseason was 2007.
The Cardinals, who won the 2006 World Series in 5 games, finished 78-84 in 2007. The losing side in ’06 was the Tigers, who finished 88-74 in 2007. Winning just one less game than the 2024 D-Backs.
A five game World Series in 2006 and 2023 in which both teams missed the postseason the following year. For us, that’s wild, but for the Cardinals and Tigers; they watched the same thing happen in 2006 when the AL Champion Chicago White Sox and NL Champion Houston Astros missed the postseason just one year after the Sox swept the Astros in the 2005 World Series.
100 WINS
The Los Angeles Dodgers finished the 2024 season with the most wins with 98. This marks the first time in a 162-game MLB season since 2014 that a team has not won 100 games. In 2014, it was the 98 win Angels with the most wins. That year, the Angels were defeated 3 games to 0 in the Division Series against the eventual pennant-winning Kansas City Royals.
The difference was there were also no 100 loss teams in 2014. And this year, there were 3; Colorado (101), Miami (100), and, of course, the Chicago White Sox (MLB Record 121). (more about them later)
This season is also the first time in a 162-game season that the Dodgers will finish without 100 wins since 2018. They also finished 2017 with over 100 wins. With that said, the Dodgers franchise has 7 world championships and in none of those championship seasons did the Dodgers win 100 games. Could this be their first in a full 162-game season since 1988?
CENTRAL STATION
The AL Central will send 3 teams to the postseason this year. This marks the first time a Central division in the AL or NL will send 3 teams since the 2020 season and first time in a 162 game season since the NL Central had the Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs made it in 2015.
In 2015, The Cardinals won 100, the Pirates 98 (Wow. Remember that?), and the Cubs won 97.
Obviously, the AL Central is the best division in the American League, right? In baseball?
Weeelllllllll, as far as total wins, that goes to the NL West and AL East with 421 and 420, respectively. Only the AL West has less wins than the AL Central. Of course, because of the White Sox. So, lets’ throw total wins out, that’s not fair.
In 2024, the Cleveland Guardians won the division with 92 wins, and get a first round bye. The Kansas City Royals won 86 games and the Detroit Tigers won 86. Even the Minnesota Twins had a winning record with 82 wins.
Then there was the White Sox and their MLB record 121 losses.
They are the only division with 4 teams over .500.
What am I getting at? I’m going to make the case that the White Sox are responsible for both of these teams making this postseason, instead of one.
The Cleveland Guardians are a good baseball team. They always pitch and they have a perennial MVP candidate in Jose Ramirez, who hit 39 2B, 39 HR, and stole 41 bases this year. Let’s chalk them up as a legitimate World Series contender and move on.
The Royals were pretty fortunate to go 12-1 against the White Sox this season. The Tigers were 3-10 against the White Sox – and that’s after losing the final two games of the season to Chicago. Just for kicks and giggles, I will include that the Twins were also 12-1 against the White Sox.
The White Sox won 10 games against their division rivals. I looked at the other divisions’ last place teams to see how that compares.
| Division | Team | Overall Record | Record against Division |
| NL East | Marlins | 62-100 | 18-34 |
| NL Central | Pirates | 76-86 | 25-27* |
| NL West | Rockies | 61-101 | 18-34 |
| AL East | Blue Jays | 74-88 | 21-31 |
| AL Central | White Sox | 41-121 | 10-41 |
| AL West | Angels | 63-99 | 21-31 |
* The Reds (24-28) and Cubs (23-29) had worse records than the 5th place Pirates.
Teams play their division rivals more than anyone else. So, this matters.
The Royals were 14-18 against the East, 16-16 against the West, and 23-23 against the NL.
They were also 45-54 against teams over .500.
The Tigers fared well against the East at 20-12, were also 16-16 against the West, but were 22-24 against the NL.
They were 47-50 against teams over .500.
Both of these teams ended with an 86-76 record, and Detroit lost the #5 seed to the Royals by losing their last two games of the season against the Chicago White Sox. This forced the Tigers to go to Houston to play the Astros, who they lost 4 of 6 against in the regular season, instead of to Baltimore to play the Orioles, who they beat 4 of 6 in the regular season.
The Seattle Mariners were 85-77; missed by one game.
The Mariners were 6-1 against the White Sox.
But you know what? The Mariners were 1-5 against the Tigers. The Tigers made it… and none of the teams in the AL who missed the playoffs have a winning record against teams over .500 either.
So, who knows? Maybe the Royals or Tigers will make a run. Once you’re in, anything can happen.
ANY TAKEAWAYS?
Not really, but let’s see how far KC and Detroit goes. This postseason appears to be much more balanced, without top-heavy 100+ win teams.
Seeing Detroit and KC get into the dance just because their division makes you wonder if the Pirates would be able to sneak in at some point; despite any problems you have with the front office or ownership. If they do, I’d like to think, with Skenes and company, they could make a run.
Once you’re in, anything goes.
Here’s to 2025? 🍻
Steel City Pirates 