For the first time in the history of Major League Baseball, there will be 10 playoff teams come this October. Only, not really.
We’ve been shammed! Can’t you see right through it? You can’t? You mean you’re actually excited by this two wild card business? Alright. I understand your initial reaction, but I’m going to talk you through this. Please don’t do anything rash, like buying an Angels’ playoff ticket. Not a good idea.
The first thing I want you to know and understand before we move on is that everyone involved in owning or running a major sports organization has money. Lots of it. Only they’re not satisfied with this amount of money and they want more of it. And no matter how much you or I want to believe that winning is the main goal of any franchise, realize that mostly, winning is the main goal because it brings people to the stadium and it sells shirts and it makes money. Winning makes money. Ok, now that we’ve established that, we can move on to this whole playoff thing.
Back in March, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig announced that the league had expanded its playoffs for the first time since 1994. Both the American and National League will send their two best non-division winning teams to a one game playoff to determine which team will make it into their respective Division Series.
“This change increases the rewards of a division championship,” Selig said, to MLB.com, “and allows two additional markets to experience playoff baseball each year, all while maintaining the most exclusive postseason in professional sports.”
I will admit, the first part of what he said is great. Winning your division should carry more weight than it did. It’s the whole next bit that doesn’t sit so well.
Selig says that this one game playoff allows two additional markets to experience “playoff baseball” each year. Because there’s one more slot open in each league, it also makes it even harder for one or a pair of teams to run away with any playoff race.
As of September 4, there are five teams within five games of the two wild card spots in the A.L. At this exact point last season, there were zero. The closest any team was to Boston was Tampa Bay’s eight game margin.
We all know how that turned out for the Rays but every other team basically gave up on the postseason. With another open postseason slot means more opportunity which means more teams involved which means more markets interested which means more money for tickets and TV ratings and even bobbleheads.
Don’t get me wrong, I know professional teams are businesses necessitated on making profit. My point is that they can sell this move as good to the fans and good for baseball, when in reality, it is more about being good for a few wallets.
The biggest issue here is the specifics of this one game. How can a team’s season hinge on one game? Baseball is not football where one game is nearly enough to tell two teams apart. What if one team’s ace is available and the other’s isn’t?
The season is already too long which is why they can’t make it a three-game series. Here’s my solution: Why not cut 12 games and make the regular season 150 games? Give the wild card teams a three game series to duke it out. Talk about an incentive to win your division, how about four or five days off?
You would actually be able to end the World Series in October and pitchers might have more in their tank for the early rounds. I just hate that there’s going to be a fan-base who’s been sold Bud Selig’s “playoff experience” nonsense only to be sent home the day after the regular season finishes. Doesn’t seem like much of any experience to me.
Baseball does have the most exclusive postseason in sports but this wild card expansion also give it the most disingenuous. I don’t enjoy being spoon-fed suspense for one game that doesn’t make sense. This is baseball. Not the BCS.
Miles Parks can be reached at minaret.sports@gmail.com