Turn your location service on. You’re SoCal …. I’m the loser? When you go to the mailbox you see Philadelphia in your mind?
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i am so ahwatukee foothills arizona brother ive listened to these people predict a 50 win season all year its been great
tempted to turn capital one rewards in for nlcs tickets but i dont want to jinx
dont wikipedia us i did not put all white tukee in there we have korean bbq and ramen shops
So I was thinking about how to fix the playoff system in a way which MLB would be able to tolerate. That is, as much as I'd like to go back to the format of 8 playoff teams, that's not going to happen, because MLB loves the revenue from wildcard-chasing teams which stay in it 'til near the end.
The objection recently isn't so much that the top teams are losing. It's that mediocre teams are beating them.
The 84-win Diamondbacks do not belong in the playoffs, nor did the 84-win Marlins.
The fix for this is to set a 90-win floor for a wildcard berth. So even if you finish as one of the top 3 non-first-place teams in your league, you still don't get into the playoffs unless you've won 90+.
That would have eliminated the Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, and Marlins this year. The rest would have made it, though Texas and Philly barely.
From that point, you allow up to 3 wildcards in each league (but again, only if they reach 90 wins).
If there are 3 wildcards, you play as we did this year, except it's a 1-2 format, where the lower seed starts at home, but finishes the final 2 on the road.
If there are 2 wildcards, they play each other, and the division winners get a bye.
If there is 1 wildcard, there is no first round, and everyone proceeds to the division series.
If there are no wildcards, the #1 seed proceeds directly to the LCS, and the other two division winners play each other in the LDS.
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In the division series, the #1 seed plays the team with the worst record, and the other two teams face each other. This is best of 7, not best of 5, in 2-3-2 format.
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The LCS and World Series stay the same as present.
This allows a number of teams still in a wildcard race, while eliminating the .500-ish teams from sneaking into the playoffs.
Comments?
They would never do fluctuating number of playoff teams. Competitive advantages and etc.
Being that the playoff field won't be getting cut anytime soon, as you mentioned, I have no real issue with the current setup. Baseball is inherently random....from The Ringer today:
You just have to be a better team in October than in April. There shouldn't be a win cutoff. Look at 1987, when it was still only 4 divisions, 4 playoff teams. AL West was basically all .500 teams. 10 games separated first and last place. Then the winner, 85-win Twins, beat 98-win Tigers and 95-win Cards to win the 'ship.Quote:
The MLB playoffs are inherently more random than those of other sports leagues, in both theory and practice. One study suggests that in the NBA, the best team advances in about 80 percent of playoff series; to achieve that same success rate would require a best-of-11 in the NFL, a best-of-51 in the NHL, and a best-of-75 in MLB. FiveThirtyEight calculated that more than half the time, MLB’s best team on paper doesn’t win the World Series, versus around a quarter of the time or less in other major American sports.
One twist I think would be interesting with the current setup is to make the wild-card series all go the full 3 games, with aggregate scoring.
Druff the Dodgers playoff woes will not be solved by changing the playoff structure.
Kershaw was still a decent pitcher in the regular season. He will go in the HOF and is one of the best pitchers of all time.
That being said, you were not going to win a short playoff series with him starting Game #1. He's had troubles in the post season over the course of his career and unfortunately he's not the same pitcher.
Throw him in the bullpen and bring him out for 1-3 innings at some point in the series.
That being said I think the Dodgers still bring him back if he wants to continue playing. He'll still have a winning record, but come playoff time he shouldn't be starting.
I just think MLB, which is already battling a lack of interest from younger people, will start to see rebellion against regular season interest, if this continues. People will stop following the regular season or wanting to attend games, if 12/30 make the playoffs anyway, and if it's essentially a crapshoot at that point.
Baseball's high variance is exactly the reason there should be fewer playoff teams than other sports. If we're going to have 12 playoff teams, it needs to be a real uphill battle for those that sneak in at the bottom.
I think in Korea, they start the better record team up 1-0 in games automatically. That's also a workable idea for the LDS, though some may hate it.
Give the fans of the top regular season teams something to get excited about, rather than just "oh good, we get a bye".
You put butts in seats during regular season when there is a pennant race. They more often than not lasted longer than a “3 game wild card”.
Being number 1 and gaining exclusive entry into the playoffs is not the game any longer. The regular season is simply a satellite into a tournament.
The tournament itself is a chess match. Whether you bring in Kimbrel in the 6th or 7th or a starter in the 5th. Whether you save Pepiot for game 4 and not go for broke in a must win (Dodgers). How you align your rotation against your opponents projected pitchers. These few examples I’ve offered demonstrate how the playoffs bears little correlation to how the grind of the regular season transpires.
The playoffs are fantastic in this way
If you want to play chess - play it during August. Maybe burning out your two most valuable players (or pitchers) to achieve 1st place was not chess.
Let’s talk about the variance introduced (and not accounted for by the gay statistician) when seasons are so long (every sport) that important players suffer season ending injuries.
Of course, this begets load management and my not watching a single game of regular season basketball
Chess players don’t play the full season. Maybe they dial up their end game approach.
When hockey starts load management and ball fondling at first base (not you Bryce Harper) I will be done with it too. I want missing teeth. Connor Bedard is too pretty. I want a disfiguring injury by Christmas.
There is a kid on my lawn. Gotta hop
Not many better moments in sports than a Phillies home run at the bank in the post season
Electric crowd
Phillies vs Rangers World Series is going to be phenomenal, what are the series odds? Has to be as close to even as you can get
Over the years I suggested a possible solution for the Dodgers was to pursue Dombrowski. Dombrowski>Friedman
Like Boston and now Philly if you give him a fat checkbook he’ll deliver a ring or two. Money alone doesn’t get it done as the Dodgers have learned
The beginning of this series began -170 over DiamondBacks. I couldn’t believe it. I have been using this series pricing in every chalky parlay for a week. I have so much random Phillies on the books and I’m not the least bit nervous.
Yes, Rangers would be more fun than flawed Astros but either way fun
Look pal you ever heard of a Stu Feint "Lung Game"
Well brother, Phillies Series Price -180 is my "Lung Game"
Bet my Left Lung Phillies series, have hammered every game as well, might lay off betting Phillies game in Arizona, haven't taken a look at the odds for those games yet.
Did not get the 170, got 180, soon after saw -190. Agree that I thought I got a great price but can't get the same deal Slick Sanlmar did sitting in that mansion in his Village by a Sea in New England.
LOL cheating Astros
Go into final 2 homes games with a 3-2 series lead, and blow it. Justice. Home teams were 0-7 in that series.
Now we will see if the Diamondbacks can win game 7. If they do, Kimbrel will be largely to blame. Phillies actually should have been 5-0 in the first 5 games (if there was such a thing), or at least 4-1 in reality. Now they're in a game 7.
rangers diamondbacks mlb has got to be sssssssssssssstoked for those ratings they have to get philly in
This is how you watch a championship game: