Changes to Playoff Format?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Reading through this article, I found an interesting comment near the end.

 

Commissioner Bud Selig said MLB will consider changes to the playoff format to create a "more decisive" disadvantage for the wild-card team, likely taking away a home game. It is unlikely, however, to expand the first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven. Selig also said "no news is good news" on the ongoing negotiations for a new labor agreement.

[RationalSoxFan]

Reading through this article, I found an interesting comment near the end.

 

Commissioner Bud Selig said MLB will consider changes to the playoff format to create a "more decisive" disadvantage for the wild-card team, likely taking away a home game. It is unlikely, however, to expand the first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven. Selig also said "no news is good news" on the ongoing negotiations for a new labor agreement.

Take away a home game? What? What's the point of putting them at a disadvantage?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Reading through this article, I found an interesting comment near the end.

 

Commissioner Bud Selig said MLB will consider changes to the playoff format to create a "more decisive" disadvantage for the wild-card team, likely taking away a home game. It is unlikely, however, to expand the first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven. Selig also said "no news is good news" on the ongoing negotiations for a new labor agreement.

Take away a home game? What? What's the point of putting them at a disadvantage?

 

My guess is that they want winning the division to mean more so they want to put the WC at a disadvantage. Like in the NFL, the wildcards have to play one more game than the top division winners.

 

In baseball, the wildcard has no real disadvantage.

 

I'm not necessarily for it, but it's not a bad idea either.

[Jon]

How often does the wild card team have a better record and come from a stronger division than one of the division winners, though? There's no reason to put them at a further disadvantage. Not having home field advantage for either of the first two rounds is enough.

 

There's also no reason to give the division winner that plays the wild card team that kind of advantage. It certainly wouldn't be fair to a division winner with a better record than the one playing the wild card team but who can't play the wild card team because they're coming out of the same division.

[rawaction]

We get better ratings when the Yankees are playing, so I am gonna change the rules to make it more likely the Yanks go deeper into the playoffs.

[bhogg]

I'd much rather see 4 divisions and only the division winners go to the post season.

 

I hate the wild card. . . hate it, hate it, hate it, hate.

[UMFan83]

I think the best way would be to have a second Wild Card team, and then have the 2 Wild Cards play a 1 game playoff against each other for a trip to the division series. That way, whoever wins that game as to use their best pitcher in the one game playoff so they can't set up their rotation so that a dominating starter like Santana can win 2 of the 5 games for the WC team.

 

Also gives winning the division a lot more prestige. I guarentee you the Tigers would have won 1 of those last 3 against the Royals if this proposed rule was in place.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think the best way would be to have a second Wild Card team, and then have the 2 Wild Cards play a 1 game playoff against each other for a trip to the division series. That way, whoever wins that game as to use their best pitcher in the one game playoff so they can't set up their rotation so that a dominating starter like Santana can win 2 of the 5 games for the WC team.

 

Also gives winning the division a lot more prestige. I guarentee you the Tigers would have won 1 of those last 3 against the Royals if this proposed rule was in place.

 

That's a good idea. Either a one-game playoff or a best two of three series for the two wild cards.

[bhogg]

I like the 2 wild card idea, too.

 

anything that makes it more difficult for the WC to make it is okay with me.

[Derwood]

I would like to see:

 

- Best overall record gets homefield in World Series

- Abolish the rule that the wildcard team can't play a team in it's own division in the first round of the playoffs

[Jazz]

We get better ratings when the Yankees are playing, so I am gonna change the rules to make it more likely the Yanks go deeper into the playoffs.

 

QFFT

 

I think next year we'll see alot less parity, and the level of competition will balance out. No more 85 win division winners

[Outshined_One]

We get better ratings when the Yankees are playing, so I am gonna change the rules to make it more likely the Yanks go deeper into the playoffs.

 

Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner!

[erik316wttn]

Reading through this article, I found an interesting comment near the end.

 

Commissioner Bud Selig said MLB will consider changes to the playoff format to create a "more decisive" disadvantage for the wild-card team, likely taking away a home game. It is unlikely, however, to expand the first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven. Selig also said "no news is good news" on the ongoing negotiations for a new labor agreement.

Take away a home game? What? What's the point of putting them at a disadvantage?

 

My guess is that they want winning the division to mean more so they want to put the WC at a disadvantage. Like in the NFL, the wildcards have to play one more game than the top division winners.

