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Monday, August 16, 2004 |
What A Card!
I guess I don't get this. Maybe I'm misrepresenting it, but I gather John's principle complaint is that the wildcard "is more likely to have the adverse effect of eliminating one of the two true AL pennant races." First off, what he means is "one of the two AL division races", because as we know there's only one pennant, determined by the winner of the AL Championship Series. But then, this --
MLB is willing to sacrifice at least one pennant chase every year, sometimes two, for the sake of increased attendance in two parks, plus the TV revenue that the division series brings (which is a whole lot more than those last-weekend regular season games).And what, I ask, is wrong with that? I recognize that the Wild Card winner has rarely gone anywhere in years past, and the Central divisions of either league have won their league's pennant but twice (Cleveland, in 1995 and 1997), but to label the sudden abundance of postseason slots a waste is absurd. I might be more inclined to agree with him but for two things:
- The Wild Card has produced three champions since it was introduced.
- There have been wackier things suggested, chief among them the idea that the top two teams in each division should enter the playoffs, and the winners selected among those. That has all the disadvantages of the NHL's bizarre system, where something like half the clubs can have a shot at a postseason berth.
Comments:
If there was no wildcard, the remainder of the season would practically be meaningless in ballparks outside of Anaheim, Texas, Oakland, Cleveland, Minnesota, and perhaps Chicago (AL). That's 6 out of 30 teams. I recognize that it dilutes the taut excitement that a pure pennant chase can bring, but the good vastly outweighs the bad imo.
Selig has this one right.
mattkew
Selig has this one right.
mattkew
# posted by 
: 8/16/2004 12:01:00 PM
: 8/16/2004 12:01:00 PM
I hate Selig, but agree with him on this issue.
Without the Wild Card, the eastern division AL teams would have no reason for hope most years. I'm glad they have the chance, and remember that we were 10 outs away from the seemingly impossible Cubs/Red Sox World Series last year, with the Sox being the Wild Card rep. That woulda been so cool...
Baseball's having one of it's best years in a long time, and I credit the Wild Card. It's a good thing.
Without the Wild Card, the eastern division AL teams would have no reason for hope most years. I'm glad they have the chance, and remember that we were 10 outs away from the seemingly impossible Cubs/Red Sox World Series last year, with the Sox being the Wild Card rep. That woulda been so cool...
Baseball's having one of it's best years in a long time, and I credit the Wild Card. It's a good thing.
Before divisional play, the top team in each league went to the World Series. With the commencement of division play, there is the real situation in which a lesser team plays for the league title while a superior team is eliminated.
IMHO, as long as there is division play, a wild card is needed to at least partially redress this inequity.
IMHO, as long as there is division play, a wild card is needed to at least partially redress this inequity.
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