//Opinions presented in order of byline//
EDMONTON (CUP) — There are a lot of special things about the month of October-it’s the only time of the year where it’s acceptable to dress up in drag and steal candy from children. It also happens to be the month of the World Series. Now, while not everyone lusts for baseball as much as they used to, sports fans can recognize a thrilling sporting event when they see it. The only problem is that the excitement of the MLB playoffs is short-lived and needs to be altered to include more teams.
Some people find it difficult to sit through nine innings of America’s pastime, let alone 162 games in a season. However, at the risk of a verbal thrashing from baseball purists, I’m willing to say that the World Series should be expanded to include 16 teams like the NHL and NBA playoffs do. Look at it this way-of the eight teams that made the baseball playoffs last year, five returned this year, meaning that only three new teams made it. Not only is that rather redundant, but it also excludes teams from the playoffs that are good, but not that good. Consider the Blue Jays, for example. They had a decent season this year, but because division rivals Boston and New York purchased a perennial playoff berth, the Jays didn’t have a hope in hell.
The current format doesn’t even guarantee that the best teams play in October. Baseball could at least award the best four teams from the American League and National League with a playoff spot. In the 2005 season, the top four teams in the AL did make the playoffs, but in the NL the Padres made it, despite the fact that the Phillies, Marlins, and Mets all played better during the regular season. This disproves the argument that the current baseball playoff format is the most competitive because the division leaders always make the playoffs, while better teams are forced to watch from their living rooms. If the Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Orioles are the best four teams in the American League, then they should make the playoffs, despite being in the same division. In hockey, two seasons before the lockout, the Oilers, Canucks, Avalanche and Wild, all who play in the northwest division, made the playoffs. Hockey’s format allows teams to focus on their record versus the whole conference, not just the division.
Baseball’s playoff format severely limits the chance of an underdog making it to the World Series. Consider the last three years in the NHL playoffs, where Carolina, Anaheim, and Calgary all came within a hair of winning the Stanley Cup. This wouldn’t have happened if hockey had the format that MLB employs.
To compensate for an extended playoff and to ensure that baseball isn’t a year-long spectacle, MLB could shorten the regular season by 20 games. The proportion of playoff to regular season games is much lower in baseball than it is in other professional sports. The MLB playoffs account for about 10 per cent of the total games played. The NHL, NBA and NFL seasons, on the other hand, consist of about 25 per cent playoffs. The post-season is the most exciting part of any sport, so increasing its length while decreasing the excruciatingly long regular season would make baseball more enjoyable.
Expanding the World Series could make it the best sporting event of the fall season, but in all honesty, a game that’s been around for more than 100 years isn’t likely to change. I guess next Halloween I’ll have to don my wig again and steal treats from the youngsters.
///COUNTERPOINT///
So let me get this straight, Mr Renfree. You think that baseball needs to have more teams in their playoffs. You’re trying to tell me that half the teams in the league need to make the post-season. You believe that this will lead to a more competitive league, where the bubble teams lose to those Yankees and Red Sox every single year. Puh-lease, heavy on the “Puh.”
If you’re looking for a way to increase parity, a quick fix like expanding the playoffs isn’t the answer. After all, if there is such a talent gap between the haves and have-nots that half the playoff teams can be pencilled in before the start of the season, then those superior teams should just win their first round series anyways. The 63 per cent of returning teams to the playoffs isn’t even that different from the 16-team playoff leagues that you crave to emulate. In 2004/05, 69 per cent of NBA teams made their second-straight playoff appearance, and in 2003-04, 75 per cent of NHL teams returned to the post-season.
A longer playoff schedule would also mess with baseball’s already ungodly season. The season already stretches from late February-when pitchers and catchers report to training camp-to late October, and that’s not even including the offseason ball that some of them play. One hundred and sixty-two games is a long schedule as well, but the elimination of games isn’t really a viable option. The unbalanced schedule and interleague play are two things that the fans want. They create better rivalries and match-ups. The fact that the Yankees and Red Sox play 20 times a year is one of the factors that makes the last weekend of the season mean something. Neither New York nor Boston would have played with as much desperation during the last weekend if they were both already free and clear into the playoffs.
Maybe sometimes an injustice such as San Diego making the playoffs this past season will happen, but these same things are bound to happen in a larger playoff tree as well: division winners always make the playoffs. Teams that didn’t belong were mercilessly spanked in the first round. They had underdog potential, and were fun to watch through the season, but when it came down to running with the big guns, they didn’t have the talent to make it. Bottom line, they don’t belong in the post-season.
Also, baseball’s playoffs, unlike hockey’s, eliminates the underdog effect. All you need is one hot goalie to win in the NHL playoffs, whereas you need to have two great pitchers on your team to win the World Series. If you had what it takes to be a good playoffs MLB team, you have what it takes to make it there. Add this to the fact that the underdog-or wildcard-has won the last three World Series, including Boston’s miraculous comeback in 2004 and Florida’s stunning of the Yankees in 2001, and you have a great set-up that makes it possible for some surprises along the way. The playoff system isn’t broke. Why should we waste our time trying to fix it?
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