I'd say leave the wild card. What should happen though is to have a balance divisions and schedules. I know that this is being kicked around. It makes no sense to have 4, 5, and 6 team divisions. You have a balance division/schedule, you get some more interesting races I would think... I'd say fixed this first and then later see how the wild card plays out. But no matter where you draw the line, there will always be someone on the other side feeling ripped off...
Also, I have no desire to see a very short series. 5 and 7 games series feel reasonable for fairness of the outcome. A one or three game series? Not sufficient. And I just don't want the season to be any longer. Playing games in November is just silly. On Sep 1, 2011, at 5:08 PM, Matt & Olga McSorley wrote: > Looking for an FA Cup-style tournament, Ray? > > This is a tough problem to fix. The idea being floated to add a second wild > card doesn't fix the problem Ray brings up. The wild card team this year will > be the second best team in the AL. Under the two wild-card proposal, the > second-best AL team will play the fifth-best team in a single-game or > best-of-three playoff to see who gets the wild card, leaving open the > possibility that the second-place team gets hosed out of the playoffs. > > I've thought maybe it's time to lose the divisions and go to a balanced > schedule. Then there's the option of ditching playoffs altogether and having > one pennant winner, or any number of playoff combinations (top four? top > three with No. 2 and 3 playing a short series with the winner playing no. 1 > in the league championship series?) > > The next trick is to figure out how to rig a promotion/relegation scheme. > Then the fun really begins... > > -- Matt > > From: Ray Salemi <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thursday, September 1, 2011 4:40 PM > Subject: Ditching the Wild Card > > http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/joe_sheehan/09/01/wild.card/index.html#ixzz1Wjehjymw > > > > Joe Sheehan makes the point that ditching the wild card would make the > division race in the AL East meaningful. I suppose it would, but I'm not a > fan of that solution. One of the aggravating things about the division > system was that the Sox would have the second best record in the league and > still not make the playoffs. That said, here is a good point from Joe: > > MLB is trying to fix a problem of its own creation. In 1994, when they first > instituted the wild card as part of a radical realignment and playoff > expansion, they sent the message that pennant races and division titles -- > the trappings of September -- meant less than the short-season tournament of > best-of series -- the trappings of October. A division title was no longer an > accomplishment in and of itself, but rather, just another playoff spot, as it > is in the NBA and NFL. > > I hear what he's saying, but getting rid of the wildcard won't improve > division races because it's not the structure of the race that makes the > difference, it's whether several teams are close to the line. > > Personally, I'd rather see the World Series be one of several tournaments > played throughout the season. > > Ray > > -- > Author of Robot Haiku : Poems for humans to read until their robots decide > it's kill time. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en.
