[TBP]

I agree with you about the playoff system, and I’m afraid that down the road it will just get worse. Eventually, they’re adding two teams (and most likely going to four divisions in each league) — at which point, I expect them to adopt the NFL system — the two lowest-seeded division winners against the two wild cards, with the two highest-seeded division winners waiting for them.

Wild cards damage pennant races, as Whitey Herzog, Bob Costas, and others have pointed out. In 1996, the Dodgers and Padres came down to the last day tied for the NL West lead. They both played their games like exhibition games because the “loser” had locked up the wild card.

That’s what the second wild card is intended to stop. It’s designed to create a strong disincentive to settle for teh wild card and keep everyone fighting for the division title as long as possible. That’s a good idea, but it merely papers over the real problem. The real problem is that we let non-winners into the playoffs. Take the Marlins, for example — two World Championships, nary a division title to their names.

[xzins]

See #24.

I hope they don’t go to the NFL system.

For what it’s worth, with the NFL at least you can argue that there are so few games a weak day or two through the season could justify allowing a wild card into the playoffs.

With baseball, though, there is little doubt about the long term best teams. One hundred and sixty two games later you find out who was consistently better against a large variety of opponents.

I hope they just go with champions. In reality, being champion of a 4 team division after 162 games is a fairly open opportunity for each of those teams.

I would prefer a tournament of champions.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"two World Championships, nary a division title to their names."

This is why I prefer the current setup with the wild card than the previous setup where the wild card was treated just the same as winning a division. Even in the current system, there is a huge incentive to be the top wildcard vs. the second wildcard. I mean, if you're going to have a one game playoff, it's a huge advantage (IMHO) to have that one game at home.

I got a chuckle out of the idiocy that is Dusty Baker in last night's post game press conference. Someone asked him about the one game playoff and in a roundabout answer he was against it. Did the idiot know that under any previous format his team would not have made the playoffs? Then again, this came from the man who gave us his perspective of how blacks play better during day games because they were bread as slaves to work in the heat.