2016 MLB Playoffs

[Golfingdad]

The MLB playoffs started last night with a classic.  The AL Wild Card game between Toronto and Baltimore went 11 innings and ended on a Blue Jays walk-off home run.

The Mets-Giants NL Wild Card game is tonight (Syndegaard vs. Bumgarner), and the ALDS' start tomorrow.

Should be a fun few weeks!!!

 

[iacas]

I think the wild card thing is stupid.

Make it best of five. Cut the season back again to 154 games.

I said it the year the Pirates won and advanced, and I said it before they lost to the Cubs last year… on a year when arguably the three best teams in the entirety of MLB were forced to play and eliminate each other.

One game adds too much luck and too much chance, and also allows a team with ONE good pitcher to move on despite not necessarily being the better team.

P.S. I've said it every other year, too, but those examples are meant to show I'm not biased against it just because my team loses out all the time or something.

[DaveP043]

9 minutes ago, iacas said:

I think the wild card thing is stupid.

Make it best of five. Cut the season back again to 154 games.

I said it the year the Pirates won and advanced, and I said it before they lost to the Cubs last year… on a year when arguably the three best teams in the entirety of MLB were forced to play and eliminate each other.

One game adds too much luck and too much chance, and also allows a team with ONE good pitcher to move on despite not necessarily being the better team.

P.S. I've said it every other year, too, but those examples are meant to show I'm not biased against it just because my team loses out all the time or something.

I agree with the logic, and I wouldn't miss 8 regular season games, although I know the teams would hate to give up the revenue.  On the other hand, as one (unusually stoic) O's fan said on sports-talk radio today, if you don't want to be in the luck-filled single game playoff, all you have to do is win your division.  

[Golfingdad]

Anyway ...

Good news about being a Padres fan is that every year when the playoffs roll around I don't have any stress and can root for whoever I want.  It's always a clean slate!

I'm pulling for the Mets tonight, but then it will be hard to cheer against the poor Cubs next round.  I'm also hoping the Dodgers do well.  On the AL side, I'll probably lean Clevelands way since they have been out of the mix the longest.

[iacas]

31 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

On the other hand, as one (unusually stoic) O's fan said on sports-talk radio today, if you don't want to be in the luck-filled single game playoff, all you have to do is win your division.  

They've had a wild card team for awhile now, and it was actually fairer before, but just happened to include two fewer teams (just for one game, though).

It's less fair now than even that scenario because a team who finishes fifth can knock out a team with the second best record in the league in one game.

If you're going to do a wild-card scenario, like I've said about the NFL, re-seed based on the record. Yes, winning the division can get you into the playoffs, but then re-seed. That's fairer.

Or play more than one game. Far too much luck.

[Braivo]

53 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I agree with the logic, and I wouldn't miss 8 regular season games, although I know the teams would hate to give up the revenue.  On the other hand, as one (unusually stoic) O's fan said on sports-talk radio today, if you don't want to be in the luck-filled single game playoff, all you have to do is win your division.  

That is exactly why they did this play-in game format. It incentivizes winning the division. However...

 

16 minutes ago, iacas said:

They've had a wild card team for awhile now, and it was actually fairer before, but just happened to include two fewer teams (just for one game, though).

It's less fair now than even that scenario because a team who finishes fifth can knock out a team with the second best record in the league in one game.

If you're going to do a wild-card scenario, like I've said about the NFL, re-seed based on the record. Yes, winning the division can get you into the playoffs, but then re-seed. That's fairer.

Or play more than one game. Far too much luck.

I think they should do away with divisions and just go back to AL and NL with the top 4 teams in each making the playoffs with best of seven series' all the way through from there. The fight for the last spot would still be just as exciting, but there would be no silly one game playoffs. 

[dchoye]

A best 2/3 series is more fair than a one game winner take all 

I don't like the one game wild card game 

even though I'm a Jays fan and it turn out best for me last night 

Edited October 5, 2016 by dchoye

[Elmer]

1 minute ago, dchoye said:

A best 2/3 series is more fair than a one game winner take all 

I don't like the one game wild card game 

even though I'm a Jays fan and it turn out best for me last night 

As previously stated, you want fair?, You want a longer series, win your division!
Or win the play in game.
I was not a fan of the wild card when it started, but now it is 2 more games I get to watch. 
I would not want to the wildcard expanded any further, dont need this to turn into the 6 months worth of NBA playoffs, where half the league gets in!

Go Cubs, but only after the Mets are eliminated!

[Gunther]

Rangers-Blue Jays rematch.  Lots of emotions on both sides. Wasn't a very cordial series last year, Odor clocked Bautista in May, fans in Toronto already throwing crap onto the field.  Yep, this one will be worth watching.

[Golfingdad]

22 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Rangers-Blue Jays rematch.  Lots of emotions on both sides. Wasn't a very cordial series last year, Odor clocked Bautista in May, fans in Toronto already throwing crap onto the field.  Yep, this one will be worth watching.

Oh, that's right, I remember that!  Yeah, this should be a pretty intense series.

