Think of the NBA playoffs. More than half of the league makes it; and the last few teams in the east are usually below .500. For the decent teams, all the regular season is is a matter of seeding. That isn't the way a pro sport should be.
Baseball, on the other hand, is quite the contrary. Making the playoffs is much more difficult, as only 8 teams of 30 do so. It causes annual division and wild-card races, fights to the very end. Remember 2009's Game 163 between the Twins and Tigers? The intensity? That doesn't exist in basketball. Oh, look, the Bobcats are 6 games below .500 and the Pacers are 5 games below, this will be a good race! No. The postseason should be a reward for the league's premier teams, not for everyone who isn't terrible.
This is why Bud Selig should leave the MLB playoffs just as they are and not add more wild-card teams. There's no need. A longer postseason would just have it drag on and have fans lose interest, like I do with basketball. By the time the finals roll around, fans have shifted to baseball. Like they should.
I've been incredibly busy lately and haven't written in five weeks, but I can guarantee there will be a new post early this week and regularly after that.
The baseball postseason is not necessarily a reward for the league's premier teams. As you pointed out, baseball causes annual division races. As long as you win the division, regardless of your record, you are in. In theory, there can be better teams around the league that don't make the playoffs. Why? Because they didn't win their respective divisions. Remember the year the Padres made the playoffs with a stunning 82-80 record? Obviously, there were teams around the league with a much better record than the Padres who should have, but did not make the playoffs. In spite of this snubbing, I like the playoff system as it. The ability for a weaker team to squeak in creates thrills and lets in an underdog that baseball fans just love to cheer for.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment,
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that it always is a reward, but that it should be, and the MLB's is about as much as it can be, much more so than basketball's. But yes, I do see your point. You said how an occasional weaker team creates thrills, which is very true. Though not always fair, even though there are snubs, the only way to eliminate that would be to go to basketball's format, would rid the game of all of September's excitement.
But overall, the point I tried to make about rewarding the best teams is that there are only eight teams as oppose to basketball's 16, and adding additional wild cards would only make the season less competitive, and less nail-biting in September, and that is what the common fan relishes.
I agree - adding more playoff spots would essentially remove the "elite" labels playoff contenders have. The snubs are part of the game. It's disappointing sure, but that, if anything, adds to the competitive nature of playoff chases.
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