Before I get going with today's post, you have to check out the video of the guy from Real Madrid dropping the Copa del Rey (the cup that goes to the Spanish league champion) and the trophy then getting run over by the team bus.
That video has nothing to do with the post, I just find it hilarious. Don't worry, the Spanish soccer federation said that the trophy can be fixed...and the company that makes the trophies gave them a replica for the time being.
Anyway, on to today's topic: the proposed expanded baseball playoffs. Bud Selig said it's going to happen, and with the CBA set to expire in December, it looks like the 2012 MLB playoffs will consist of 10 teams, not eight. As a die-hard baseball fan, you think I'd be all about this. But I'm not. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And the MLB Postseason ain't broke (well, it kind of is, but that's a whole other subject).
The way I understand it, the three division winners would get a couple days off (since that's what these teams need, more off days in October) while the two wild cards play either a single game or a three-game series. I would imagine the winner would then play the division winner with the best record and the other two division winners would play, with the rule that you can't play a team from your own division in the Division Series eliminated. But I'm not really sure what kind of format they want to use.
Again, you'd think I'd be on board with this, and there are some elements of the proposed new format that I like, but I'm ultimately not sure baseball needs a second wild card team in each league. After 162 games, the top four teams in each league should be pretty clear. I know some people are shocked to think that there can be a playoff year without both the Yankees and Red Sux, but last year turned out to be one of those years. It wouldn't have if there were two wild cards, though. In fact, it would've meant that the Yankees and Red Sux played each other again for the AL Wild Card even though the Yankees finished SIX GAMES ahead of Boston and were fighting with Tampa Bay and Minnesota for home field advantage until the last game. That great NL West race between the Giants and Padres would've been meaningless, too. In 2009, Boston won the AL wild card by eight games over Texas and Colorado won the NL wild card by four games over San Francisco (the Giants and Rangers of course, coincidentally, played each other in the World Series the next season). When the Yankees missed the playoffs in 2008, they would've gotten in as the second wild card despite finishing six games out in that race, while the Mets' collapse that season wouldn't have been anywhere near as historic (they would've clinched the second wild card by 2 1/2 games). And that 2007 NL Wild Card Game between the Rockies and the Padres (the one where Matt Holliday still hasn't touched home) never would've happened, since they both would've been in the playoffs anyway. And lest we forget that the freakin' Diamondbacks had the best record in the National League that season, a stellar 90-72!
My point is, this isn't the NBA or NHL. You don't have half the league making the playoffs. And that's a good thing. From 1903-68, only two teams made the playoffs. That's 12.5 percent during the 16-team days and 10 percent after both leagues expanded to 10 teams in 1961 (AL) and '62 (NL). When they added four teams and the LCSes in 1969, the percentage of teams that made the playoffs increased to 16.7 percent. That number fluctuated with further expansion, then they added the Rockies and Marlins in 1993 and split into three divisions the following year. With the addition of the wild card, the number of playoff teams increased to 28.6 percent. After the Rays and Diamondbacks came into existence in 1998, that number became the current 26.7 percent, which is the lowest among the four major sports. But baseball's regular season is also the longest. 162 games is plenty to separate the haves from the have-nots. If teams finished tied, that's one thing. But let's use the 2009 Rangers as an example. Even if they'd made the playoffs, would anybody have been under the delusion they were going to the World Series? No.
ESPN.com did a point-counterpoint thing about this with a couple of its bloggers, and another very good point that I hadn't really thought about was made. We'll pretend this is last season, when the Yankees and Rays were separated by a game for the AL East and best record. Both teams were already in the playoffs, so neither one really cared which won the division (I still believe that the Yankees wanted to play the Twins anyway). For argument's sake, say they both go all out to win the division, so CC Sabathia and David Price both pitch the last game. Whichever one ends up in the Wild Card Game now doesn't have its ace available in a potential do-or-die matchup with an inferior opponent, which may or may not have been able to set up its ace to pitch in that game. When a one-game playoff happens, both teams are usually in similar situations. That wouldn't necessarily be the case if you have two wild card teams.
It also creates the potential for a third-place team to win the World Series, which I'm sure the purists would love. And, if you think about it, football used to have three wild card teams in each conference, but dropped that number to two when they went to four divisions and nobody said a word. There's no need for 16 teams to make the playoffs in both the NHL and NBA, but that's not really the point.
A lot of purists still haven't gotten over the fact that there are wild cards in the first place. I can't even imagine what their reaction to a second one in each league would be! The wild card has proven its worth and achieved its purpose, which is to make sure that the best teams are in the playoffs, even if they don't win their division. At least one wild card team made the World Series every season from 2002-07 and four wild card teams have won it all. But that still doesn't make me sure you need a second wild card team. There's a big difference between the 2004 Red Sux and the 2010 Red Sux.
Some might argue that having two wild cards eliminates the possibility of a better team getting upset by one or two pitchers in a short series. But that's what makes the current format so great. That's exactly why wild card teams are able to make so much noise in the playoffs. Why handicap them simply because they didn't win their division? If you're a better team, go out and prove it on the field. It shouldn't matter who's pitching. And if Major League Baseball wants to take a step to eliminate that, make the Division Series best-of-seven instead of best-of-five. That would also get rid of most of Bud's unnecessary off days.
This looks inevitable, so I'm going to have to accept it at some point. But I don't have to embrace it, and right now I'm choosing not to. I probably won't be coming around on the "First Four" anytime soon either.
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