Hey Doogan, What About This Idea? (Tell Me I’m Crazy)

So, Doogan and I started this blog a couple of years ago.  The idea was fueled by the rationale that, “Hey, we email each other with stupid sports questions and comments and random opinions anyway, we don’t we just start a blog and post what we would otherwise be emailing each other?”  So, that was the design.  No set content.  No set “tone.”  Just pretty much exactly what we would be debating over email, only in more of a public forum, so that we could have others join in the debate, as well, if they want.  If not, no harm done.

Well, Doogan posted a commentary last week that was a microchasm of our idea.  He posted his response to the Peter Gammons idea of changing the playoffs.  It struck me as something from the “old days.”  If this had happened three years ago, that post would probably still have been written only it would have been received as an email in my inbox (maybe with fewer punctuation marks and no pictures).  And, in turn, I would have responded, so I guess I will do it here–only I will actually use capital letters, since this is a “public forum.”

Doogan, you make a couple great points, and I agree with you that Gammons’ suggestion doesn’t really help.  But, let me throw out a truly radical idea that might be just crazy enough to work.  See what you think:

So, when people talk about about changing the baseball playoffs, they usually bring up a variety of things:

1. The lack of any pennant races.  This is an argument that many people–especially Gammons–have perpetuated around this year because, well, it’s convenient THIS year.  As you said in your post, this year is different than most (if not, all) the other years of the wild card, in that there are no races.  But, for the sake of argument, let us defer to the “experts” and say that baseball could be helped by a change to the playoff format that would create more pennant races.
2. The lack of any advantage for a team to win their division.  Basically, the Yankees are going to finish a far better season than the Red Sox, and have a very small advantage in the short postseason.  Even more so, the Red Sox catch a break considering that they are in the playoffs, without winning their division, and do not have to face the Yankees in Round One, while the Tigers, who are going to win their division, will play the Yankees.  I kind of agree with this point (though I get the argument that the Red Sox are better than the Tigers, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be true about the wild card).
3. Not enough teams are still in the playoff hunt come September.  This has been a big argument against baseball for a long time now.  It’s sort of the opposite of the NBA, in that more than half of the NBA teams qualify for the playoffs, so every team is it, just about, whereas, only 8 MLB teams make it, so usually more than half of the teams’ seasons are over by the middle of August.  Not sure this is a huge issue for me–the purist–but I completely see the argument, both for the sport’s popularity and the individual teams’ revenues.
4. You have these two extra days before the playoffs start, why not use them?  This is part of Gammons’ argument, right?  Or, at least, he says move the season up to start on a weekend and use this last weekend as a playoff round.  This is not a big issue, but it can certainly be addressed.  And, we all know that Turner Broadcasting is not going to change from their Wednesday start day, for TV purposes.

When people talk about keeping the playoffs as they are, they use a variety of reasons to defend the current system, such as:

1. Baseball is unique in the fact that it is a very long season and the playoff structure has always rewarded the best teams–over the long-haul.  This is completely true, though I think the wild card has certainly put a damper on this (not necessarily a bad thing).  But, there is definitely something to be said for the purist opinion of rewarding the teams that played the best over a 162-game sample of play.
2. The baseball pennant races are fantastic because they involve the best teams playing for something down the stretch.  No other sport has this–some of the best teams still fighting it out at the end of the regular season.  Again, the wild card has taken a little bit of steam out of this argument, too, but it still pretty much rings true.  Two years ago, the Rockies and Padres were two of the better teams in baseball and they were fighting the whole month of September.  Last year, the White Sox and Twins both won 88 games and were in a fight for their playoff lives.  Each of the last two years, the Phillies and Mets were both excellent teams that had to beat out one another just to earn a chance to play in October.  In the NBA, the last playoff spots are all being fought over by a couple of .500 teams, who are probably just playing for the right to be swept in the first round.  The best teams put it in cruise control for the last quarter of the season because the only thing left to fight for is seeding.  This is even true in the NFL.  The best three or four teams usually don’t even play their starters in Week Seventeen because they have the playoffs locked up.  Not true in baseball.
3. The playoffs already run into November, you cannot extend them.  Unlike football, which can be played in any conditions, or basketball, which is played indoors, baseball HAS to be played in relatively decent weather conditions.  It’s already iffy to play games in any northern city in late October, so even a week later might make your championship decided under conditions that negatively change the contest.

Well, Mr. Doogan, I think that I have an idea (albeit extremely radical and probably will be laughed away the moment I publish this) that solves all four problems mentioned above without affecting (and maybe even enhancing) the good things often cited about the existing playoffs.  And, neither camp is at all against drama and intrigue, which I think are both increased by my idea in the regular season and the playoffs.  What do you think?

Instead of one wild card team in each league, Peter Gammons suggested two wild card teams.  I–despite being a purist–am suggesting THREE wild card teams in each league.  Bare with me…

Each league has six playoff teams–three division winners and three wild cards.  The division winners will be seeded 1-3, by record.  The wild card teams will be seeded 4-6, by record.  The division winners will not have to play until we are down to ONE wild card team, so the playoff structure, once each league’s wild card is decided will be exactly the same as it is now.  The only difference is how we select the 4th participant.

