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November 11, 2010

Expanded Playoffs For 2012?

Michael Weiner, the new head of the Players Association, says "a substantial segment" of players are open to adding additional wild card teams, extending the division series to a best-of-seven, and possibly shortening the regular season. The current CBA expires on December 11, 2011.

Commissioner Bud Selig has expressed a desire for two more playoff teams.
Is eight out of 30 enough? Is that fair? And that's the basic question here, at least for me. Two more would give us 10, and 10 out of 30 I still think is a rational mix.
Selig said that while he is a devotee of a shorter season, "you can be assured the clubs do not want a shorter season. No sense misleading each other about all that."

If I was the Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler of MLB, we would have:
a balanced schedule of 162 games
two divisions in each league
no interleague games
no wild cards
no division series
no DH
Of course, I know that just about everything on the list has 0% chance of happening.

Also re Selig, Deadspin asks:
Is there a better summation of the Bud Selig Era than the fact that the man himself recently declared in a letter, "I really believe that Abner Doubleday is the 'Father of Baseball'"?

22 comments:

  1. The only proposal in this whole thing I agree with is making the Divisional Series a best of 7.

    Why add more teams with worse records to the mix? 8 of 30 is more than fine.

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  2. Pretty damned cold in Fenway in frippin November or whenever under this new proposal the RS would clinch the 2012 Series. December?

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  3. I saw a copy of that letter stating his view on Doubleday...

    sigh

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  4. I hate the way the playoffs call for a different team than the regular season does. Suddenly depth in the rotation and on the roster is meaningless, even if it was a key factor in getting to the playoffs. I can't decide if more playoff games makes a bad thing worse, or tilts it back to rewarding the best team...not the best two pitchers. I'm leaning towards the latter.

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  5. I've always assumed the first round of playoffs would eventually to 7 games. It should - really, it must.

    And when that happens, the season has to be shortened. I think it should be shortened with or without a 7-game DS, but certainly with.

    I don't see these two points as being particularly controversial, except in the way that any change in any sport creates a brief period of controversy.

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  6. I hate the way the playoffs call for a different team than the regular season does. Suddenly depth in the rotation and on the roster is meaningless, even if it was a key factor in getting to the playoffs.

    But that has been the case from the beginning of baseball, including when there was only a WS and no playoffs at all.

    In most sports, what gets you into the playoffs is not necessarily the same factors that wins you playoffs.

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  7. I hate the way the playoffs call for a different team than the regular season does. Suddenly depth in the rotation and on the roster is meaningless, even if it was a key factor in getting to the playoffs.

    It has always been thus, no? Battle for six months in 1906 or 1934 or 1952, win the pennant, and then it's a sprint to four wins in 5-9 days.

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  8. Which is why I've never equated "winner of last game" with "best team." Take the Mariners earlier this year. They were an awful team. But, with King Felix and Cliff Lee, they could have dominated the playoffs. Not sure how that helps decide anything.

    Heck, even Jeter the Cheater said the hottest team wins the playoffs...not the best.

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  9. If you added two teams this year the Red Sox and the White Sox from the AL and San Diego and Atlanta from the NL.....Were these actually playoff teams in anyones minds?

    I feel as though this is never brought up without the Rays recent success, because what baseball wants is the Red Sox and Yankes in it every year, they both bring a lot of fans and a lot of money.......

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  10. Which is why I've never equated "winner of last game" with "best team."

    I think that's widely known, certainly by serious fans. But that's the way the game is structured. The championship is still the championship. Nothing should dampen or lessen that.

    Jeter the Cheater? Oy.

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  11. I feel as though this is never brought up without the Rays recent success, because what baseball wants is the Red Sox and Yankes in it every year, they both bring a lot of fans and a lot of money.......

    I think it was inevitable.

    Oh hey! "Inevitable"

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  12. I'll be sick if they do this. I adjusted pretty quick to the 1 wild card and the extra round of games. I think having 8 in makes sense. There are usually 8 worthy teams. Almost always more than 4. But in my opinion, to expand it past 8, even though that's a long way from 16, gets us into that NBA/NFL world where the regular season becomes simply an exercise in surviving and being just good enough to advance. That's one of the many reasons I think baseball is the superior sport. Well, 1 among many. But let's not diminish that 1.

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  13. There are usually 8 worthy teams. Almost always more than 4. But in my opinion, to expand it past 8

    Speaking of worthy:

    The 1909 Cubs went 104-49 -- 8 more wins than the AL pennant winning Tigers. But they finished 6.5 GB because the Pirates were 110-42!

    The Cubs had almost the exact same record the next season -- 104-50 -- and won the pennant by 13 games!

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  14. So, if the best teams don't always win the playoffs, and we don't want to exclude any deserving teams, why not go the college football route. a short regular season, followed by a playoff schedule where everyone makes the playoffs...or at least enough make it to have a workable bracket. The regular season decides the match-ups. The winner gets to call itself the tournament champion. But, the world championship would be decided in the regular season. That way more teams could hang out banners on opening day.

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  15. Based on your earlier comments, Section 36, I assume this is sarcasm.

    It's true that the best team doesn't always win the WS. I don't see that as good or bad, merely a fact, and it's not new to this era. That was my point. What's yours?

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  16. I have no point. I often have no point. That's part of my charm.

    It wasn't sarcasm as much as defeatist. I agree with you, the playoffs have always been there. They've always been crowning champions that weren't always the best team. So, if baseball wants to expand this invitational tournament, they might as well just go for it, but do it right.

    I've reached a similar point on the all-star game. If they want to make it about popularity and not about being good, that's fine. Just do it right, and don't dare use all-star game appearances as qualification to the hall of fame.

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  17. Section 36 said...
    why not go the college football route. a short regular season, followed by a playoff schedule where everyone makes the playoffs...or at least enough make it to have a workable bracket.




    I think you mean college basketball.....

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  18. I meant football in that the regular season is what counts...or at least did before the BCS...and the bowl games are really just for fun.

    The bracket was just to say that 30 teams won't work...it needs 32, or 16, or some other configuration.

    Although, would an MLB bracket be as big as March madness? Might be an option.

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  19. Figures I see sarcasm where none is intended, just like intended online sarcasm flies right past me.

    I don't know (or want to know) anything about how college football is structured, but I do know you can count on MLB to never, ever get anything right.

    Also, because the WS series winner isn't always the best team doesn't mean it never is. What constitutes the best team will always be subject to debate. If you asked 10 very savvy baseball observers which team is best, you probably get 4 or 5 different answers based on different criteria and preferences.

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  20. I find it hard to say much of anything in less than 500 words. So, leaving comments often leaves for odd interpretations.

    Valid point on the best team qualifications though.

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