i think its very unfair that the AL west has only 4 teams and every year one of them has the priviledge of being one of the 4 playoff teams. dont tell me that the winner of that division celebrates first place? wow beating THREE teams thats an enormous accomplishment!!
2007-07-06 22:56:01 · 11 answers · asked by nikos k 1 in Sports ➔ Baseball
After playing 162 games, nearly twice as many as hockey or basketball, who wants to potentially play 26 more? The games tend to run longer, once a player is removed from the game, they can't return, and there aren't extended breaks between innings. Football has a much shorter schedule, and all playoff series are 1 and done.
2007-07-06 23:12:30 · answer #1 · answered by New York Nightmare 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, the NFL only has 6 teams from each conference, not 8. The top 2 teams in each conference get an automatic bye into the second round.
Second, baseball has the longest season of any sport as it is one of 2 North American sport able to be played for more than 2 consecutive days at a time, except that feat would be harder in basketball due to not playing series against other teams. 162 games is enough to decide who the best 4 teams are.
Third, do not trash the AL West. There have been some years where it has been the strongest division in baseball. Because they don't have that 5th team in their division, they have to play extra games against an AL Central or East opponent.
Fourth, and finally, every North American professional sport puts their division winners in the playoffs, no matter their record. In football, they are ranked 1 through 4, with the 5th and 6th place teams being Wild Cards. In basketball, they are guaranteed a top-4 ranking if they win one of the three divisions in their conference. In hockey, the division winners are given the top 3 seeds in the playoffs, with the next 5 places being determined by points (wins are 2, overtime and shootout losses count for 1, and regulation losses count for zero). The only difference is that baseball is the only one with an odd number of teams and can't make even divisions without having continual interleague games (or 1 NL and AL team would always be off for a series if they had 15 teams in each league).
2007-07-07 04:48:39 · answer #2 · answered by Kaotik29 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I actually do see your point about the AL West, especially when you look at the NL Central, which has 6 teams. The reason for that is that they want each league to be an even number, the AL has 14, the NL has 16. I heard somewhere they do that because they want every team to be playing on the weekends, I don't know if that's true.
As for the 8 teams, there is twice as many games in the season as hockey/basketball. I believe it has a lot to do with pitchers, they worry about the pitchers blowing out their arms. And then you consider that right now the World Series ends near the end of October, spring training starts in March. They need those months to rest for the next season.
Lastly, unlike other sports, baseball is a sport that carries great tradition. Generally they hate changing anything about baseball. The wild card is still pretty new and when they first introduced it, people had a huge fit over it. Interleague play is in it's 10th year, I believe, and people still complain about it. They hate to change things in baseball. It would take a miracle for them to add a second wild card, let alone 8 teams to the playoffs.
2007-07-07 00:17:25 · answer #3 · answered by mestndahead 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's too long a season, and they'd be playing with snow in the World Series.
5-5-7-7
Nahh...each 5 game series takes at least a week-week and a half for all teams to finish.
And it is an enormous accomplishment over such an incredibly long and strenuous season. Where you travel from places like Boston all the way to Toronto or Minnesota after a night game, for another night game the next day.
2007-07-07 02:37:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I agree, it does seem unfair, but if 16 teams went to the playoffs, it would take FOREVER! In football, one game is all it takes to decide who goes forward. It baseball, they have 5 games in the first round, then 7 games, then 7 in the series. You'll have to add an extra round! Look at the 2006 World Series, which went into late October because of rain delays. It was freezing cold by that time!
2007-07-07 04:19:38 · answer #5 · answered by Elise 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the playoffs are already goin into November. If you have to have a couple of additional rounds they would be playin in December. The only way around it would be to shorten the season(which I hope they never do!)
Remember the wild card is a relatively new thing. Used to only the winners of each division made the playoffs. It was really tough then.
2007-07-07 03:32:09 · answer #6 · answered by inquisitive1 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Four teams from each league is enough to determine who will eventually be world champion. I don't think any of us want to see the world series played at Christmas time. The enormous accomplishment is not necessarily having to beat three other teams, it is having to play 162 games to become one of the top three and earn the right to play for the championship.
2007-07-07 02:01:57 · answer #7 · answered by Frizzer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
MLB teams play a 162 game schedule. Including opponents in other divisions and, in the past few years, the other league as well. There will always be pundits saying one division is weaker than another . . .it can't be avoided.
Look at the NFL. They play, what, 16 games?!? How can a team claim to be "The Best" when they don't play every team in their OWN conference?
MLB's 162 games is a serious test.
2007-07-06 23:18:42 · answer #8 · answered by harmonv 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That format would take too long. they would still be playing in November
2007-07-07 01:12:01 · answer #9 · answered by Scott W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why should baseball care what the lesser sports do?
2007-07-07 12:11:32 · answer #10 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