I'm a Matt Holliday fan. I'm not a Ryan Howard fan.
Yet, I don't understand how Holliday gets the RBI title by playing in the wild card play-in game. It isn't a playoff game, but it isn't really a regular season game either.
Holliday did not do anything to deserve an extra game. Howard is actually punished by the Phils winning the NL East title. If only the Phils had lost, there would have been a play-in game against the Mets, and we'd be able to compare Holliday's RBI total to Howard's on an apples-to-apples basis.
If Holliday had overtaken a player on a non-playoff team, perhaps we could call this extra game "earned" by Holliday's contribution to Rockies wins all season. But when his competition for the title is already in the playoffs, it makes no sense to give Holliday the title.
