By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill Chuck
If there is any issue that should be discussed among owners, the GMs, the players, the Commissioner’s Office, it is the issue of the Wild Card. While there may be traditionalists among you who hate the Wild Card, not only do I embrace it, but each year I attempt to expand the postseason to two Wild Cards in each league.
For those of you who are new to my rant, please allow me to state my case.
The Cardinals lost again yesterday to the Astros, 5-2. It was the Cardinals fifth straight loss. They have lost 13 of 16. They completed a 2-8 roadtrip against the Pirates, Nationals, and Astros. Let me repeat, two wins and eight defeats.
The Reds, on the other hand, defeated the Brewers, 6-1. Aroldis Chapman hit 103 on the gun and number one on the victory chart. The Reds stretched their NL Central lead to eight games.
Even if they sweep the Reds this weekend, THE CARDINALS ARE DEAD OR, AT BEST, DYING.
The Yankees edged Oakland, 4-3. The Rays edged the Jays, 2-1. Jon Lester did what he does best: beat the Orioles as Boston won, 9-6.
Boston remains eight games behind AL East-leader New York and trails second-place Tampa Bay by seven games. THE BLUE JAYS AND RED SOX ARE DEAD OR, AT BEST, DYING.
Texas beat KC, 4-3. THE REST OF THE AL WEST IS DEAD.
The White Sox beat the Indians, 6-4. They have won three straight. The Twins defeated Detroit in 10, 2-1, behind a walkoff single from Danny Valencia.
The Twins kept their four-game lead over Chicago in the AL Central and Detroit dropped to 12 back.
THE TIGERS ARE DEAD AND THE WHITE SOX ARE DYING.
The Braves won their fifth straight topping the hapless Mets, 4-1. The Phils beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, behind Roy Oswalt. The Marlins scored five runs in the 1st, five more in the 2nd, and four times in the 3rd and survived Nyjer Morgan throwing a nutty as they beat the Nationals, 16-10.
The Braves maintained their three-game lead in the NL East over Philadelphia and Florida is 10.5 out. THE MARLINS ARE DEAD.
The Padres have lost seven straight after falling to Arizona, 5-2. The Giants edged the Rockies, 2-1.
The Padres are three games ahead of the Giants in the standings. They are nine ahead of the Dodgers and seven ahead of the Rockies. THE DODGERS AND ROCKIES ARE DEAD OR, AT BEST, DYING.
There are a lot of teams on the cusp of the coffin and we have a month of baseball left. How do you maintain excitement for the upcoming postseason when with the expanded rosters many teams will be playing the equivalent of non-exhibition Spring Training games?
There are two solutions:
Send Dexter to visit Yankees, Rangers, and Reds. This serial killer could solve the problem, but the resolution is messy. Or, baseball could adopt my plan.
My plan is simple. Each league has two Wild Cards.
Immediately following the season, the two WC teams face-off in a one-game play-in. The Wild Card team with the best record gets to host the WC Play-In, providing another payday for all.
Winner immediately moves on, the losers go home.
This gives baseball the excitement of an ultimate game. Currently, the differential of no home field advantage throughout has not proven to be significant enough to deter Wild Card success over Division champs. This forces the Wild Card team to use their best pitchers and players in the one game, which increases their disadvantage against the Division champs once the regular playoffs begin. And, perhaps most importantly, it makes more teams and more games relevant in September.
Take a look at the current Wild Card Standings and you will see my point.
| AMERICAN | W | L | PCT | GB |
| Tampa Bay | 82 | 51 | .617 | - |
| Boston | 75 | 58 | .564 | 7 |
As you can see the AL Wild Card race is over.
Look again under my plan:
| AMERICAN | W | L | PCT | GB |
| Tampa Bay | 82 | 51 | .617 | - |
| Boston | 75 | 58 | .564 | - |
| Chicago Sox | 73 | 60 | .549 | 2 |
| Toronto | 69 | 64 | .519 | 6 |
Not bad, huh?
Let us check the current NL Wild Card race.
| NATIONAL | W | L | PCT | GB |
| Philadelphia | 75 | 58 | .564 | - |
| San Francisco | 74 | 60 | .552 | 1.5 |
| St. Louis | 69 | 62 | .527 | 5 |
| Colorado | 69 | 63 | .523 | 5.5 |
Now try this:
| NATIONAL | W | L | PCT | GB |
| Philadelphia | 75 | 58 | .564 | - |
| San Francisco | 74 | 60 | .552 | - |
| St. Louis | 69 | 62 | .527 | 3 |
| Colorado | 69 | 63 | .523 | 4 |
| Florida | 67 | 65 | .508 | 6 |
| LA Dodgers | 68 | 66 | .507 | 6 |
In both leagues I have increased the number of teams involved and, as a result, increased the value of the remaining games throughout September.
In essence, I have raised the dead or dying.
Hallelujah!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Expand the wild card? A truly awful idea. As the playoffs expand, the regular season loses its importance. This season’s race between the Yankees and Rays would be absolutely thrilling if it weren’t irrelevant, because both teams are headed to the playoffs no matter which team wins the division. Baseball should not head toward the NBA’s asinine system — an 80-game exhibition season that even the players don’t care about.
Since Major League Baseball adopted its current three-division format, 86% of the teams (77 of 90) in first place on Sept. 1 have earned a postseason berth, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and 80% (72) won their division.
Last year, the Detroit Tigers were the lone team to be in first place on Sept. 1 and miss the playoffs. And only three times since 1995 has more than one team missed the playoffs after being in first place in September, and never more than two of the six teams.Since Major League Baseball adopted its current three-division format, 86% of the teams (77 of 90) in first place on Sept. 1 have earned a postseason berth, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and 80% (72) won their division.
Last year, the Detroit Tigers were the lone team to be in first place on Sept. 1 and miss the playoffs. And only three times since 1995 has more than one team missed the playoffs after being in first place in September, and never more than two of the six teams.
Looks more and more like NFL wild card where mediocrity is rewarded!
woot, thankyou! I finally came to a site where the webmaster knows what they’re talking about. Do you know how many results are in Google when I search.. too many! It’s so annoying having to go from page after page after page, wasting my day away with thousands of people just copying eachother’s articles… bah. Anyway, thankyou very much for the info anyway, much appreciated.