 

In baseball, the wildcard has no real disadvantage.

 

I'm not necessarily for it, but it's not a bad idea either.

 

I think the best thing they could do is have the WC winner play the team with the best record period, whether its from the same division or not.

[erik316wttn]

I like the 2 wild card idea, too.

 

anything that makes it more difficult for the WC to make it is okay with me.

 

See, I don't understand this line of thinking.

 

WHO CARES if a WC makes/wins the World Series? They were obviously a good team to begin with, and if the other teams were truly better, they'd prove it.

 

Second place teams win championships in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. Why is it such a travesty when it happens in baseball?

[CubColtPacer]

I like the 2 wild card idea, too.

 

anything that makes it more difficult for the WC to make it is okay with me.

 

See, I don't understand this line of thinking.

 

WHO CARES if a WC makes/wins the World Series? They were obviously a good team to begin with, and if the other teams were truly better, they'd prove it.

 

Second place teams win championships in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. Why is it such a travesty when it happens in baseball?

 

I think the problem is that it happens so often in baseball. A WC team in the NFL who had to go on the road for all 3 games has only ever won the SB once in the NFL (last year's Steelers). In basketball, a team ranked 5-8 has only won 1 title (I'm pretty sure about this stat-I know the #6 ranked Rockets in the mid 90's were the lowest seed to ever win the title). Baseball has had a few wildcards win the WS in just over 10 years. WC's are just as likely as the 1, 2, or 3 seed to win in MLB, while that hasn't been true in either the NFL or the NBA.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I like the 2 wild card idea, too.

 

anything that makes it more difficult for the WC to make it is okay with me.

 

Why? Often times, the WC team has a better record than a division winner.

[Jon]

You can't have a 3 game series. 5 games is enough of a crapshoot. Not only that, but it would screw up the wild card teams' rotations.

 

It's fine the way that have it now.

[UMFan83]

I like the 2 wild card idea, too.

 

anything that makes it more difficult for the WC to make it is okay with me.

 

See, I don't understand this line of thinking.

 

WHO CARES if a WC makes/wins the World Series? They were obviously a good team to begin with, and if the other teams were truly better, they'd prove it.

 

Second place teams win championships in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. Why is it such a travesty when it happens in baseball?

 

I think the problem is that it happens so often in baseball. A WC team in the NFL who had to go on the road for all 3 games has only ever won the SB once in the NFL (last year's Steelers). In basketball, a team ranked 5-8 has only won 1 title (I'm pretty sure about this stat-I know the #6 ranked Rockets in the mid 90's were the lowest seed to ever win the title). Baseball has had a few wildcards win the WS in just over 10 years. WC's are just as likely as the 1, 2, or 3 seed to win in MLB, while that hasn't been true in either the NFL or the NBA.

 

Exactly. With baseball, a short series strongly favors the team with the best starter (should said starter be able to pitch either game 1 or 2). All you need is 2 dominating performances by your starter and one win in the other 3 games and you win. Football and basketball don't have one player that can completely change the outcome of a given game.

 

In the current scenario, I have no doubt that the current Cubs with Zambrano and Rich Hill going would have a better chance then most would think of advancing to the NLCS.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I like the 2 wild card idea, too.

 

anything that makes it more difficult for the WC to make it is okay with me.

 

See, I don't understand this line of thinking.

 

WHO CARES if a WC makes/wins the World Series? They were obviously a good team to begin with, and if the other teams were truly better, they'd prove it.

 

Second place teams win championships in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. Why is it such a travesty when it happens in baseball?

 

I think the problem is that it happens so often in baseball. A WC team in the NFL who had to go on the road for all 3 games has only ever won the SB once in the NFL (last year's Steelers). In basketball, a team ranked 5-8 has only won 1 title (I'm pretty sure about this stat-I know the #6 ranked Rockets in the mid 90's were the lowest seed to ever win the title). Baseball has had a few wildcards win the WS in just over 10 years. WC's are just as likely as the 1, 2, or 3 seed to win in MLB, while that hasn't been true in either the NFL or the NBA.

 

Exactly. With baseball, a short series strongly favors the team with the best starter (should said starter be able to pitch either game 1 or 2). All you need is 2 dominating performances by your starter and one win in the other 3 games and you win. Football and basketball don't have one player that can completely change the outcome of a given game.

