NL Wild Card Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs

Virtanen18

SAMCRO
Jan 25, 2014
17,193
832
Vancouver
The Wild Card Game is, in a word, awesome. We’re headed to our third Wild Card game in a row on Wednesday. A lot of people are saying that it’s unfair that we have the second-best record in baseball and we have to face Cy Young contender Jake Arrieta in a do-or-die game. There’s some debate about whether it should be a best-of-three or maybe they should do away with divisions altogether.

I understand where those people are coming from, but my feeling is this: What kind of a champion says, “Man, I’m just hoping for the easiest road possible …â€
Interesting excerpt from Andrew McCutchen's Player's Tribune piece.
 

Dr Pepper

Registered User
Dec 9, 2005
70,347
15,497
Sunny Etobicoke
Rick Adair: Arrieta have better stuff than Felix.

There's a guy who deserves a playoff start. Mariners have the longest current playoff drought now that the Jays are in. :help:

I felt the same for Roy Halladay before he finally got shipped to Philly....all these amazing seasons being wasted on an awful team.
 

Stu Grimson

Registered User
Apr 16, 2014
942
12
Still nothing compared to the beating he's taken on the Pens board this year.

I like passion, but he's a bit of an idiot.



I will say this - I'm glad that the Cubs will be advancing. I just loathe the fact that it has to come at a 98 win team's hand while a 90 winner still has at least 3 games left to go. The Cubs deserve to be there...and they don't deserve to be starting down the mouth of the Cardinals as their reward for winning their 98th game.

Agreed, the final 4 in the NL should be Cards,Pirates,Cubs and either LA-NYM. Let's not forget the mighty Mets went 0-13 combined vs Cubs and Pirates
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
Interesting excerpt from Andrew McCutchen's Player's Tribune piece.

Players have to say that, nobody wants to hear players making excuses...no matter how legitimate they are. Ask just about any Pirates player and they'd give the same sort of quote...things would be different if they were a 70 win team and had nothing to do with it, but when you're in the thick of it it's pretty hard to speak their mind.


If Cutch honestly believes that...well...I mean...you don't get a bigger ring for facing more difficult competition. You get the same ring if you beat the Mets en route to the title than if you beat the Cardinals. Athletes want to be challenged, they want to be the best...that doesn't mean it's the logical or fair thing to want.
 

TootooTrain

Sandpaper
Jun 12, 2010
35,505
460
They don't list the difficulty of path traveled on the world series rings. I'm sure he was just trying to respect the game.
 

Big Poppa Puck

HF's Villain
Dec 8, 2009
20,530
932
D-Boss' Dungeon
Agreed, the final 4 in the NL should be Cards,Pirates,Cubs and either LA-NYM. Let's not forget the mighty Mets went 0-13 combined vs Cubs and Pirates


The Pirates and Cubs both deserve better than a play-in game but at the same time this isn't something that's going to happen often where a 98 win team plays a 97 win and from the same division no less.

The play in game needs to become a 3 game series or better yet just go away completely and go back to 4 teams but we all know that won't happen.

If their not going to re-seed altogether and want to reward division winners that's fine, but they at least need to re-seed after the Wild Card game. The Cardinals and Cubs should not be playing each other already. It's not fair to either team.

We somehow went from "You're not allowed to play a team from your division in the DS regardless of record" to now "The top seed MUST play the Wild Card winner regardless of record or division."

It's ass backwards.
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
The Pirates and Cubs both deserve better than a play-in game but at the same time this isn't something that's going to happen often where a 98 win team plays a 97 win and from the same division no less.

The play in game needs to become a 3 game series or better yet just go away completely and go back to 4 teams but we all know that won't happen.

If their not going to re-seed altogether and want to reward division winners that's fine, but they at least need to re-seed after the Wild Card game. The Cardinals and Cubs should not be playing each other already. It's not fair to either team.

We somehow went from "You're not allowed to play a team from your division in the DS regardless of record" to now "The top seed MUST play the Wild Card winner regardless of record or division."

It's ass backwards.

No kidding.

And this will be a regular thing, in the NL at least. The Pirates are still on their way up, the Cubs are oozing with talent (and money), and the Cardinals are the Cardinals. It's completely believable that the best 3 teams in baseball in 2016 will all be in the NL Central again next year.

Cutch didn't have to say anything. He chose to say that.

I don't care, he's trying to put on a good face about it because that's what Cutch does. As a fan it's a lot easier to say you don't get extra points for difficulty.
 

Terry Yake

Registered User
Aug 5, 2013
26,582
14,988
The Pirates and Cubs both deserve better than a play-in game but at the same time this isn't something that's going to happen often where a 98 win team plays a 97 win and from the same division no less.

The play in game needs to become a 3 game series or better yet just go away completely and go back to 4 teams but we all know that won't happen.

If their not going to re-seed altogether and want to reward division winners that's fine, but they at least need to re-seed after the Wild Card game. The Cardinals and Cubs should not be playing each other already. It's not fair to either team.

We somehow went from "You're not allowed to play a team from your division in the DS regardless of record" to now "The top seed MUST play the Wild Card winner regardless of record or division."

It's ass backwards.

this

the concept of the WC game is pure BS. i'd really like to see them make it a 3 game series but i highly doubt that happens. i even prefer the old 4 team format to this but that's long gone too
 

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