Well, That Was Quick

As you all know, the Yankees, Dodgers and Angels eliminated the Twins, Cardinals and Red Sox in 3-0 series.  One thing to be said about these outcomes is that they eliminate a lot of doubt about who the better team was in each of these first-round series.

I’m not a big fan of the five-game post-season series.  I think that MLB ought to reduce the regular season to 160 games and make each of the three post-season series best-of-seven contests.  My main complaint with the five-game series is that any of the eight teams that makes the post-season and gets hot at the right time can beat any other team in a best-of-five series, which kind of defeats the idea that the best team in baseball ultimately goes all the way and wins the World Series.

Best-of-seven, I’ll admit, isn’t much better in that regard, but it is better.  Also, it has become the time-tested post-season match-up to determine championships.  As I’m sure you’re aware, in the 19th Century and at various times in the early years of the modern World Series (1903, 1919-1921), longer series were tried (best-of-nine, for example) and ultimately discontinued in favor of the best-of-seven series that has been used for the World Series since 1922.

The only problem I can see with a best-of-seven series in the first round is that the first round doesn’t generate a whole lot of interest outside of the eight teams actually playing.  Even as a seasoned baseball fan, I find myself more interested in and following more closely the league championship series than I do in the first round.  Part of this is due to the fact that the first round is only on cable, rather than free TV (I’m one of those weird hold-outs who just can’t see paying to watch TV).  However, I don’t think I’m alone in this, and I suspect it will be the reason that the first round remains a best-of-five affair for years to come.

I was a bit surprised that the Cardinals went out with such a wimper.  However, as others have noted, the Cardinals went 7-14 in their last 21 regular season games; and despite their great starting pitching and Pujols and Holladay in the middle of their line-up, they went cold at the wrong time.  The Dodgers have a very good team, but I was surprised they won the series so easily given their spotty starting pitching in the second half.  Their lack of starting depth may cost them more in the best-of-seven NLCS.

One other thing worth noting: the Yankees took advantage of having the best record in baseball to force the Twins to play at the new Yankee Stadium the next day after the Twins beat the Tigers in an extra inning night-game in Minneapolis.  Needless to say, the Twins lost that first game and never really recovered.

Frankly, although the Twins are the only team in the AL play-offs I have any strong fondness for, I don’t feel at all bad that the Yankees got to make the decision forcing the Twins to play on short rest, since the Yanks finished with the best regular-season record in baseball.  The team with the best record in each league should get some advantages in the post-season.

In Japan, for example, the team with the best record in each league has to win fewer games in the “challenge” or play-off series in each league than their opponents in order to advance to the Japan Series.  This makes it very difficult for the second or third place teams to make it to the Japan Series, which is not necessarily a bad thing, since the first-place team was obviously the best team in the league for the long, regular season.

I’m not suggesting that MLB adopt such a weighted-series formula, like Japan, but I don’t have any hard feelings about the best team in each league getting the opportunity to choose the date on which they play their first post-season game either.