As a baseball traditionalist, I despise the current postseason format in its entirety.
In 1994, it was announced that there was going to be three divisions with a best-of-five League Division Series to determine the two teams to compete in the best-of-seven LCS, instead of having two divisions and a best-of-seven League Championship Series to determine the pennant winner.
To complete the format, each league was going to have a wild card spot for the best non-division leading team. Thus, an extra round of playoffs was born, the League Division Series (LDS).
But, perhaps a better word for the first round is LSD because it is SO INSANELY STUPID!
The LDS has imposed parity in the postseason format that did not exist before.
Even though I am a traditionalist, I had no problem with LCS play from two division winners prior to 1994. At least fans could be assured that two quality teams were competing for the pennant.
However, with the introduction of the LDS, sometimes the best team does not get to represent its league in the World Series. The Wild Card team receives footing equal to that of the No. 1 team in the entire league.
In each World Series since 2002, at least one wild card team has appeared in the Fall Classic.
In 2002, the World Series featured two wild card teams: Angels (AL) v. Giants (NL). The Angels won the World Series in seven games.
In 2003, the National League pennant winner was a wild card team: Yankees (AL) v. Marlins (NL). The Marlins won in six games in the World Series.
In 2004, the American League pennant winner was a wild card team: Red Sox (AL) v. St. Louis Cardinals (NL). The Red Sox won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
In 2005, the National League pennant winner was a wild card team: White Sox (AL) v. Astros (NL). The White Sox won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
In 2006, the American League pennant winner was a wild card team: Tigers (AL) v. Cardinals (NL). The Cardinals won the World Series in five games.
In 2007, the National League pennant winner was a wild card team: Red Sox (AL) v. Rockies (NL). The Red Sox won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Why have the wild card teams been able to do so very well in the playoffs? I can offer three specific reasons:
1. The LDS is a best-of-five series, which is WAY TOO SHORT. It should be at the very least a best-of-seven series!
2. The wild card team should face the No. 1 team in its league. However, there is a rule that if the No. 1 team in the league happens to be in the same division as the wild card team, the wild card team faces the No. 2 team in the league in the LDS and the No. 1 team faces the No. 3 team.
That is stupid! It actually punishes the No. 1 team who has to face a division winning team in the opening round.
3. Parity in the playoff format gives no advantage to the No. 1 team in the league.
Here is my solution: Get rid of the wild card completely. Keep the divisions the way they are and have three division winners per league!
The No. 1 team should be given an automatic berth in the LCS. That team will face the winner of a best-of-seven LDS between the No. 2 and No. 3 teams.
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4 months ago
Good article, but you completely ignore the fact that the #1 team in each league has home field advantage in the first two rounds. Saying that "the best team does not get to represent each league" is absurd, because the wild card teams that make to the WS have to win the first two rounds with no home field advantage. Just because a team is the #1 seed does not make it the "best team in the league". If that were the case, why would they even have the ALCS or NLCS? Even if you win your division, you still have to win in the playoffs...that's how it is in all of sports. I'm sorry, but if you can't win 3 out of 5 games against an opponent, then you deserve to out of the playoffs. The teams that get the key wins deserve to move on. Also, in the playoff system you devise, there would be WAY too much time off for the top seed (probably more than a week, plus a few days normally used between the end of the regular season and the playoffs). This could easily lead to rust, and managers want to keep their players and pitchers in good game shape and mentality.
I will admit that the "same division in the first round" rule needs to be reworked. Maybe the top seed should get to pick who they play in the first round.
3 months ago
This would never fly, simply because basketball and football already give us MONTHS of playoffs, which is absurd, but the advertisers and fans love this, because it's supposedly more entertaining and definitely more profitable. I can see your point, especially regarding the #1 team getting some advantage; how to give that advantage is the difficult part.
Some have suggested two wildcard teams per league, and they play a 3 game set before the LDS and LCS start; I like that idea. But I noticed something about your layout of wildcard teams. While it proves that the wildcard makes the playoffs often enough, it doesn't prove that they win. 2002 both teams were wildcards, but look at their styles of play and realize there's a number of reasons they were only wildcards -- Late emergence of K-Rod and John Lackey for the Angels, for one side.
Then in '03, as a Cubs fan I can tell you the Marlins "deserved" to be in the Series by blind luck, sheer fate, coincidence, a curse, or simply their ability to capitalize on a momentum swing, but let's not forget they hired and fired a manager that year, and were a different team after that point.
'04, the team of destiny ran the table on the Angels, dug a hole and climbed out against the Yankees, and steamrolled the Cards.
'05, Astros needed seven games to get through the Cards, and then missed Clemens and Oswalt DEARLY in that Series, allowing the almighty foursome to complete game them to death.
'06, the Cards were a pathetic excuse for a pennant winner, straggling to 83 wins, yet they still trounced the Tigers, the WC team, from the stronger league.
'07, the Rockies were punished, not by the Phillies or the D'backs, but first by the Padres in a 13 inning game numbering 163, then through all of '08 so far. Playing that many games down the stretch not only left them ill-equipped to defeat the mighty Sox, but it also took a toll on their team over the offseason... the 6 month layoff destroy the chemistry from their run, and key injuries crippled the team's hope at repeating.
Great discussion topic, I'm surprised to see no comments.
9 days ago
A solution would be to have four divisions of four teams in each league. Each division winner makes the playoffs and it is seeded by record. Come to think of it, the National League has 16 teams, so they could do that next year. They would be the "smarter" (though not better) league by far with pitchers batting and no wild card.
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