Even though I’m still young, I’m a traditionalist when it
comes to baseball and its rules. I don’t like seeing change in a game I’m
already in love with and, if anything, I would like to see it start working its
way back to the way it was in the early 1900’s.
I’ve always been in favor of the best teams from each league
playing each other for the World Series. These teams battle for 162 games just
to see some team get hot in October and take the crown. The course of the season
should be long enough to tell who the best team in each league is.
But we live in a world where money rules all and a society
who is constantly wanting more. The game has to change to succeed in this
country, I know that, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. Here is a
recent quote from Chipper Jones on MLB.com in an article by Mark Bowman that
pretty much sums up my thoughts on the whole expanded playoff situation:
"I'm not for
it," Jones said. "I think the elite teams deserve to make it to the
playoffs. Pretty soon, Major League Baseball is going to be like the NBA. There
will be more teams that make it than don't. The season is too long as it is. Now
you're going to give teams more travel. I don't agree with it, but we're just a
piece of meat. We do what they tell us to."
That’s exactly the way I feel. I hate the fact that over
half the league makes the playoffs in the NBA and NHL. Even in football you can
have teams with .500 records making it into the postseason. For baseball it’s a
great accomplishment to just make it into the postseason. In other sports it
almost seems meaningless and I hope that doesn’t happen to baseball.
Now those are the negatives. There is a great positive to
all this that really makes the game a lot better, and that’s the fact that the
Wild Card team will be at a great disadvantage in the playoffs. Having to play
a one game playoff and possibly use your ace to win that game and maybe even
have to travel across the country would definitely hurt the Wild Card.
I’ve watched too many teams over the course of the Wild Card
era start playing good baseball in September and then come roaring into the
playoffs while the division winner hasn’t been playing meaningful baseball for
several weeks.
There are many reasons Braves’ teams in the ‘90s didn’t win
more championships, but I honestly believe their lack of success in the
postseason was due to the fact that they spent the last two weeks of the season
resting and getting prepared for the postseason. Meanwhile Wild Card teams like
the Cardinals and Marlins were playing playoff games night after night just to
try and make the postseason.
Look at the Phillies last season. They used their last
couple of weeks of the season resting getting prepared for the playoffs. While they
did sweep the Braves to end the year and kept them out of the playoffs, they
weren’t playing meaningful games or worrying about the outcome. The Cardinals,
however, were playing for their lives every night so they were more prepared
for playoff baseball.
This new system will put more emphasis on winning the
division so teams like the Yankees don’t just give up at the end of the year
and settle for the Wild Card. It will put those teams that do win the Wild Card
at a disadvantage, which is great because I believe you shouldn’t be allowed in
the playoffs anyway if you don’t win your division.
So there are pros and cons to the new system. Nobody was particularly
happy when baseball expanded to eight teams but that worked out well. For the
casual fan and the lower market teams this will be a great move. But for those
who don’t want to lose the historic tradition of the game, this is just a small
step towards change.
I hope this stays a one game series and doesn’t expand
anymore. Change is inevitable and I’m sure we’ll come up with something
different in the future. Nothing will ever be perfect and at the end of the day
this is still a great game and I’m going to watch it no matter what. I hope the
positives of this plan outweigh the negatives and we can look forward to a
play-in game every year like they have for the NCAA Tournament.
You
can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com
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