What happens is the 5-seed will play the 6-seed on Monday in a one-game playoff.  The winner of this game will play the 4-seed on Tuesday in a one-game playoff.  The winner of Tuesday’s game will qualify as the wild card (as it exists today), starting Wednesday or Thursday.  (Or, of course, if you want to take Gammons idea, you can).  And, since travel seems like it could be an issue, I figure all one-game playoffs will be played at the home ballpark of the 4-seed. 

Sounds confusing?  Maybe.  Sounds stupid?  Definitely…at first, because it involves one-game playoffs, which are so stupid for baseball.  But, stop and give it some thought–and give me a chance to explain myself here.

For simplicity’s sake, let us look at this year’s standings and use the actual records as examples.  Here is how the two leagues would be, under my crazy format (assuming today’s standings hold up at the end of the weekend):

NATIONAL LEAGUE:
1. Dodgers
2. Phillies
3. Cardinals
4. Rockies
5. Braves
6. Giants

AMERICAN LEAGUE:
1. Yankees
2. Angels
3. Tigers
4. Red Sox
5. Rangers
6. Twins

So, what would happen is that, after the games on Sunday, the Rangers and Twins would fly to Fenway Park and play one game Monday night.  The winner of that game would play the Red Sox the next night, with the Yankees awaiting that winner for the Division Series in the Bronx.  Likewise, in the NL, the Braves would play the Giants in Coors Field on Monday night, with the Rockies to face the winner on Tuesday.  Then, the Dodgers would await Tuesday’s winner for the NLDS in LA.

Now, this still might sound pretty dumb, but let me give some reasons why it might just be crazy enough to work:

It enables wild card teams to qualify, but, gives them a much harder path.  This format definitely addresses the concern about giving teams a postseason advantage for winning their division over the 162-game season, and penalizes the wild card teams for not winning their divisions.

It opens up the playoffs to more teams.  Obviously, with 6 teams in each league, more teams will have something to play for.  And, it would do this without eliminating the races that currently exist.

It has the possibility to create intense pennant races between teams that, otherwise would not be in races.  For example, just think how big the Yankees-Red Sox series last weekend would have been, if the division winner didn’t have to worry about a one-game elimination (where you lose, regardless, because you burn a pitcher…much more on that in a minute).  And, even better, think about this weekend’s Dodgers-Rockies series.  How big would it be?  The Dodgers are currently two games up in the division, but both have clinched playoff spots, so it doesn’t really matter.  But, if the alternative was having to play Tuesday, this series would be HUGE.

In fact, this format would create pennant races for just about every seed.  Think about the implications for each seeded team.  The only spots that do not really have much of a difference are 5-6 (no difference, at all, actually) and 2-3 (the only difference being home-field in the DS).  But, there is a stark advantage (much more than currently exists) for being the top-seed, in that you get to play a team that just had to play, at least one game, maybe two.  And, there is obviously a difference between division-winner and wild card (which currently doesn’t exist).  And, of course, there would be a heated race for 6th.  If this was in place this year, this weekend would be incredibly complex. 

In the NL, not only would the Dodgers and Rockies be playing each other for the division (a big deal), but the Phillies and Cardinals would be involved, fighting for that #1 seed.  Though, the Rockies-Dodgers loser would be assured the 4-seed (and, thus, a day off on Monday and a home game on Tuesday), there would be a pretty interesting battle for the last two spots, with the Braves and Giants both one game ahead of Florida.

Now, the AL would not be quite as interesting, but there would be a lot more intrigue than the current amount: ZERO.  The Tigers and Twins would still be battling for the division, but even if the Tigers win, the Twins would need to keep winning to get in, as a wild card.  The Red Sox would be the wild card “hosts,” and the Rangers would be the 5-seed, but that last spot would be incredibly contentious, as the Twins, Mariners, and Rays would all be in a dogfight.

And, the best part about this is the strategy that will be involved in managers’ selections of starting pitchers, and what the different implications would be to having to play these extra games.  For example, the last couple seeds may be down to the wire to get in, and then they have to play a one-game playoff for their season (who knows what pitchers will be available).  Then, they have to play another game, against a team that had the day off.  Then, the winner of that game will start a five-game series against the #1 seed that has had two days off to set their rotation.  I think it would be FASCINATING.

Yes, I am a purist.  And, yes, I get the fact that even five-game series are not true tests of the best teams, let alone a ONE-GAME SERIES.  But think about how exciting and intriguing it would be.  College baseball does the one-game thing all the time.  Plus, the purist in me kind of likes it because second-place teams shouldn’t even be in the playoffs, so let them struggle to EARN their way in.  Honestly, we would have this coming weekend of intrigue and intensity and then we have this for playoff week:

• Monday 4:15 – Coors Field – one game, do-or-die, between the Braves and Giants
• Monday 8:00 – Fenway Park – one game, do-or-die, between the Rangers and the Twins
• Tuesday 4:15 – Coors Field – one game, do-or-die, between the Rockies and the winner of Monday’s Braves-Giants game
• Tuesday 8:00 – Fenway Park – one game, do-or-die, between the Red Sox and the winner of Monday’s Rangers-Twins game
• Wednesday – business, as usual, with the wild card teams, having been decided the night before, on either their second or third pitchers, but at least they’re in “The Dance,” right?

Is it weird?  Yes.  Is it unconventional and radical?  Most definitely.  Could it work?  I kind of think so.

Tell me I’m crazy.