Al Yellon
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Aug 31, 2011 - Here's why the current protocol sucks: We've been robbed of the single best thing that baseball has to offer, that being a tight pennant race featuring two great teams.
Here's why neither Bud Selig nor anyone else who matters gives a damn: Hardly anyone else does, either.
Let's see ... 53 words ... onward!
I might argue that the best baseball in the last 20-some years happened in 1993, when the Braves and the Giants fought for the National League West title until the very end. Ultimately, the Giants won 103 games ... and finished out of the money because the Braves won 104 games.
That sort of thing is, of course, gone. Now, if you win 100 games you're in. If you win 95 games you're almost in; only one team in the Wild Card era has won at least 95 games and failed to qualify for the postseason.*
* In 1999, the Mets and Reds both finished their schedules with 96 wins; the Mets won the one-game playoff for the WC.
Great pennant races? Still got 'em, some years. Great pennant races featuring great teams? They're almost entirely a thing of the past, and will be even less likely once the inevitable move to add postseason teams is made.
This might bother you, if you're like me at all. As a fan, I live for pennant races featuring great teams. I suspect that you do, too.
Here's a dirty little secret, though ... We're uncommon. We love baseball; the great majority of baseballs fans direct (on average) 93.7 percent of their baseball passion toward their favorite team, and their favorite team only.
How much money does Major League Baseball lose because we don't have great pennant races anymore? Oh, maybe a few hundred bucks. Or maybe no bucks at all. The Red Sox and Yankees aren't engaged in a particularly meaningful pennant race ... but their fans will still fill their ballparks. The Phillies and Braves aren't engaged in a particularly meaningful pennant race ... but Phillies fans, at least, will still fill their ballpark.
You see, Commissioner Bud and his merry henchmen really never had anything to lose. They knew -- I mean, assuming they bothered to think about this, which I'm not at all sure about -- that the great teams would attract fans regardless of the pennant-race situation, while some of the non-great teams would draw somewhat better because the Wild Card was available. And while Selig habitually overstates the impact of interleague play and the Wild Cards on attendance, I suspect attendance is slightly higher with those things than without.
It worked. The local fans are happy, and the local fans drive MLB's revenues.
Unfortunately, this leaves you and I to just the scraps.
Fortunately, in most years the scraps are still pretty damn tasty.
27 comments
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Comments
Just One Issue
People keep saying the Red Sox and Yankees aren’t engaged in a meaningful race. I disagree.
What would you rather do — Go to Texas (or Anaheim) for a five game series? Or host a member of the Tigers-White Sox-Indians triumvirate? And don’t give me the Verlander argument. He is that good, the Tigers are not.
There’s a reason these teams (meaning the Sox and Yankees) actually do care about winning the division.
That said, I couldn’t agree with you more. Just wait until Bud gets his way and adds another Wild Card team; then you might as well not watch the regular season at all. Is that what the MLB wants? It’s always hard to tell.
by Cleveland, Vermont on Aug 31, 2011 8:39 AM EDT reply actions
Honestly
The Braves and Phillies have equal, if not better, reason for a battle. That reason is: face the Brewers in a best of 5 or face the D-backs in a best of five.
Same situation as Yanks and Sox, but I think the D-backs are a softer foe than the Tigers would be (I know I’m just giving it to the Tigers, but they look to be the best).
by atlbravosfan on Aug 31, 2011 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Actually
…. adding another wild card team makes it much more important to win your division. In that case, the Red Sox and Yankees would definitely care.
In the case of this year, I’d think a team would much rather play the Rangers or Angels than have to face Verlander twice in a five-game series. This could lead to a scenario where it would be better NOT to finish first. I can’t imagine Bud is in favor of that sort of thing.
Or maybe he is. Who knows with Bud.
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by Al Yellon on Aug 31, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions
LIttle league style
I might be more on board with a second wildcard team added to the playoff mix if the wildcard series was a 3-gamer, beginning with a day/night double-header. The regular season ends on Sunday, playoffs start Monday with the AL and NL Wildcard double-headers, game 3 (if necessary) is Wednesday, reserve Thursday in case there’s rain, and the division series Game 1 is Friday. Sweep the twin-bill and you get an extra off day.
by PartnershipForAWaveFreeAmerica on Aug 31, 2011 9:47 AM EDT reply actions
That's the best idea I've heard.
