"MLB must confront a problem that no new innovations can easily solve: how to convince people to pay attention to a Fall Classic that is almost entirely devoid of anybody recognizable to a national audience....The Rangers and Diamondbacks meeting in the World Series seems almost impossible to fathom. They combined for a .537 winning percentage during the regular season, an all-time low for teams meeting in the World Series...
By design, baseball’s playoff format rewards the hottest teams, not necessarily the best teams. " WSJ, 'A World Series Without The Top Stars'
Last night's debacle in Philly, with the 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks taking down the contending NL champ Phillies 4-2 was beyond outrageous. That these little 'bottom feeder snakes' could first knock out my Brewers two games to none, then crush the 100-win LA Dodgers 3 games to none, before knocking out Philly, tells me MLB needs to rethink and maybe get rid of the whole wild card round.
Ditto that take after the mirror image AL abomination when the wild card Texas Rangers took down wifey's top winning (AL) Baltimore Orioles, three games to none. This shows me the whole confection of 'wild card' rounds is woefully misbegotten when it enables Johnny-come-lately, mediocre also rans to get past the top winning teams to the Fall Classic.
All the wild card round does is extend the season- with the Series now to begin at the end of October (27th) - and possibly go into November- just to make more money for the Baseball titans. Yes, it also gets more fans into the stands because it interjects more teams. Added in 2012, the idea was to mimic the wild card round in the NFL which already was raking in money since 1970 in its first iteration then wildly expanding the contenders to a 14 - team tournament in 2020.
Thus, my worry is that soon MLB will also mimic the NFL's greed expansion with one contender (2nd best record) from each division. Why not, given sports money is like crack and once addicted to the moola rolling in it is all but impossible not to take the next step.
In the old days, whether of the Yankees' 'Murderers row' in 1927, or the terrific Braves teams (from Milwaukee) in the late 1950s, the top winning teams from the NL or AL faced off. A best 2 out of 3 series followed only if two teams tied with the same record. (As the Braves and Dodgers did in 1959 with each team finishing with identical 86-68 records.) Alas, the Dodgers took that series thanks to their bum of a reliever named Larry Sherry.
But this is the only exception I argue is valid for MLB, say to extend a baseball season. Meanwhile, Phils fans went home crying and depressed last night as two of their home town heroes (Bryce Harper and Trea Turner) failed to deliver, after being handed $630m contracts before the season. Each of these guys flied out with men on base leaving Phillies' fans in shock as the number of outs left dwindled.
Yes, there will be counter arguments to the effect:
"Look, if those best record teams like LA and Baltimore were really that good they'd have taken care of business when they needed to!"
And there is a point to be made. Also, that it gives a chance to a lower payroll - small media market team - like the Arizona Diamondbacks, to succeed. Also, by calling into question the whole basis for MLB's ginormous money invested in just a few elite teams. That is the part I am for, challenging the high roller teams and their justification for astronomical payouts. So when those payouts don't deliver, was it truly worth it to shell out for perceived prize players?
Anyway, I still intend to watch the Series when it begins next week, but will do so with a grudge.
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