Thursday, November 17, 2011

MLB: Why the Expanded Playoffs will Ruin Baseball

In case you haven’t heard, the MLB will reportedly add an extra wild card team to the playoffs in both the National League and American League. According to Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, the expanded playoffs could begin as early as next season, and it would result in the two wild card teams playing a one game playoff to determine who advances to the Division Series. Selig, and apparently the majority of owners, believe this to be a good idea to make the playoffs more exciting and popular. However, I disagree. 


While the expanded playoffs will no doubt help teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves, it will also diminish the September postseason runs. Do we all remember the epic collapses by the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves this past fall? With an expanded playoffs, that would never have happened. While fans of those teams may be for the change, I think that fans are being robbed of entertainment. 

I believe that the September playoff races are what make baseball great, especially the collapses. When September and October roll around, many fans shift their attention to the NFL and college football and baseball is turned into an after thought. In fact, the only reason I checked the baseball scores in late September was to see how the last wild card spots were shaking up, and now that could all be lost. 

I understand that the races could be turned to the final wild card spots, but how often are we going to see two teams fighting for both spots, instead of two teams battling it out for the 6th seed in the playoffs. If the expanded playoffs were in effect last season, the races would not have been as entertaining. 

In the American League, the Red Sox would have earned the second wild card seed after falling behind the Tampa Bay Rays by one game. The closest team to the Red Sox  was the Anaheim Angels, who were four games behind Boston. If the rules had been in effect, the race for the second seed would not have even been a race, the Red Sox would have locked up a playoff berth before the last week of play even started. Tell me, where is the fun in that? 
In the National League, the same standings occured. The Atlanta Braves would have earned the second wild card seed by four games over the defending champion San Francisco Giants. Atlanta would have still made the playoffs despite a September collapse, playing a one game playoff against St. Louis. If the Braves had earned the playoff game and beaten the Cardinals, then we may not have seen one of the greatest World Series in history as we did last October. 
There possibility of a one game playoff between two wild card teams is intriguing, but for me and I’m sure many other fans, I would rather see two teams battle it out for only one wild card seed then two teams play a one game playoff. The only thing that we can do is wait and see how the September races shake up, perhaps teams that would usually be out of the playoff race will play harder knowing that there is a second spot open to them. But as for right now, I don’t agree with the expanded playoff system, but enjoy it Toronto, San Francisco, Atlanta and Los Angeles. 

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