1994 ... what if? Quickstart available now!

[nutt]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

How games played in total for each club? In real life the club records were Cincinnati 66-48-1 and Houston 66-49-0. Cincinnati had a game against St. Louis on April 8 end as an 8-8 tie. If that game had been turned into a regular game loss for Cincinnati in the schedule file instead of deleted that would explain why the two clubs have the same record.

Even at 66-48-1 to 66-49, it is still one-half game behind. The tied game would've been replayed at some point, and the Reds-Cardinals had a DH rescheduled for late August of 1994. If this was not the tie game, after the regular season was complete (93-68-1 and 93-69), the Reds, if within one-half game ahead or behind the Astros, would've been required to make up that game if they already had not at that point. The old saying in MLB: ties don't count in the standings but stats do.

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

In 1994 the home field advantage for the Division Series were assigned as follows:

AL East, AL Central
NL Central, NL West

In the League Championship Series:

AL East (or the team that defeated it, excluding the Wild Card)
NL West (or the team that defeated it, excluding the Wild Card)

In the World Series, the AL would have had the home field advantage. (It was changed from the NL having it to avoid conflicts with the NFL. In compensation, the NL would have had the home field advantage in the 1995 and 1996 World Series.)

Based on the standings at the time of the strike, the Division Series match-ups would have been as follows:

AL: Cleveland vs. New York
AL: Texas vs. Chicago
NL: Atlanta vs. Cincinnati
NL: Montreal vs. Los Angeles

The team listed second in each match-up would have had the home field advantage for the best-of-five series. However, the home field rotation was 2-3, so the team listed first would have hosted the first two games of its Division Series.

I was aware of the 2-3 format (also regionalized TV coverage), but what on earth was the reasoning for the NL to not have HFA in 1994? I remember the printouts in TSN that said the NL would've hosted, not the AL. Was this some sort of last minute change in 1994, based upon what NL teams were in the race and shared stadiums (Astros, Reds, Giants)?

EDIT: By 1994, the only teams in MLB that still shared stadiums with an NFL franchise were: Minnesota (Twins/Vikings), Milwaukee (Brewers/Packers played 1-3 games at County a year), California (Angels/Rams), Seattle (Mariners/Seahawks), Florida (Marlins/Dolphins), Philadelphia (Phillies/Eagles), Pittsburgh (Pirates/Steelers), Cincinnati (Reds/Bengals), Houston (Astros/Oilers), Colorado (Rockies/Broncos), San Diego (Padres/Chargers), and San Francisco (Giants/49ers). Only five of those were even in contention (Angels and M's were in that Western failure)

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by nutt

Even at 66-48-1 to 66-49, it is still one-half game behind. The tied game would've been replayed at some point, and the Reds-Cardinals had a DH rescheduled for late August of 1994.

What I'm suggesting is that perhaps the tie game in the (as played) schedule wasn't removed. If it's not, then it'd have to be listed as a win for one club and a loss for the other. Normally in the historical as played schedule any tie games are removed since they didn't count in the standings.

I'd suggest checking the standings to see which, if any, of the other clubs also has a record not in keeping with the actual Aug. 12 standings.

Originally Posted by nutt

I... but what on earth was the reasoning for the NL to not have HFA in 1994? I remember the printouts in TSN that said the NL would've hosted, not the AL. Was this some sort of last minute change in 1994, based upon what NL teams were in the race and shared stadiums (Astros, Reds, Giants)?

According to my notes it was done to avoid conflicts with the NFL schedule due to MLB's expanded playoffs.

The scheduled starting dates for the 1994 post-season:

Division Series: Tues. Oct. 4
League Championship Series: Tue. Oct. 11
World Series: Sat. Oct. 22

[mgom27]

Good project we need one for this year with updated Standings and so on. Minors would be good in a future version.

[bwburke94]

Shouldn't this go in the Mods forum?

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by bwburke94

Shouldn't this go in the Mods forum?

Yeah, shame on the OP for having the gall to post this in the wrong forum. Who does this Markus cat think he is anyway?

[alexsimon99]

Unbelievable.

They did it!
The Montreal Expos are the best team in baseball!
They did it by knocking off the Yankees 4-3 today at Stade Olympique to win the World Series 4-3.

A Moises Alou walk-off home run in the 10th inning clinched the 1st Word Series championship for the Expos.

"This team's got a lot of heart," Expos manager Felipe Alou said. "We worked really hard. We just beat a very, very good team, an excellent team. We had to do the little things."

On his son's walkoff homer: "I couldn't be more proud - as a manager, as an Expo, and most importantly, as a father."

Montreal wrapped up the regular season with a 106-56 record and finished first in the NL Eastern Division.

[flaquis010285]

In my savegame (called "1994 What-if Nostalgia") Houston Astros achieved their first World Series in 6 games vs. the Yankees. Caminiti scored a walkoff BB at a deafening 8th Wonder of The World.

[flaquis010285]

Originally Posted by nutt

I was aware of the 2-3 format (also regionalized TV coverage), but what on earth was the reasoning for the NL to not have HFA in 1994? I remember the printouts in TSN that said the NL would've hosted, not the AL. Was this some sort of last minute change in 1994, based upon what NL teams were in the race and shared stadiums (Astros, Reds, Giants)?

