Lord help us (a.k.a., get off my lawn!)

February 11, 2020

Image result for soap boxThere’s been some chatter lately about changing the MLB postseason structure. Here’s the synposis:

MLB is considering a move in which each league would have three division winners and four wild-card teams making the postseason starting in 2022, sources said. The best team in the league would receive a bye into the division series. The two remaining division winners and the wild-card team with the best record of the four would each host all games of a best-of-three series in the opening round.

Once the teams clinch and the regular season ends, the plan gets congested:

  • The division winner with the second-best record would select its wild-card opponent from the three wild-card winners not hosting a series.
  • The division winner with the worst record would then choose its opponent from the remaining two wild-card teams.
  • The final matchup would pit the wild-card winner with the best record against the wild-card team not yet chosen.

Wait, what was that second bullet point?

The division winner with the worst record would then choose its opponent from the remaining two wild-card teams.

WTF?

Image result for state of play, ripkenThere have been a number books — not to mention hundreds of articles —  several coming in the late-’80s and mid-90’s that purport to tell us what’s wrong with the game and how to fix it. (Bill James devotes a chapter in his latest Handbook to improvements both major and minor, which I will address point-by-point in a future entry.) It’s interesting to note that a lot of these come from former players who become commentators in retirement; State of Play: The Old School Guide to New School Baseball, by Bill Ripken, is the latest in this genre.

Are there things that are wrong with the game that should be examined? Of course, but as I see it, tossing this spaghetti on the wall in the hope that something sticks with the television audience — because, let’s be honest, that’s who all this is really for — is not the answer.

 

 

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