The American League postseason so far has taken on a Wayne Rooney-esque attraction to playing away from home. 

The Minnesota Twins went 53-28 in their first season at Target Field and earning home field advantage for their American League Division Series (ALDS) against the New York Yankees was cited as a big reason why they might avenge last year’s 3-0 sweep at the same stage against the same opponents.  The Tampa Bay Rays played well regardless of the venue during the regular season (49-32 at home, 47-34 on the road), but the unique nature of their domed stadium could also be seen as something to give them an edge over the Texas Rangers.

It hasn’t played out that way in either case.  The Twins and Rays head into today’s games in New York and Texas on the brink of being swept out of the playoffs.  From the bits of games I’ve watched/listened to and reading the reports, it’s fair to surmise that neither Minnesota nor Tampa Bay have played particularly well and ultimately that is what matters. 

Home field advantage can help you play well, but it’s far from a certainty to boost a team’s performance and when it comes to the second game of these best-of-five divisional series, home field advantage can become a burden.  If you lose the opener at home, Game Two becomes a ‘must win’ affair.  You’ve barely started the series and are already staring disaster in the face.  Meanwhile the road team can play with the freedom that they’re guaranteed a split at least and will have a chance to clinch the series at home regardless of what happens in the second game.

A tale of two pitchers

There was a clear contrast in Game Two in each series regarding the efforts of a pitcher who has struggled of late. 

The Rays’ James Shields produced an erratic performance, lasting just 4.1 innings and throwing the ball away on a pick-off attempt to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead, and he hasn’t pitched well since his first ten starts of the season (6.31 ERA in 24 appearances since then).  Meanwhile the Yankees’ Andy Pettitte put his recent injury problems to one side with seven strong innings. 

Umpires under the microscope again

We’ve also had plenty of controversy as both the Twins’ Ron Gardenhire and the Rays’ Joe Maddon were thrown out for arguing umpiring decisions that were both wrong and costly.  We are supposed to have the best umpires in the postseason, but increasingly in recent years the post-game discussions are focusing on their mistakes. 

When I get back into the routine of writing book reviews over the offseason, one of the first will be a review of Bruce Weber’s ‘As They See Them’, an excellent voyage into the world of umpiring.  The technology now available to TV companies, and therefore us viewers, makes an umpire’s job look much easier than it really is.  

Watching the slow-motion replay of the Yankees’ Greg Golson reaching out towards Delmon Young’s line drive in the play that would have ended Game One, it looks like he caught the ball.  I doubt anyone jumping on the umpires after that game would have been so confident in making the call if they had seen it once in real-time speed while standing on the field.  And that’s before we get into the topic of whether a 2D image always allows you to judge conclusively a trapped/caught play. Research has shown in cricket that if the camera isn’t at the right angle, it can look like the fielder has got his fingers under the ball when in fact it has just bounced short.  Perhaps the use of gloves would make that less of a problem in baseball though.

So do we increase the use of instant replay?  And if so, in what way?  Those are questions for an offseason debate, although I’ll once again place on record my strong dislike of player/manager challenges in this context (in brief: the argument for using technology is to get the decision right and that shouldn’t be affected by a player or manager’s ability to judge when to use a challenge or not).

The games today

Hopefully the two games today will not include any controversial umpiring calls and, from a neutral’s point of view, the Rays and Twins can rally to take their respective series into a fourth game at least. 

If the Rays do beat the Rangers, Game Four of that series will be broadcast live on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra tomorrow evening from 18.00.  If the Rangers clinch but the Twins stay alive against the Yankees, it’s possible that the BBC will alter their schedule and broadcast the Twins-Yankees game live after the NFL game has finished.

If both the Rangers and Yankees win tonight, Rays and Twins fans will bemoan a short, sharp end to their season and we’ll be left with no MLB game on UK radio tomorrow evening. 

So if you’re not a Rangers or Yankees fan, it’s time to “root, root, root for the road team”.  [EDIT: actually, if both ALDS are completed tonight, they’ll be broadcasting the Phillies-Reds game at 1 a.m.  Still, it would be good if the Rays and Twins can make a fight of it anyway]

Today’s Rays-Rangers game begins at 22.07 BST, while first pitch of the Twins-Yankees game is set for 01.37 a.m.  Both are available via ESPN America or the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com.