I'll have more detail tomorrow once the field is fully set, but the basics of our situation today is this: the National League field is set. The American League has its division champions and top Wild Card, but we have a tie for the second one. As such, we need a one game playoff to determine the winner.
I touched on the basics of setting this game up with regards to home field advantage. The Orioles and Yankees split their eight games in the regular season, so I have to go to the next tiebreaker of total record against playoff teams. The Orioles went 13-13 against the 1995 Indians, 2004 Red Sox, 2011 Rangers, and 2001 Mariners, while the Yankees only managed an 11-15 mark. As such, our tiebreaking game will be played in Baltimore. The other major factor that comes into play with the Orioles involved is that, because of the setup of WhatIfSports and the fact that the 1970 Orioles played before the advent of the designated hitter, this game will be played without one.
This is a pure one-off simulation; I am not doing a best-of-three thing like I do with the Death to the BCS Playoffs. I will, The winner will advance to the American League Wild Card Series. This simulation is provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!
