Magic In The Air

For weeks the EHCC has been divided. Everyone knew who was making the playoffs. Everyone knew who wasn't. Things aren't so crystal clear anymore, thanks to Tijuana's surge and Santo Domingo's struggles. With only one team eliminated for contention and five teams switching seedings each week, the race for the playoffs is heating up.

Magic numbers are fun to think about, no matter how far off from the playoffs the season may be. Whether a team's number is 40 six week out or 12 three weeks out doesn't matter. Fans everywhere are calculating what their team has to do to clinch that spot. And for the top tier teams it doesn't end there. The coveted first round bye is always on the upper echelon of teams' minds, even after lcinching the playoffs spot. 

"Anything can happen in the playoffs. A good team can be knocked out and a lesser team can get lucky. It's anyone's game. That's why that first round bye is so important, especially with all the playoff bound teams looking for equal this year," Las Vegas Doggs' GM Howe Dogg told reporters after their 8-2 win over Weymouth in Week 19. 

The Doggs currently have the easiest road to the playoffs, simply needing 12.5 wins of their own, or combined Vegas wins and Tijuana losses, to clinch a playoff spot but their eyes are on the top seed, which they are currently 4.5 games up on the Western Division leading Rio De Janerio Cristos. 

The Doggs have held onto the the top seed for a majority of the season but they know as well as anyone that things could change at any time, so even with the league's easiest final 3 weeks (games against Bridgewater, Arlington, and Augusta) they aren't taking it easy. The Santo Domingo All-Star factory is a perfect example to show how things can go from great to terrible in just a couple weeks. 

Santo Domingo was sitting pretty on top of the Western Division for a good portion of the 2012 season. Currently they sit just seven games up on the 7th seeded Tijuana Hispanics. They've only won one of their last five match ups, going a combined 18-28-4 in the last five weeks. Santo Domingo can't wait for the heavy hitters David Ortiz and Jose Bautista to come back from injury as their season may depend on it. Tijuana on the other hand has a nice four game unbeaten streak going, and the two teams are scheduled to match up against each other in Week 20, which could end up being the most decisive match up of the season. 

Magic numbers aren't always magical. The Dublin Snake Chasers currently have a magic number of 4.5 - they need 4.5 losses to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. As of the completion of Week 19, only the Bridgewater Weasels have been completely eliminated, though its a pretty uphill battle for a majority of team in the bottom half. Now The Weasels are focused on their new magic number - 22.5. They need 22.5 losses to clinch the top overall draft pick in the 2013 MaDraft, and the top odds in the 2013 MiDraft. 

Here's a full list of each team's magic numbers after the conclusion of Week 19:

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