I don’t like the idea of the whole season coming down to one game, but a doubleheader and one deciding game if necessary would be sufficiently short. The better record gets the benefit of hosting the doubleheader.
by switchhittingmachine on Aug 31, 2011 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions
100 game pennant races
That’s truly a strawman argument. It’s not like it happened all the time with 2 divisions per league. In fact, the past 7 seasons it couldn’t have happened – there weren’t two 100 win teams in the same league any of those years.
by todmod on Aug 31, 2011 10:39 AM EDT reply actions
his argument isn't about 100 win seasons being the barometer
His argument is that he wants to see two “Great” teams battle for a playoff spot. In the east it would probably be the Phils vs the Braves, with the Brewers running away with the west. Instead, you have the Phils, Braves, and Brewers all about to shut the door in their races, with the last really open race being the west between the Giants and the D-backs. Which of those teams is “Great” again?
by atlbravosfan on Aug 31, 2011 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
But
what’s he proposing as a solution? What caused “this”? The very existence of the wild card? Or just a general evening of the playing field?
Also, the Dbacks are 4-2 against the Brewers this year…
Goldschmidt happens.
by DbacksSkins on Aug 31, 2011 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Also the Nats had a winning record against the Braves before Braves took the last two in the series
Brewers are clearly the superior team compared to the DBacks. Greinke, Gallardo, and Marcum in a best of five, with Fielder and Braun in the middle and KRod, Saito, and Axford at the end? DBacks are better?
by atlbravosfan on Sep 5, 2011 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Best Pennant Races in Past 20 was...
When did “pennant race” come to mean “division race”? I keep hearing people taling & writing about divisional races & calling them pennants. Um no. If that were true, then the Braves won a ton of consecutive pennants in the past 20 years didn’t they? Nobody says that though, ‘CAUSE IT’S NOT TRUE.
The pennant race is the race to win the league & the right to go to the world series. The pennant race is actually happening in the league playoffs nowadays, ever since 1969 and especially since 1995. If they add another wild card team, then it’s going to be even more of a race again. Which is cool really, but that’s another story.
So, the best pennant races are any of the 7 game league championship series. A full 5 game divisional series can be included as part of a pennant race too, since those teams all earned the right to play extra games to fight for the pennant.
Com’on Rob, you know this stuff. Stop trying to talk beeath yourself ;-) you’re better than the common media.
by Soydevon on Aug 31, 2011 11:29 AM EDT reply actions
The funny thing
is that 1993 was only possibly because of the absurd, insane and utterly indefensible placement of the Braves in the NL West. Put the Braves in the East where they belong and they convincingly win the division by 7 games. Leaving the Giants to take the west by, wait for it…18 games!
The Giants were the best team between the Pacific Ocean and a spot about 250 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, how that doesn’t win them the “West” I will never know.
by mkd on Aug 31, 2011 11:47 AM EDT reply actions
Extending your argument
Baseball really doesn’t care about creating “baseball fans” as you put it. They are interested in creating team fans. As proof, I offer the ridiculous blackout policy MLB has on non-local teams.
by siggian on Aug 31, 2011 12:34 PM EDT reply actions
I'm a little confused here...
the games that are blacked out for me are local teams…isn’t that true for everywhere?
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
by sddbaker on Aug 31, 2011 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions
MLB's
by gregorykohler on Aug 31, 2011 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Pennant races.
If MLB went to no divisions, a 155-game season where each team played league opponents ten times each and played each team from the other league once, you would have a great balanced season – and exciting pennant races.
This would be especially true if the first place team earned something REALLY significant – like being the home team in games 1,2, 5,6, and 7 in the LCS.
Rewarding the top two teams in a league can be done by inviting the top six teams in the league to the post-season party. The Wildcard round would feature 6 vs.3 and 5 vs. 4 while teams 1 and 2 watched. To me, that is a strong incentive to finish at or near the top of the standings.
by rxnelson on Aug 31, 2011 1:11 PM EDT reply actions
Agreed,
although you could do that setup anyway, without doing away with divisions.
Goldschmidt happens.
by DbacksSkins on Aug 31, 2011 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions
It's bad
for the purity of the game, but, as you point out, it’s almost certainly more enjoyable for the unwashed masses of fans whose teams still have a chance.
Goldschmidt happens.
by DbacksSkins on Aug 31, 2011 1:29 PM EDT reply actions
easy to insult those fans when your team plays in the pitiful NL West
you’d be a little more understanding if you were stuck in the AL East with the Yankees and Red Sox every year.
when life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic...
by sheehan on Aug 31, 2011 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Um...
I was including myself in there, not insulting anyone. The Dbacks wouldn’t have much of a chance in the same division as the Phillies and Braves, either.
