On 28 Dec 96, Mark Wohlers K'd Paige Miller for saying:
 TM>> But what if you're the White Sox and your "natural rival" is the Cubs,
 TM>>  who are having a horrible year, and Kansas City's "natural rival" is
 TM>> the Cardinals, who are having a fantastic year?  Do you think that's
 TM>> fair to the Royals and their playoff chances?
 PM> 
 PM> I don't think this is a valid objection. You could make the same point
 PM> about leaving the leagues alone. Some years, you are going to be in a
 PM> tough division, and a very good record will not be good enough for
 PM> first place. Other years, you will be in a very weak division and you
 PM> could get into the playoffs with a record barely over .500.
 PM> Restructuring neither accentuates nor alleviates this problem.
Bad, bad analogy.  If you're in a tough division, that means the rest of your 
division is also in a tough division, so you have no disadvantage.  Because 
of the moronic balanced schedule, you're not even at a disadvantage for the 
wildcard, because the other divisions have the same schedule you do.
So how can you compare this with the disadvantage that would be created by 
one team playing a tougher schedule than someone in their own division?  That 
would be patently unfair.  There is nothing unfair about losing a division 
title in a tough division when all teams in that division have the same 
schedule.
... (^:b Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Avery, Neagle d:^)
--- JetMail 0.99beta22
---------------