Where Are the Pennant Races? Cut The Wild Card!

They say you can never have too much of a good thing.  However, since 1995, there has been one too many teams entering the MLB playoffs, ruining what was once the greatest month in sports.

Baseball has always been the best sport when it comes to their postseason, only allowing pennant winners until the 1960s, division champions until the mid '90s and even today, giving only four teams in each league a chance at the Fall Classic. 

By comparison, the NFL allows six of 16 teams in each conference a chance at the Super Bowl, and in the NHL and NBA, it is like Little League: everybody in.

Yet, since Bud Selig's brainchild was created post-1994 strike, four of the 14 world champions crowned have been wild card winners and nine of the 28 pennant winners didn't win their division. 

Even worse, three straight wild cards won the World Series from 2002-2004, wild card teams appeared in every Series from 02-07 and the 2002 Series featured both wild card teams.

While many believe that this new system has helped encourage parity in baseball, I believe it ruins the great October pennant races of years past.

Take this year for example.  Both wild card leaders (Red Sox and Rockies) have all but given up on division crowns because they would still get postseason berths.

Imagine if they didn't have the wild card to fall back on.  Both of these teams, while very talented, would have to fight the Yankees and Dodgers tooth-and-nail instead of just relaxing.

How do we solve this?

Simple.

Cut the wild card.

Instead of four teams, limit it to three: the three division winners.

This serves two purposes.

One, it forces each team to fight for their division crown rather than getting the wild card as a consolation prize.

Second, and more importantly, it gives more incentive to finish as the top seed in each league.

The way its set up now, it doesn't matter if you are first or fourth: you still have to start the playoffs on the same day. 

Under my plan, the regular season league winner goes straight to the ALCS while the two other division winners fight it out in a best of five series.  That way, winning in the regular season is rewarded at the end.

Will this ever fly?

No.  Baseball would never cut its playoffs because there is too much money to be had.

But would it revive October as the stretch run in baseball and the best month in American sports?

Yes.