Effects of layoffs in the postseason

BoSoxFan · 10-13-2013, 05:00 PM

I plan on getting this game for the WS sale, and plan on adopting an NFL-esque format (4 divisions of 4 teams, 2 WC, 2 bye teams.) However, I can't decide how long to have the WC series be, in part because I don't know the effect it will have on the bye team if the WC series lasts, say, 7 games. So, do layoffs have an effect on the offensive attack of a postseason team? Thanks!

Bluenoser · 10-13-2013, 08:11 PM

Fatigue and rust are both built into the game.

BoSoxFan · 10-13-2013, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Fatigue and rust are both built into the game.

So a bit of a followup question: what would be the optimal series length that would make a good balance between punishing the wild cards, but not making the bye teams too rusty?

RchW · 10-13-2013, 08:25 PM

Impossible to say. AFAIK hot players stay hot and cold players stay cold.

Ike348 · 10-13-2013, 08:31 PM

I would go 3 or 5. Probably 3, with 2 days rest after series end.

as5680 · 10-13-2013, 08:40 PM

I can only speak from the experience of my own fictional league, where I have had byes in the play-offs for six seasons now. For the first three years, the top two seeds had a bye and since then only the top seed does.

The first round of the play-offs is exactly as the Division Series in real life - best of five with rest days after games two and four. Added to rest days after the end of the regular season and after the first round of the play-offs, it means the team(s) with a bye might not start the postseason until 10 days after their last regular season game.

Under this format, the championship has been won by a team with a bye four times out of six, and only two times out of nine has a team with a bye lost its first play-off series. It hasn't ever seemed to me that the teams with a bye have been put at any significant disadvantage.

BoSoxFan · 10-13-2013, 08:47 PM

Great answers so far, thank you guys so much. Another follow-up question: is there also such a thing as momentum? Like, are there "hot" players and "cold" players?

Le Grande Orange · 10-13-2013, 09:12 PM

As far as I recall in real life, the longest scheduled break has been five days. That happened a couple of times in the 1970s when there was a five-day break between the end of the regular season and the start of the LCS.

In terms of punishing a wild card team, there are a couple of things you could do. Have the Wild Card round be a best-of-3 series, but schedule games #2 and #3 as a doubleheader (you'd have to do that manually). Or you could give the advancing wild card team fewer home games in the Division Series round. Instead of a 2-3-2 home field rotation in favour of the division winner, make it, say, 2-2-3 or 3-2-2. Now the division winner gets 5 out of 7 games at home instead of 4. (You'd have to manually make this change.)

RchW · 10-13-2013, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoSoxFan

Great answers so far, thank you guys so much. Another follow-up question: is there also such a thing as momentum? Like, are there "hot" players and "cold" players?

Post 4.

I wouldn't say that translates to momentum, but hot teams are tough to beat.

Questdog · 10-13-2013, 09:55 PM

IIRC, it takes 10 days of inactivity for rust to have an effect.....

RchW · 10-13-2013, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Questdog

IIRC, it takes 10 days of inactivity for rust to have an effect.....

That's good to know. Makes some sense. A pitcher can skip one start and be ok but two may cause a problem.

10-13-2013, 05:00 PM	#1
BoSoxFan Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 480	Effects of layoffs in the postseason I plan on getting this game for the WS sale, and plan on adopting an NFL-esque format (4 divisions of 4 teams, 2 WC, 2 bye teams.) However, I can't decide how long to have the WC series be, in part because I don't know the effect it will have on the bye team if the WC series lasts, say, 7 games. So, do layoffs have an effect on the offensive attack of a postseason team? Thanks!

10-13-2013, 08:25 PM	#4
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Toronto ON by way of Glasgow UK Posts: 15,629	Impossible to say. AFAIK hot players stay hot and cold players stay cold. __________________ Cheers RichW If you’re looking for a good cause to donate money to please consider a Donation to Parkinson’s Canada. It may help me have a better future and if not me, someone else. Thanks. “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit

10-13-2013, 08:11 PM	#2
Bluenoser Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Moment Posts: 14,487	Fatigue and rust are both built into the game.

10-13-2013, 08:40 PM	#6
as5680 All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Didcot, England Posts: 1,426	I can only speak from the experience of my own fictional league, where I have had byes in the play-offs for six seasons now. For the first three years, the top two seeds had a bye and since then only the top seed does. The first round of the play-offs is exactly as the Division Series in real life - best of five with rest days after games two and four. Added to rest days after the end of the regular season and after the first round of the play-offs, it means the team(s) with a bye might not start the postseason until 10 days after their last regular season game. Under this format, the championship has been won by a team with a bye four times out of six, and only two times out of nine has a team with a bye lost its first play-off series. It hasn't ever seemed to me that the teams with a bye have been put at any significant disadvantage.

10-13-2013, 08:47 PM	#7
BoSoxFan Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 480	Great answers so far, thank you guys so much. Another follow-up question: is there also such a thing as momentum? Like, are there "hot" players and "cold" players?

10-13-2013, 09:12 PM	#8
Le Grande Orange Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Up There Posts: 15,642	As far as I recall in real life, the longest scheduled break has been five days. That happened a couple of times in the 1970s when there was a five-day break between the end of the regular season and the start of the LCS. In terms of punishing a wild card team, there are a couple of things you could do. Have the Wild Card round be a best-of-3 series, but schedule games #2 and #3 as a doubleheader (you'd have to do that manually). Or you could give the advancing wild card team fewer home games in the Division Series round. Instead of a 2-3-2 home field rotation in favour of the division winner, make it, say, 2-2-3 or 3-2-2. Now the division winner gets 5 out of 7 games at home instead of 4. (You'd have to manually make this change.)

10-13-2013, 09:55 PM	#10
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	IIRC, it takes 10 days of inactivity for rust to have an effect.....