 

In the current scenario, I have no doubt that the current Cubs with Zambrano and Rich Hill going would have a better chance then most would think of advancing to the NLCS.

 

How does taking away a home game change any of that?

[littleburr24]

I would like to see:

 

- Best overall record gets homefield in World Series

- Abolish the rule that the wildcard team can't play a team in it's own division in the first round of the playoffs

 

 

You are an absolute genius, Derwood.

[CubmanPi]

I don't like the idea of four divisions with a winner from all making the playoffs. The great thing about the advent of the wildcard is that you will no longer have seasons like '93 when the second best record in baseball (Giants) watched the playoffs from home. Four divisions and four playoff teams would also make it an almost yearly occurence for at least one team to make the playoffs with 84 wins or less.

 

Personally, I don't have many complaints about the way it is now. What difference does it make if the WC advances more frequently? One of the great things about baseball is that any team has a chance to win on any given day. In football, you can have teams win or lose 85 percent of their games all season, and lobsided matches on paper turn out the way they "should" much more frequently, but in baseball, heavily favored teams will normally just take 2 games out of 3. When it gets to the playoffs, there is no such thing as a heavily favored team. In this year's AL playoff pool, the difference from top to bottom was 4 games, in a 162-game season. Why should the WC team (who had a better record than the division winner they played in the ALCS) need to have some sort of disadvantage? The Tigers and their 95 wins had just as much right to be there as the Yankees and their 97 wins did.

 

I'll throw in a QFT for simple brilliance.

 

I would like to see:

 

- Best overall record gets homefield in World Series

- Abolish the rule that the wildcard team can't play a team in it's own division in the first round of the playoffs

[UMFan83]

I like the 2 wild card idea, too.

 

anything that makes it more difficult for the WC to make it is okay with me.

 

See, I don't understand this line of thinking.

 

WHO CARES if a WC makes/wins the World Series? They were obviously a good team to begin with, and if the other teams were truly better, they'd prove it.

 

Second place teams win championships in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. Why is it such a travesty when it happens in baseball?

 

I think the problem is that it happens so often in baseball. A WC team in the NFL who had to go on the road for all 3 games has only ever won the SB once in the NFL (last year's Steelers). In basketball, a team ranked 5-8 has only won 1 title (I'm pretty sure about this stat-I know the #6 ranked Rockets in the mid 90's were the lowest seed to ever win the title). Baseball has had a few wildcards win the WS in just over 10 years. WC's are just as likely as the 1, 2, or 3 seed to win in MLB, while that hasn't been true in either the NFL or the NBA.

 

Exactly. With baseball, a short series strongly favors the team with the best starter (should said starter be able to pitch either game 1 or 2). All you need is 2 dominating performances by your starter and one win in the other 3 games and you win. Football and basketball don't have one player that can completely change the outcome of a given game.

 

In the current scenario, I have no doubt that the current Cubs with Zambrano and Rich Hill going would have a better chance then most would think of advancing to the NLCS.

 

How does taking away a home game change any of that?

 

It doesn't...adding a second WC team and having them play a one game playoff does though

[Derwood]

I would like to see:

 

- Best overall record gets homefield in World Series

- Abolish the rule that the wildcard team can't play a team in it's own division in the first round of the playoffs

 

 

You are an absolute genius, Derwood.

 

Thanks.

 

For my next trick, I'd also like to see the Super Bowl played in the stadium of one of the two teams playing in the game.

[UMFan83]

I would like to see:

 

- Best overall record gets homefield in World Series

- Abolish the rule that the wildcard team can't play a team in it's own division in the first round of the playoffs

 

 

You are an absolute genius, Derwood.

 

Thanks.

 

For my next trick, I'd also like to see the Super Bowl played in the stadium of one of the two teams playing in the game.

 

Thats fine, hold the Super Bowl in Chicago

[jmajew]

I would like to see:

 

- Best overall record gets homefield in World Series

- Abolish the rule that the wildcard team can't play a team in it's own division in the first round of the playoffs

 

 

You are an absolute genius, Derwood.

 

Thanks.

 

For my next trick, I'd also like to see the Super Bowl played in the stadium of one of the two teams playing in the game.

 

Thats fine, hold the Super Bowl in Chicago

 

That was a bit too bold for my liking.