There's a discussion floating around about a reorganization of Major League Baseball. It centers on adding two new expansion teams, then completely resetting the league into four divisions. No more AL/NL. Just N/S/E/W. That I can probably get behind. It's the next part that bugs me. The playoffs will include the four division champs. Fine, I guess. But then there would be EIGHT wild card teams. They would have four one game play-in games to see which four will advance to play the division winners.
Bleh, bleh, bleh, and bleh.
Why? Because I hate playoffs!
This season is actually a pretty decent example of why. In the World Series, we have the Dodgers and Astros. Teams with two of the best three records in baseball during the regular season. It would be hard to say they didn't earn their spot. But, it almost didn't happen. The Astros who were just a game behind the best record in the AL had to win a seventh game of a playoff series to advance. Against a Yankees team who finished the regular season a whopping 10 games behind them!
So, the American League had a 162 game season to give teams the chance to prove who was better. Over that length of time, the Astros showed that they were 11% better than the Yankees. But, baseball decided to throw that away, and let the Yankees have another crack at the Astros.
How is that anywhere close to fair?
The Yankees actually finished the season in fourth place in the American league. What exactly did they do to deserve a shot at the title? They didn't even finish first among the group of teams that make up their so-called division. Even worse? They didn't have to play that team in the playoffs. So, the Yankees were a couple innings away from winning the American League pennant because they were allowed a do-over. They could have advanced by beating two better teams in a shortened fluke of a series. They could have advanced without even having to face the team that proved themselves to be the best team in their division. But, were one game away from the World Series. How?
The Tampa Bay Rays finished the regular season 13 games behind the Red Sox in the East. Imagine if they said "Yeah, we know we were way behind the Red Sox after 162 games. But, how about we play them in a five game series for the division title? We're going to ignore the Yankees, though. It's just going to be us and the Sox, five games for the division."
I hope they'd be laughed out of town.
As they should. Why would they deserve a do-over? It's like a "double or nothing" bet. I know you beat me...how about another chance?
If you're going to let the Yankees do it, though, why not the Rays? Why have the regular season at all? Why not just have a bunch of five game series? (Better yet, use the idea I've mentioned before.)
I get it in some other sports. College football has 100+ teams playing each other. It'd be hard to determine over 11 games who really is better. A playoff of sorts can help. But, MLB has 162 games over six months. There are games at home, games on the road. Games in the sun, the rain, the snow. The heat, the cool. Heathy games, and games dealing with injuries. After all of that, it's pretty easy to see which are the best teams. In the American League, the Astros and Indians showed they were 10% better than every other team in the league. That's pretty significant.
So, why would any other team get the chance to win the American League pennant?
I agree with you. I wish they would do away with the wild cards. The better team over the six month season doesn't get enough credit for that body of work. It's really better now to catch lightning in a bottle at the end of the season and in the playoffs. But more teams and more games mean more revenues and fan interest, so the playoffs will just continue to inflate.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing, the more inflated the playoffs get, the more post season records get held by modern players. That's bugs me too.
I wouldn't even mind so much if the playoffs weren't such a completely different game. You only need three or four starters, not five. The bullpen use is different. Makes you wonder how the Rays would have done if they never needed a fifth starter all season.
DeleteI am seeing a theme here....more sour grapes. The Yankees had to win a sudden death playoff game, beat the hottest team in baseball and were within one game of beating the second best team in the AL to get to the WS.... which trounced your Sox. The Yanks deserved to be in and your boys clearly did not. Yes, playoff baseball is very different, and it should be. The best of the best going toe to toe. It's not the leagues fault that the Sox have chosen to build their roster with players that underachieve when the fire gets hot. They need to realize that and adjust like the rest of the successful playoff teams in the league. The problem is that they are locked in to the biggest offenders. So far Sox big $$ starters = pooping pants in the playoffs....and sour grapes for Sec. 36.
ReplyDeleteI was literally eating grapes while reading this...
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