Are you advocating another wild card slot? Because otherwise, this comment, and your bitterness, seem oddly misplaced.
Goldschmidt happens.
by DbacksSkins on Aug 31, 2011 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions
that is what I'm advocating yes
and sorry. ‘unwashed masses’ seemed insulting to me… although it has been several hours since my last shower
when life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic...
by sheehan on Aug 31, 2011 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions
It was
partially out of deference to Rob’s language in this piece: (all emphasis added)
I’ll be totally honest here: I must be one of those great majority of fans, because, while I enjoy every baseball season, I get much greater pleasure when my team is doing well.
It’s a real shame that “non-great” teams are allowed to play baseball at all, and it’s a black mark upon the game.
Shame that more teams have a chance to make the postseason now. REAL shame. Yup, it’s too bad that non-great teams like the Yankees or Braves will make the playoffs.
Sheehan, I’m definitely a member of Rob’s implied “unwashed masses”.
Goldschmidt happens.
by DbacksSkins on Aug 31, 2011 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah...
I’m not digging the whole “us baseball purists who really understand the game have to suffer because MLB is trying to make the stupid fans happy” vibe.
I’m pretty sure it’s possible for me to be a baseball fan and a Braves fan at the same time.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
by sddbaker on Sep 1, 2011 2:41 AM EDT up reply actions
162 games to determine
who BOUGHT the best team. Until thats fixed who gives a damn.
by baltimorebullets80 on Aug 31, 2011 6:14 PM EDT reply actions
Maybe it’s because it’s the era that I grew up and concurrently became a baseball fan, but imo baseball was never better than it was in the late 80’s and early 90’s with four division races and a seven game format for the LCS and World Series. As for the argument that more Wild Card teams means that more fans will be interested when their team has a chance, the dark side of that is when their team is out of the playoff race or knocked out of the playoffs they suddenly don’t care. I have little memory of what happened in the 07 and 08 playoffs after my team (the Cubs) were knocked out of the playoffs, but I could tell you something that happened in nearly every game in every series that happened in the early 90’s. Fewer playoff series meant that there was more attention and more people watched and I would say the series were more meaningful. Also, there is no doubt that more Wild Card teams dillute the quality of the regular season. The NBA and NHL effectively have five wild card teams in each conference and when was the last time you can remember a meaningful regular season game in either of those leagues?
I am not a Leader, and I am not a Legend.
by Aaron Go Bragh on Aug 31, 2011 7:39 PM EDT reply actions
I have to agree with Rob. With expanded playoffs, the regular season comes off as less important, for instance… what are the Braves right now? The Yankees? The Red Sox? The Phillies? They’re in a netherworld where (barring historic collapses/runs/etc) their season is over.
Knowing the randomness of the playoffs, I don’t really think they determine the best team – they determine the best team over three consecutive series over three different teams.
But the playoffs aren’t my point – my point is that I, even as a rabid fan, have no compelling pennant race lust to watch any of the above teams. And that’s the fun of September. No great pitcher A against great pitcher B on the last day of the season. That is what draws fans in, watching teams they might never have watched but do because of the pennant race. And know they’re seeing something important with something on the line.
It’s advertising for the postseason, in any case. If your local team is out of it, well, maybe for a month and half you’re following plucky underdog team X. And you sure as hell watch the playoffs with actual interest.
by stephsbear on Aug 31, 2011 11:42 PM EDT reply actions
Can you imagine how compelling the AL East Races would have been the last two years if it were in the pre-wild card era? It would have been the stuff that Ken Burns documentaries are made of. Instead they were zapped of any excitement by June.
I am not a Leader, and I am not a Legend.
by Aaron Go Bragh on Aug 31, 2011 11:50 PM EDT up reply actions
We CAN have pennant races
Baseball can fix things without turning into the other sports, where everybody seems to make the playoffs. First, add two teams to make 32 (more jobs for everyone!). Divide them up into two leagues of 16. Divide the leagues up into four divisions of four. The playoffs are the 8 division winners. Just as many teams make it, but no losers (wild cards) get in. All races mean something, and with 8 races the chance of a decent battle to the finish gets larger.
We need another fix too. Make the schedules fair. Keep interleague play if you must, but each team in a division should play the same schedule. Why should the Sox play the Braves because of some imaginary rivalry when another AL East team gets the pathetic Nationals?
It’s really not that hard to fix, but baseball will find a way to screw it up.
by Ray Charbonneau on Sep 1, 2011 8:34 AM EDT reply actions
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