The three divison winners are sit, but I think the wildcard has it too easy. The next best two teams out of the three divisions play a three game series in the better teams park then get one travel day to play whom ever they are to face in the playoffs. Call it wildcard weekend! Currently the MLB wildcard is treated like a divison winner. BS! Make themk earn it! Your thoughts on the wildcard.....
2007-03-29 15:54:32 · 13 answers · asked by mickey n 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
The season is too long as it is. I remember when you had to win the pennant outright to go to the world series. Now, with divisional play the playoffs are watered down way too much. Just look at the Cardinals. Because of a really lousy playoff system an 83-78 regular season team ends up winning the series. That's "wild card" enough for me.
2007-03-29 21:13:24 · answer #1 · answered by Yankee Dude 6 · 7⤊ 0⤋
With today's set-up of a 162 games season and 3 rounds of post-season baseball, you are all ready going into late October when ideal baseball weather conditions are no longer present in most northern cities, such Detroit, Chicago, New York and Boston, all of whom have seen recent playoff teams.
If you add another round of games into the playoff mix, you are pushing things back at least a few days even further. Last year in Detroit and St. Louis we saw weather conditions that were not conducive to quality baseball in either city, and it affected the game play.
So with that in mind, I personally don't like anything that pushes baseball back even further into the mid-Fall.
I do like Kesokram's idea on the wild card scenario. My only modification to that would be why not take a look at the second place team who has the best head-to-head record against the division winners. That way the wild card is determined by which team played the best against the three division winners. I think that's a better mark of which should truly be the wild card. How did you measure up to the 3 teams that won their respective divisions.
I think this is a theory where you can get the best possible match-ups on paper in the post-season.
2007-03-29 17:54:47 · answer #2 · answered by Baltimore Birds Fan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe the three division winners, one wild card team playoff format is vastly superior to the no division, no playoff, whoever is ahead at the end of 162 games wins the pennant format with which I grew up, but let's leave it how it is. The NBA and NHL playoff format is a joke, and renders much of the regular season meaningless other than for seeding purposes. The seasons are too long as it is, and goodness knows 162 games is already long enough in baseball.
I do believe, however, that the wild card should be decided not by who has the best remaining record, but by who has the best head-to-head record against the other second place finishers. This would eliminate the possibility of a second place team from a weak division that has won more games than a second place team from a stronger division going to the playoffs instead. A hypothetical example: Who do you think would be a stronger second place team, the second place team from the NL West, or a second place team from the NL East? Most likely NL East, but the west team might have a better won-loss record than the east team, because it has played a lot of games against inferior competition.
By simply tweaking the present system without adding any more games to an already long schedule, the four team format is still the preferrable way to go.
2007-03-29 17:02:52 · answer #3 · answered by Kesokram 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The wildcards DO have it too easy, even Selig has commented on that. Wildcards won the series 2002-2004, and in 2002, both teams, the Giants and Angels were both wildcards. There has been some speculation that soon wildcards will have no home games in the postseason until they reach the World Series, and it makes sense. Wildcard teams were not good enough to win their division, they are second best, and often they have the fourth best record in the league. In the NFL, the wildcard teams don't have home games against division winners, why should MLB? The road for them should be just a little bit harder.
Also, it annoys me that MVP's seem to come from wildcard winners most of the time now. Shouldn't a player be awarded for leading his team to a division title?
2007-03-29 16:45:45 · answer #4 · answered by Jeffrey S 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
baseball playoffs are already long enough....the current way suits me fine. The only thing I'd like to see them change is take the tope four teams in each league....divisions don't matter. If the four best teams all reside in the same division, then so be it...It is stupid that a .500 SD Padre team makes it to the playoffs a coupla years ago just because they won their weak division. On the flip side...I guess St. Louis wouldn't have made the playoffs last year had those rules been i place. What do I know? Keep the current system.
2007-03-29 16:22:51 · answer #5 · answered by Tom S 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Wild Card is technically their to make the playoffs even. And yes the do have to earn that World Series spot. They play the top team in their league, that's a pretty tough game.
2007-03-30 15:05:21 · answer #6 · answered by Jake 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree, except I think the wildcard playoff should be just one game. If the division winners sit around for too long, it will put them at a disadvantage because they'll get rusty.
2007-03-29 16:39:11 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Surprisingly this sounds like a good idea. Everybody wins. More teams get a chance, franchises make more money, the playoffs are longer for baseball fans, and it gives a slight advantage to the teams that earned their spots by winning their divisions. I think they should really look into that.
2007-03-29 17:57:01 · answer #8 · answered by Brek 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think they let all the teams make the playoffs. We will have baseball all winter. just like basketball last most of the summer now.
2007-04-01 21:09:12 · answer #9 · answered by Mike W 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The playoff system is fine.
2007-03-29 21:18:24 · answer #10 · answered by skisram 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