Play In Game Format

[rluzinski]

I hope the Orioles win as well. It will illustrate just how silly it is to play a 1 game series. It's like playing a 6 min NFL game.

[Point Beer Is Best]

The fan reaction to the infield fly rule being invoked makes me shudder at the thought of what would have happened if the Golden Tate "catch" would have happened at Lambeau.

[Ennder]

Most enjoyable early playoff game I've watched in a long time. Even had friends who aren't serious fans watch since the first game actually 'mattered'.

[pebadger]

I've seen enough "Cards fans wouldn't have acted that way" tweets and comments to fuel my hatred another lifetime (I'm up to 4 now I think).

[jerichoholicninja]

Win your division and you don't have to worry about the one game playoff. Seems pretty simple to me.

[Ennder]

Lets look at an extreme case where you could say one team wins 70% of the time and the other 30%.

 

With a one game playin you are looking at a 70% chance for the best team to win. In a 3 game playin it is all of 78%. The reality is usually more like 55% to 45% so to be honest the odds really don't change much at all going from a 1 game format to a 3 game. That is assuming that wins are even a good metric of 'best team' since the strength of schedule is so extremely different team to team. There is nothing wrong with the playin game.

[Patrick425]

Win your division and you don't have to worry about the one game playoff. Seems pretty simple to me.

 

Problem with that theory is that you don't get to pick what division you are in.

[Outlander]

I don't consider it a problem, there were times twenty years ago where the Brewers would have made the playoffs if they were in the AL West.

[NYChez]

Win your division and you don't have to worry about the one game playoff. Seems pretty simple to me.

 

Correct answer. If the wildcard teams complain, they should be given the option of reverting back to the pre-1995 rules (only the division winners make it).

[Ennder]

Win your division and you don't have to worry about the one game playoff. Seems pretty simple to me.

 

Problem with that theory is that you don't get to pick what division you are in.

 

Which is why the play in works better. The 4th-6th or so teams have about the same talent a lot of the time, just one usually ends up winning more because they were in an easier division anyway.

[brettac1]

Just get rid of divisions. They're useless since there are those crazy airplane things now.

[Thurston Fluff]

I wouldn't mind a 3,5,7 format but I don't know how much further into fall we can get without having the weather becoming a real problem. As it is the last game is November 1st this season.

[Invader3K]

I really enjoy the "one game shootout" thing. Both games were exciting yesterday. For all the criticism Selig received for expanding the playoffs, I would say it worked out pretty well this year.

[pebadger]

The Cards played 32 games (almost 20% of their schedule) against teams with more than 100 losses on the season. Those two teams accounted for almost 25% of the Cards wins on the season. (21-11, winning percentage .656). The Brewers got to play the Cubs and 'Stros 34 times.

 

The Dodgers got to play those two teams a whopping 12 times (8-4, winning percentage .750).

 

The Cards won the second wildcard by 2 games.

 

In the AL there were six teams with better records than Detroit, earned against tougher opposition, but only 4 of them get to join the Tigers in the postseason.

 

Since nobody really wants to get rid of divisions or take steps to balance schedules, that's just the way it's going to be.

[joepepsi]

pebadger, this is why the unbalanced schedule stinks.

 

I didn't like the concept of the one game playoff, but I haven't seen this much excitement about single baseball game by casual fans in a long time. I was at a neighborhood bar last night, and the people were watching both games like it was the Packers playing the Bears. A big part of the NFL's popularity is they play so few games in a season, every game is like a playoff game. People felt that kind of excitement about baseball last night. The sport could do with more of that.

 

I really wanted the Braves to win, but it's been clear for some time God loves the Cardinals. I'm jealous and sad about that, but that's the way it is.

 

Russ' original post indicates he thinks another injustice was served by the Orioles winning. I'm a lifetime Orioles fan, but even I knew for most of the season they were way more lucky than good. But in the last month or so, their "good" has caught up to their luck. Buck has channeled Earl Weaver and fashioned a team strong on pitching, defense, and the homer. I expect regression next year, but I am now convinced this really is a good team.

 

Texas has been in a slide that we've seen from other playoff contending teams in recent years. I don't think the outcome would have been any different had this series been a 3 or 5 game matchup.

[rluzinski]

Often enough, the first wild card team will be a better team than at least one of the division winners, so it seems like saying they should have just won their division rings hallow. I just don't really see the point of anything less than a 5 game series and even that leaves a lot to chance.

 

When determining playoff structure, it's a balancing act between entertainment and giving the best teams the best chance to prove it. Having the World Series determined by one game would be really exciting but...

[Baldkin]

I saw this idea posted (by Tango, I think) and I really liked it.

 

If the teams end up tied, they play 3 games. If they have a different record, the team with the better record gets a bonus win, and it becomes a 2 game series where they only need to win one more game.

[brewtank34]

Can anyone explain why the wildcard team gets to host the division winner in the first set of games?

[1992casey]

It was a scheduling issue that applies to this year only. I think a travel day needed to be eliminated to accommodate dates that were already set with the networks.

[Thurston Fluff]

When determining playoff structure, it's a balancing act between entertainment and giving the best teams the best chance to prove it. Having the World Series determined by one game would be really exciting but...

 

What is supposed to be proven that wasn't in a 162 games schedule? We already know who the best teams are. There is nothing a seven game series outcome can provide to show those 162 games didn't get it right except being able to win specific games in specific circumstances. Be it a one game do or die or a five or seven game series the test of the playoffs is different than the regular season in that respect. It takes all the teams with an argument that they are the best, weights it for the ones who have the best argument as dictated by the regular season, then puts them all through a specific set of tests. The new format creates an extra circumstance that the lesser of the playoff teams have to prove themselves in. Which given their failure to succeed in the regular season to accomplish their goal seems fair.

[RightFieldCoder]

A normal 5 game LDS:

2 days at Division winner, 1 travel day, 2 days at WC, 1 travel day, 1 day at Division winner = 8 days to play the series

2012 only:

1 day to play the WC game, 1 travel day, 2 days at WC, 1 travel day, 3 days at Division winner = 8 days to play the series and add the WC game

[whizkid]

2-2-1 5 game series didn't start until '98 or '99. Before that all 5 game series were 2-3 including 1982 when the Brewers came back from 0-2 to beat the Angels. So this isn't really new in that respect. The thought being the team with the higher seed having 3 home games vs. 2 outweighs having the 1st two on the road. 2-2-1 IMO stacks the deck for the higher seed with both the 1st 2 games at home and having 3 home games. I don't mind 2-3, a higher seeded team ought to be able to take one of the 1st two on the road and it cuts out the extra travel day.

[1992casey]

The difference between now and earlier is that the competing teams' win-loss records didn't determine who played where and when. Which team opened where was alternated from year to year. The 2-3 format worked fine under those circumstances.

[joepepsi]

The playoffs have dragged on too long in recent years. As I recall it's worse on WBC years as the season itself ends later in October. Best of 5 series should only have one off day; best of 7, two. I've noticed people start to lose attention midway through the LCS if their team isn't in it. I confess, I didn't watch an inning of last year's World Series. Baseball is the only sport I am truly interested in or passionate about. But there are too many off days in the playoffs and not enough baseball being played to maintain interest. By the time we are in the World Series the Packers' will be about halfway through the season, the Badgers heading into the home stretch. . Few in Wisconsin will care about baseball.

[Ennder]

Very little of this has to do with the playoffs dragging on too long. Most of it is because fans whose teams aren't in the race just don't care about the early games in these series. I'm not a big basketball fan and I could care less about the first 3 games of any given basketball series because they just don't matter to me. Adding more high profile games is nothing but a good thing.