{"id":389,"date":"2009-10-02T14:36:42","date_gmt":"2009-10-02T18:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=389"},"modified":"2009-10-02T14:41:13","modified_gmt":"2009-10-02T18:41:13","slug":"hey-doogan-what-about-this-idea-tell-me-im-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=389","title":{"rendered":"Hey Doogan, What About This Idea? (Tell Me I’m Crazy)"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, Doogan and I started this blog a couple of years ago.\u00a0 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?”\u00a0 So, that was the design.\u00a0 No set content.\u00a0 No set “tone.”\u00a0 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.\u00a0 If not, no harm done.<\/p>\n

Well, Doogan posted a commentary last week that was a microchasm of our idea.\u00a0 He posted his response to the Peter Gammons idea of changing the playoffs<\/a>.\u00a0 It struck me as something from the “old days.”\u00a0 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).\u00a0 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.”<\/p>\n

Doogan, you make a couple great points, and I agree with you that Gammons’ suggestion doesn’t really help.\u00a0 But, let me throw out a truly\u00a0radical idea that might be just crazy enough to work.\u00a0 See what you think:<\/p>\n

So, when people talk about about changing the baseball playoffs, they usually bring up a variety of things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The lack of any pennant races<\/em>.\u00a0 This is an argument that many people–especially Gammons–have perpetuated around this year because, well, it’s convenient THIS year.\u00a0 As you said in your post, this year is different than most (if not, all) the other\u00a0years of the wild card, in that there are no races.\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n
  2. The lack of any advantage for a team to win their division<\/em>.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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).<\/li>\n
  3. Not enough teams are still in the playoff hunt come September<\/em>.\u00a0 This has been a big argument against baseball for a long time now.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n
  4. You have these two extra days before the playoffs start, why not use them?<\/em>\u00a0 This is part of Gammons’ argument, right?\u00a0 Or, at least, he says move the season up to start on a weekend and use this last weekend as a playoff round.\u00a0 This is not a big issue, but it can certainly be addressed.\u00a0 And, we all know that Turner Broadcasting is not going to change from their Wednesday start day, for TV purposes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When people talk about keeping the playoffs as they are, they use a variety of reasons to defend the current system, such as:<\/p>\n

      \n
    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.<\/em>\u00a0 This is completely true, though I think the wild card has certainly put a damper on this (not necessarily a bad thing).\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n
    2. The baseball pennant races are fantastic because they involve the best teams playing for something down the stretch.<\/em>\u00a0 No other sport has this–some of the best teams still fighting it out at the end of the regular season.\u00a0 Again, the wild card has taken a little bit of steam out of this argument, too, but it still pretty much rings true.\u00a0 Two years ago, the Rockies and Padres were two of the better teams in baseball and they were fighting the whole month of September.\u00a0 Last year, the White Sox and Twins both won 88 games and were in a fight for their playoff lives.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This is even true in the NFL.\u00a0 The best three or four teams usually don’t even play their starters in Week Seventeen because they have the playoffs locked up.\u00a0 Not true in baseball.<\/li>\n
    3. The playoffs already run into November, you cannot extend them.<\/em>\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 What do you think?<\/p>\n

      Instead of one wild card team in each league, Peter Gammons suggested two wild card teams.\u00a0 I–despite being a purist–am suggesting THREE wild card teams in each league.\u00a0 Bare with me…<\/p>\n

      Each league has six playoff teams–three division winners and three wild cards.\u00a0 The division winners will be seeded\u00a01-3, by record.\u00a0 The wild card teams will be seeded 4-6, by record.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The only difference is how we select the 4th participant.<\/p>\n

      What happens is the 5-seed will play the 6-seed on Monday in a one-game playoff.\u00a0 The winner of this game will play the 4-seed on Tuesday in a one-game playoff.\u00a0 The winner of Tuesday’s game will qualify as the wild card (as it exists today), starting Wednesday or Thursday.\u00a0 (Or, of course, if you want to take Gammons idea, you can).\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Sounds confusing?\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 Sounds stupid?\u00a0 Definitely…at first, because it involves one-game playoffs, which are so stupid for baseball.\u00a0 But, stop and give it some thought–and give me a chance to explain myself here.<\/p>\n

      For simplicity’s sake, let us look at this year’s standings and use the actual records as examples.\u00a0 Here is how the two leagues would be, under my crazy format (assuming today’s standings hold up at the end of the weekend):<\/p>\n

      NATIONAL LEAGUE:
      \n1. Dodgers
      \n2. Phillies
      \n3. Cardinals
      \n4. Rockies
      \n5. Braves
      \n6. Giants<\/p>\n

      AMERICAN LEAGUE:
      \n1. Yankees
      \n2. Angels
      \n3. Tigers
      \n4. Red Sox
      \n5. Rangers
      \n6. Twins<\/p>\n

      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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Then, the Dodgers would await Tuesday’s winner for the NLDS in LA.<\/p>\n

      Now, this still might sound pretty dumb, but let me give some reasons why it might just be crazy enough to work:<\/p>\n

      It enables wild card teams to qualify, but, gives them a much harder path<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0This format\u00a0definitely 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.<\/p>\n

      It\u00a0opens up the playoffs to more teams<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Obviously, with 6 teams in each league, more teams will have something\u00a0to play for.\u00a0 And, it would do this\u00a0without eliminating the races that currently exist.<\/p>\n

      It has the possibility to create intense pennant races between teams that, otherwise would not be in races<\/em>.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 And, even better, think about this weekend’s Dodgers-Rockies series.\u00a0 How big would it be?\u00a0 The Dodgers are currently two games up in the division, but both have clinched playoff spots, so it doesn’t really matter.\u00a0 But, if the alternative was having to play Tuesday, this series would be HUGE.<\/p>\n

      In fact, this format would create pennant races for just about every seed.\u00a0 Think about the implications for each seeded team.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And, there is obviously a difference between division-winner and wild card (which currently doesn’t exist).\u00a0 And, of course, there would be a heated race for 6th.\u00a0 If this was in place this year, this weekend would be incredibly complex.\u00a0<\/p>\n

      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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

      Now, the AL would not be quite as interesting, but there would be a lot more intrigue than the current amount:\u00a0ZERO.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

      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.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 Then, they have to play another game, against a team that had the day off.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I think it would be FASCINATING.<\/p>\n

      Yes, I am a purist.\u00a0\u00a0And, yes, I get the fact that\u00a0even\u00a0five-game series are not true tests of the best teams, let alone a ONE-GAME SERIES.\u00a0 But think about how exciting and intriguing it would be.\u00a0 College baseball does the one-game thing all the\u00a0time.\u00a0 Plus, the purist in me kind of likes it because\u00a0second-place <\/em>teams shouldn’t even be in the playoffs, so let\u00a0them struggle to EARN their way in.\u00a0 Honestly, we would have this coming weekend of intrigue and intensity and then we have this for playoff week:<\/p>\n