The Playoffs. It’s why we play the game! For the chance to play into October – the chance to be crowned Champion of our league.
Here's what you need to know about the CSFBL playoff model – tie-breakers, how the playoffs work, and everything else.
The top two teams from each of the four divisions make the playoffs – the division winner and the runner-up. Tiebreaker rules are based on the following:
1.) Overall record
2.) Division record
3.) Head-to-head record
4.) Run differential
5.) Coin flip
In the event of a 3-way tie, the list goes from division record straight to run differential, skipping over head-to-head.
CSFBL uses a three-series playoff model. Each round is a maximum of 7 games, in other words, the first team to win 4 games wins the series. There are "travel days" in between Games 2 and 3 as well as between Games 5 and 6. The team with home-field advantage hosts games 1, 2, 6 and 7.
* Division Championship: The four Division Championship Series (DCS) each feature the division winner playing the runner-up from that division. The division winner has home-field advantage. Game 1's are held each season on September 30th.
* League Championship: The two League Championship Series (LCS) each feature the winners of the first round with divisions 1 and 2 matched against each other, and divisions 3 and 4 facing each other in the other LCS. Home-field advantage goes to the team with the best won-lost record. In the event of a tie, home-field is determined by the head-to-head record in the 9 regular season games between these two inter-division opponents. Game 1s are held each season on October 10th.
* World Series: The two winners of the League Championship Series are Pennant winners of their conference and heading to the World Series. Home-field advantage goes to the team with the best won-lost record. In the event of a tie, home-field is determined by the head-to-head record in the 3 regular season games between these two inter-conference opponents. The Fall Classic kicks off each season with Game 1 on October 20th.
With extra days off and a long off-season to rest, managing a pitching rotation in the playoffs is different than managing a pitching rotation in the regular season. Here are some suggestions for managing your pitching staff in the postseason: