MLB Playoffs 2011: Why Baseball Needs the Rays and Yankees to Meet in ALCS

Baseball fans witnessed perhaps the greatest season ending games in MLB history on Wednesday night, which was remarkable for a sport losing popularity to football.

The Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals did the unthinkable of winning the Wild Card spot, even though they were eight to 10 games back from first place a month ago.

The Rays were down seven runs last night to the New York Yankees, but they fought hard and won the game in extra innings thanks to a walk-off home run by Evan Longoria.

Tampa will face the Texas Rangers in the first round, also known as the ALDS, and if they win they have the chance to beat either the Yankees or Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. 

The MLB needs the Rays and Yankees to meet in the ALCS to boost ratings and create magic. 

The 2011 MLB Playoffs need to be filled with epic story lines to draw in viewers. With a five game series to start the postseason and then on to a seven game series, the MLB will struggle to get fans to consistently watch the post season, especially on the weekends when football dominates. 

The MLB really needs to cut back their 162 game season so they don't compete against football until at least the postseason. 

Yes, the end of the year was great this year, but even with a shortened season there can still be great races in the final weeks. Players will still play hard because there are fewer games to either make up ground or pull away. 

Without drama, nobody is going to want to watch the postseason this year. Sure, the die-hard fans will watch, but realize that they always watch. 

The MLB needs to grab the casual fan to tune in more than just Game 5 or Game 7.

Having the surprise Rays face the Yankees, their division rival, in the ALCS will do wonders for the sport. The ALCS begins on Saturday and in order for baseball to compete with football, they need the Rays and Yankees square off.

Unfortunately, that probably won't happen because football as taken over as America's favorite sport.