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Mike4redsox: GO BIG RED! won the Throwdown.

Mike4redsox: GO BIG RED!

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Foosball

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Tournaments Weekly Tourney 5 Round 1-The Top 5 teams in the MLB (list first)


Good Luck Foosball, hopefully it will be another good td between us two.

1. Cubs
2. Rays
3. Angels
4. D-Backs
5. Red Sox


I'm assuming that this is a current list...I'm listing them & putting some logic into why I put them where I did so not to waste the agrument

Ranking (Win-Loss-Win%)

1. Cubs (38-21-.644)
-1st in NL Central, 26-8 @ home just under .500 on the road & a
winning record of 18-15 against the tough NL Central)

2. Angels (36-24-.600)
-1st in AL West (Ahead of the Rays because they have a Winning
record at Home 18-13, on the Road 18-11 & against their
division 10-7)

3. Rays (35-23-.603)
-1st in AL East (I put them ahead of the Red Sox because they are
21-13 against the East but below the Angels because they
below .500 on the Road 11-13)

4. Red Sox (36-25-.590)
-2nd in AL East (only a half game out but only 12-12 against their
Division & a lossing record on the Road 11-13, but have the best
Home Record in Baseball in terms of Winning % 22-5-.815...& they
are the defending Champs)

5. Cardinals (35-25-.583)
-2nd in NL Central (which is the tightest div in baseball right now
Home Record 21-13, Road Record 14-12, & A Winning Record
against the NL Central 18-15, the same as the Cubs)


The Main reason I put the Rays over the Angels is because of their record against their division opponents. Yes the Angels also have a winning record against their division, but the AL West hasn't been playing as well as the East has. In the East, nearly every team is playing around .500 ball, while the West has two teams that are majorly struggling. If you switched the Rays and the Angels divisions' I think the Angels wouldn't have such a good ratio of wins vs. losses against division opponents.

I took the D-backs over the Cardinals for one huge factor... Their pitching. The D-Backs have arguably the best rotation in the Majors, plus a very reliable closer in Brandon Lyon. On the other hand, the Cards do not have a very reliable closer, and not as in depth of a rotation the D-backs have. Both of them have a great offense, but the pitching of Arizona beats out the Cardinals. Plus they are 20-8 against division opponents. I know they're in a weak division, but you can't beat 20-8.


The Angels have a winning record in every category and are therefore more consistant which is why I put them ahead of the Rays.

Angels vs Rays
@ home 18-13 vs 21-10
road 18-11 vs 11-13
day games 10-5 vs 11-6
Night games 26-19 vs 24-17
vs AL East 8-7 vs 21-13
vs AL Central 16-9 vs 5-4
vs AL West 10-7 vs 8-4
vs NL 2-1 vs 1-2

The Angels are above .500 in every one of those categories. The Rays have a Losing Record on the Road & Against the NL. Also the Angels pitching is much better so I had to give them the edge especially with Lackey now back in the rotation. The Rays Starters really drop off after Kazmir and Sheilds and bottom out after Garza and now their closer is out. While the Angels top 4 of Lackey, Santana, Garland and Saunders are 23-8 with K-Rod 23 saves closing things out. The Rays Top 4 of Kazmir, Sheilds, Garza & Sonnanstine are 19-9 & their closer is on the DL.

The Cards are a big surprise this year & are 2nd in the toughest division in baseball and I gave them the edge over the DBacks because of 2 things.

Record vs NL Central (Cards 18-15 vs DBacks 3-8)
Record in 1 run Games (Cards 13-9 vs DBacks 6-9)

So much for your reliable closer arguement!


The Rays have very young talent, and that will come into proof later in the season when they have more experience under their belt... Troy Percival, even though he is on the DL, has mad a great comeback season after his horrendous one last year, and once he's off the DL, he'll be back with winning ways. The Rays have a better record against the Angels division, plus a phenomenal record against their own. The Rays have been better than the Angels so far, though I don't think that will be the case near the end of the season.

The D-Backs offense has been one of the best this year, and against the NL West the Cardinals are 11-9 compared to the D-Backs 20-8. The Diamondbacks also have a nice home record. Once their pitching gets out of their current spunk that they're in the D-Backs should be ready to kick some butt again like they did in April.


"The Rays have very young talent"... that and The Rays have great young talent and will be a contender... Are statements that has been said every year since Carl Crawford made the team back in 2002/2003. But they have never had a winning season in their 10 year history, have never won more than 70 games in a season, and only above 5th once in the AL East.
Sure the Rays are playing well right now CORRECTION were playing well, but the slide has already begun (lost last 2 games) and the Red Sox took over 1st place in the East last night.
Right Now I would switch ranking positions between the Rays and Red Sox given that fact.

And sure the DBacks were hot in April but this is June. But they are 2-8 in their last 10 games and have lost 3 in a row and are 6-9 in 1 run games. That hardly seems like a top 5 team.
The Cards are 3 games back of the Cubs, have matched the Cubs 18-15 record against the NL Central and have a winning record at home and on the road. All this without their ace starting Pitcher Carpenter and with a patchwork starting rotation and with Pujols having an MVP like year so far. It seems a shame to put the Cards as low as 5th.

Comments (3)

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Hmm. The Cards play in the better division, and have 3 more wins than Arizona. St. Louis has a winning record on the road while the D-Backs are only dominant at home.

I don't see how you can argue that a poorer team in a weaker division with a worse road record could possibly be better.

And either way, putting Arizona above Boston is even worse.

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I think the Phils should be there somewhere. Definitely better than D-Backs. Probably better than Rays and Cards. Not much difference between the rest of the top teams.

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Gotta go right on this one. Foosball gave better arguments.

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