Also, to be fair to most of the people of Toronto ... it was fan, not fans. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Braivo said:

I think they should do away with divisions and just go back to AL and NL with the top 4 teams in each making the playoffs with best of seven series' all the way through from there. The fight for the last spot would still be just as exciting, but there would be no silly one game playoffs. 

That would be fine too. The Pirates would have been in two or three of the three years they still made the playoffs.

I'd be fine with that. Plus there would be no divisional winners with runners-up being lower seeded despite having a superior record. Last year the Cubs, Pirates, and Cardinals had the three best records in baseball… and yet two were wild card teams, and then the winner was going to play against the other. Two of the top three teams in baseball were eliminated before the NLCS.

1 hour ago, Elmer said:

As previously stated, you want fair?, You want a longer series, win your division!
Or win the play in game.

There are varying definitions of "fair."

Fair just means that everyone knows the rules and that they're applied. If the rules said they randomly choose a team to make the playoffs using lottery balls, that too would be "fair" without being "fair" in the other sense of the word.

This discussion is more about what they "should" do - that sense of the word "fair" - as a one-game playoff tips the scales farther toward luck or having a single great pitcher over what's "fair."

[Gunther]

38 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Oh, that's right, I remember that!  Yeah, this should be a pretty intense series.

Also, to be fair to most of the people of Toronto ... it was fan, not fans. 

Well true, only the one this time because you know, it's JUST a play-in game.  They were nasty last year in our playoff series, Rangers are preparing for it.

[Braivo]

19 minutes ago, iacas said:

That would be fine too. The Pirates would have been in two or three of the three years they still made the playoffs.

I'd be fine with that. Plus there would be no divisional winners with runners-up being lower seeded despite having a superior record. Last year the Cubs, Pirates, and Cardinals had the three best records in baseball… and yet two were wild card teams, and then the winner was going to play against the other. Two of the top three teams in baseball were eliminated before the NLCS.

Yup, 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 in each league in a best of seven series means the best teams are going to make the ALCS and NLCS. Even the five game series doesn't test the true depth of a team's pitching staff the way a seven game series does. The elimination the play-in games makes room for the extra two games in the first series. 

To play 162 games and get eliminated in a one game playoff is not an attractive way to present the game of baseball. 

[Elmer]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

 

There are varying definitions of "fair."

Fair just means that everyone knows the rules and that they're applied. If the rules said they randomly choose a team to make the playoffs using lottery balls, that too would be "fair" without being "fair" in the other sense of the word.

This discussion is more about what they "should" do - that sense of the word "fair" - as a one-game playoff tips the scales farther toward luck or having a single great pitcher over what's "fair."

9 times out of 10 the power pitcher wins the match up with the lowly #9 hitter.
However every once in a while the #9 hitter gets lucky and hits a HR to win the game!

[Golfingdad]

1 hour ago, Braivo said:

To play 162 games and get eliminated in a one game playoff is not an attractive way to present the game of baseball. 

The team that gets the second wild card would likely disagree with you on this one ... seeing as how the alternative for them is not being in the playoffs at all.

For the record, last night would have been exactly the same with the old wild card rules as well.

And, remember, reseeding for the playoffs would not work too well unless they also did away with unbalanced schedules.  When teams play darn near HALF of their games against 4 of the 29 other teams there is the possibility of really stacking the deck there.  It's certainly possible that you could be the third best team in your division and the third best team in all of baseball, but it's also possible to be the best team in your division and appear to be the best team in baseball simply because the rest of your division, or even just some of the rest of your division, are awful.

[Braivo]

1 minute ago, Golfingdad said:

The team that gets the second wild card would likely disagree with you on this one ... seeing as how the alternative for them is not being in the playoffs at all.

For the record, last night would have been exactly the same with the old wild card rules as well.

And, remember, reseeding for the playoffs would not work too well unless they also did away with unbalanced schedules.  When teams play darn near HALF of their games against 4 of the 29 other teams there is the possibility of really stacking the deck there.  It's certainly possible that you could be the third best team in your division and the third best team in all of baseball, but it's also possible to be the best team in your division and appear to be the best team in baseball simply because the rest of your division, or even just some of the rest of your division, are awful.

I say do away with all of it, including the unbalanced schedules. No reseeding or anything. Just simply take the top 4 teams in each league and play ball!

Oh, one more thing. Either get rid of the DH, expand it to both leagues, or drop interleague play altogether.

[Golfingdad]

17 minutes ago, Braivo said:

I say do away with all of it, including the unbalanced schedules. No reseeding or anything. Just simply take the top 4 teams in each league and play ball!

Oh, one more thing. Either get rid of the DH, expand it to both leagues, or drop interleague play altogether.

Why not just do it like they do European football (soccer) leagues?  No playoffs at all - you finish the season with the best record, then you are the champion.  Done deal.

[Braivo]

35 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Why not just do it like they do European football (soccer) leagues?  No playoffs at all - you finish the season with the best record, then you are the champion.  Done deal.

I wouldn't mind that one bit. Makes every game matter that much more.