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Discussion

February 22, 2012

Rick Teverbaugh: Another wild card will help

A bit of warm weather and players reporting to spring training always gets my thoughts to wander into the area of baseball.

It’s happening now.

I have come to realize that I will never enjoy today’s baseball as much as I did baseball in the ’60s and ’70s.

Baseball will never rid itself of the terrible designated hitter rules and it will never go back to two leagues, no divisions and the two best teams in each league meeting for the World Series. It makes too much sense and costs MLB too much money.

But finally baseball is considering a plan that makes real sense.

Lately the playoff system currently in place has developed a huge flaw.

Teams assured of a wild card slot have quit going all out to win a division. Since there is very little advantage to be being a division champion instead of a wild card entrant, teams have started resting players and preparing for the playoffs late in the season.

That could change as early as this season.

The idea is to add another wild card team in each league. Normally I might say that this is just another money-making scheme that further dilutes the regular season and the accomplishment of making the playoffs. But the way the extra team will be used keeps that from being true.

The two wild card teams in each league will meet at season’s end for a one-game playoff. The winner moves on, the loser goes home.

Now teams will think twice before settling for a wild card berth and instead will work very hard to win its division. No team will want to put its postseason fate in the result of a one-game, winner-take-all format if it is possible to avoid it. It might be necessary for a wild card team to use its best pitcher to survive while the division winner it will face next could have its No. 1 hurler rested and waiting.

Plus there will be great drama in those contests. Just think about the pressure and excitement of elimination playoff games and know now that there will be two more of those each year.

Right now there are some scheduling problems. Already the World Series starts too late and often runs into cold and inclement weather. This wild card addition would push back the Series at least three days.

Perhaps it is time to look at going back to a schedule that is more in line with the 154-game, pre-expansion season instead of the current 162-game plan.

If baseball really wanted to shake things up, it would eliminate divisions completely. A balanced schedule could be implemented. The top three teams would get automatic berths into the playoffs. The next two teams would be the wild cards and have a single game playoff to get in.

That would solve the problem of a mediocre team winning a weak division and getting in with a poor record.

Ahhhhh spring. Play ball!



 

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