From: MLINDROOS@finabo.abo.fi (Marcus Lindroos INF)
Subject: Re: Inevitable changes
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 11:07:55 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23

In <1992Sep29.202015.19499@cs.brown.edu> cs169061@cs.brown.edu writes:

> In article <1992Sep29.112633.2251@vixvax.mgi.com>, eiswirth@vixvax.mgi.com (Steve Eiswirth) writes:
> |> Local (St. Paul-Minneapolis) columnist Pat Reusse has a very interesting piece
> |> in the paper today.  The gist of it was the following:
> |> 
> |> Now that the owner's have their lackey installed as pseudo commish, and the
> |> TV contract is coming up for renewal, you can count on the following three
> |> network-influenced changes to baseball:
> |> 
> |> 	1.  Interleague play
> |> 	2.  The return of the 156 game schedule
> |> 	3.  Wildcard playoff system
> |> 
> |> My reaction is this: I'm for a very limited (1 series vs. teams from the other
> |> league) form of interleague play using home DH-related rules.  There's no
> |> denying that this will be interesting to see from a fan's perspective.
> |> I also have no problem with the 156 game schedule; over the long haul it will
> |> probably put more tension into the pennant races.  Which brings me to my third
> |> reaction: I don't want to see baseball lose the integrity of the current
> |> playoff system.  Football's playoff system got worse when they went with
> |> 3 wildcard teams instead of just 1.  Basketball and hockey are a joke, allowing
> |> teams with LOSING records into the playoffs.  Baseball is the one sport with
> |> a true champion: if your team can be on top after the grueling regular season,
> |> your team has truly accomplished something that it can be proud of.  Sure,
> |> allowing only the two other best teams into the playoffs is not that awful.
> |> But I feel that once you allow two wildcard teams, pretty soon the 3rd place
> |> teams will be whining that they should be included, and before long you end
> |> up with a bogus basketball or hockey style playoff system.
> |> 
> |> Any reactions?
> 
> 
>            I couldn't agree more. Adding another tier of playoffs 
> would be absurd.  If a team can't win its division over 150+ games, 
> it doesn't deserve a chance to win a World Series just because it
> got hot over a 2-3 week postseason.
>            If the networks want to *lengthen* postseason, they 
> could play best of 9 or best of 11 game playoff serieses.  (I think
> the WS was briefly best of 9 once upon a time)  At least that would 
> force teams to use more pitchers and show some depth.

All of you forgot the most obvious thing to do - dropping that ridiculous "World
Championship" claim. Don't get me wrong - baseball is an international game
and the major leagues are big business not only in the States, but the World
Series is *N O T* a world/international sports event. It's the
national baseball championship of North America - nothing more, nothing less. 
MLB is making a mockery of a title that should be reserved for international
competition. They should invite Japanese teams to play against the "World
Series" winners or shut up. To non-Americans, the so-called "World Series" 
(the name, that is) reeks of artificial hype and conservative American 
ignorance towards the rest of the world.  
 
> 
>                                                 Michael Kalman

MARCU$