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The final two weeks of baseball’s regular season are upon us, with the Dodgers behind the San Francisco Giants by one game in the National League West. The division title is up for grabs, and with it home ground advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Giants (97-53) and Dodgers (96-54) have the best records in Major League Baseball, but the team that finishes second in the NL West will be a wild card team. If that team is the Dodgers, the NL wildcard game – the NL’s first playoff game – would take place at Dodger Stadium on October 6.
It would be the only time in the National League playoffs where the Dodgers would have the field advantage. If the Dodgers win, they would advance to the Divisional Series, where a wild card team is not allowed to have the advantage on the field. Regardless: the Giants would have a better record.
If the Dodgers won the Division Series, they would advance to the League Championship Series, where a wild side is not allowed to have the advantage on the field. The Dodgers would almost certainly have a better record than the Milwaukee Brewers (91-58) or any other team emerging from the mediocrity that is the NL East, but whatever: no field for a wild card.
Until the World Series, that is.
In the World Series, the team with the better record gets home court advantage.
The Tampa Bay Rays (92-58) have the best record in the American League but, barring a late Tampa Bay push, the Dodgers wild-card would get home ground advantage in the World Series against anybody. which team AL.
If the Dodgers beat the Giants in the NL West, they would gain home ground advantage throughout the playoffs. But, even if they don’t, they would get home ground advantage in the World Series – if they could.
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