EDIT: By 1994, the only teams in MLB that still shared stadiums with an NFL franchise were: Minnesota (Twins/Vikings), Milwaukee (Brewers/Packers played 1-3 games at County a year), California (Angels/Rams), Seattle (Mariners/Seahawks), Florida (Marlins/Dolphins), Philadelphia (Phillies/Eagles), Pittsburgh (Pirates/Steelers), Cincinnati (Reds/Bengals), Houston (Astros/Oilers), Colorado (Rockies/Broncos), San Diego (Padres/Chargers), and San Francisco (Giants/49ers). Only five of those were even in contention (Angels and M's were in that Western failure)

Would make sense at the strike time. But think about Opening Day, cause until this moment the possibilities are endless. Also, add to the formula the lack of interleague play aside the World Series (was added in '97).

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by nutt

EDIT: By 1994, the only teams in MLB that still shared stadiums with an NFL franchise were: Minnesota (Twins/Vikings), Milwaukee (Brewers/Packers played 1-3 games at County a year), California (Angels/Rams), Seattle (Mariners/Seahawks), Florida (Marlins/Dolphins), Philadelphia (Phillies/Eagles), Pittsburgh (Pirates/Steelers), Cincinnati (Reds/Bengals), Houston (Astros/Oilers), Colorado (Rockies/Broncos), San Diego (Padres/Chargers), and San Francisco (Giants/49ers). Only five of those were even in contention (Angels and M's were in that Western failure)

The decision in regards to the 1994 MLB post-season were made before the regular season had started. The announcement of the home field assignments to the divisions for the '94 playoffs, for example, was made on March 24th. As I recall the tentative dates for the starting of each playoff round was published in early April.

Note too that conflicts with the NFL schedule need not only involve teams sharing a stadium. It can also apply in cases where the stadiums for the baseball and football clubs are adjacent to each other and games are scheduled for each on the same day. Back in 2008, for example, the Orioles rescheduled a home game when it fell on the same Sunday as the Ravens' regular season home opener.

[BradC]

I show up at the 85-minute mark of this podcast to talk about the 1994 Quick Start:

Weekend Watchdogs: Jets Take Flight, 1994 What If, September Baseball 08/30 by Weekend Watchdogs | Sports Podcasts

Also, I created a new version of the Quick Start that incorporates the injury info posted earlier in this thread. PM me if you want that version.

[BradC]

I put the 1994 Quick Start with injuries here, if anyone wants it:

http://misc.ootpdevelopments.com/Bra...ries.quick.zip

[mgom27]

Thanks and I could do Minor League Teams if anybody wants them.

[Padreman]

Now Tony Gwynn will hit .400

[Daletiel]

Originally Posted by mgom27

Thanks and I could do Minor League Teams if anybody wants them.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I would definitely be interested in minor league teams.

And just in general, a big thanks for this getting released. I've been looking for something like this for AGES.

[Hoiles]

Thanks to all for this fantastic quickstart, I've been enjoying the hell out of this league with my '94 Expos, until Larry Walker got injured grrr....

[Cowboys3356]

Not sure if anyone noticed but all of the season awards for this league have already been recorded. So even though the season is not over the awards for the season such as league MVP, gold glove, etc have already been assigned. I think this file is awesome for a single season replay but there are just too many problems with it for use as a long term career game.

[darkcloud4579]

This is cool. Thanks for sharing Markus. If people want to share their enhancements to it, great. Otherwise, just glad Markus decided to share it with us.

[tejdog1]

Hypothetical: If the Expos do win the 94 WS, would they have moved in 2005?

[Carnat]

Originally Posted by tejdog1

Hypothetical: If the Expos do win the 94 WS, would they have moved in 2005?

I live in Montreal and even today, most people can name a lot of players from the '94 team; Lansing, Alou (both Moise and Felipe), Walker, Fletcher, Pedro and Fassero are iconic names even today. There was real enthusiasm about that team as it had one of the smallest payrolls in the majors (27th out of 28) and were performing well above it. Then the strike came and all baseball fans here still feel that they were robbed of a WS.

After 1994, frustration from the strike and .400 seasons made many people stopped following the team. A small resurgence in 1996 when the Expos had a good season but after that, when all the players that were on the 1994 team left, people really lost interest. Combine that with questionable ownership and the team was doomed.

Historically in Montreal, all sports teams (except hockey) must be successful in order to attract people. That included the Expos. Looking at the attendances in the early 1980s, they had some of the biggest crowds in the NL but they had players like Dawson, Raines and Carter.

So to answer the question, I do not think that if the Expos would have won the WS in '94 it would have change something. The main factor for the team changing cities is that the strike prevented the fans from seeing that season thru. Even with a loss in the playoffs, at least there would have been some kind of closure. Everyone old enough here are still bitter from 1994. Montreal really gets a bad rap from other baseball cities but there is a genuine good core of baseball fans. They just got kicked in the teeth during their best chance at a WS.