From: niepornt@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (David Marc Nieporent)
Subject: Re: Playoffs
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1993 16:24:48 GMT

In<1993Jan18.231759.20579@midway.uchicago.edu> thf2@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>In article <1jf6m3INNoee@stimpy.css.itd.umich.edu> sweda@css.itd.umich.edu (Sean Sweda) writes:

>>Just read in clari.sport.baseball that MLB is considering expanding
>>the playoffs to 8 teams.  They are also considering swithing to
>>three divisions per league, with the playoff teams being the three
>>division winners plus one wild card.

>>AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

>I agree.  It's just a step further to the "everybody makes the playoffs"
>system of the NHL.

I don't think it'll ever get quite that bad.  Only the NHL is that
silly.  But it *will* move to something closer to the NFL, I think.  And
we see what happens there-- they just keep adding more and more wild cards.

>I don't know if I'll keep watching baseball if this happens.  It really
>distorts strategy decisions when 28% of the teams would make the playoffs. 
>It would make the season that much less enjoyable.  Teams would clinch
>playoff spots with a month left in the season far too often.  (Remember
>how teams with vested playoff spots in 1981 rested all their starters in
>the second half of the season?  And how just about every single one of
>the first-half winners kicked the butts of the second-half winners?)

>The value of having a good fourth and fifth starter would decrease 
>tremendously.  I'm just dismayed in general.  The fun of baseball is
>the pennant race, much more than the playoffs.  When was the last
>time you heard about an NFL, NBA, or NHL pennant race?  Yet people
>still talk about the 1978 AL East, 1967 NL and AL, 1987 AL East, 1969
>NL East (and to lesser extent West), 1991 NL West, maybe even 1985 (all
>four).  

Every Orioles fan remembers the 1982 pennant race.  The Orioles made a
great run to get close to the Brewers, and were 3 back with 4 to play
against the Brewers at the end of the season.  The O's took the first 3,
and then lost the division on the last day of the season thanks to Robin
Yount.  The outcome stunk, but it was a great pennant race, with the
background story being that it was Earl Weaver's last year.

If both teams were going to make it, who would care?

In the NFL it works, because with only 16 games, the teams battling for
the second and third spots are often also battling for the first spot
until the very end of the season.  

But in baseball?  Who wants to watch two teams battle for 2nd and 3rd?

Furthermore, they aren't thinking.  Unless the first round of playoffs
is limited to a best of 3 or something, you could end up with a month of
postseason.  What happens when all 3 series go to the final game?
You're going to have 7+7+x games for each team.  That's too many.

Now maybe if they make the 1st level a best of 3, and drop the second
round back to best of 5.  That wouldn't be quite so bad.  But they want
more playoff games, so they aren't going to do this.

(Though your comment about 4th and 5th starters isn't really accurate,
as far as I can tell.  I don't see why this would be true.  And the
value of starting pitching depth would *increase* in the postseason, the
more games that are played.)

I really think that MLB and CBS are confused.  I don't think they
understand *what* makes baseball popular.  It's the season.  It's the
pennant races.  It's the attempt at individual milestones by the players.

It isn't just a few games at the end of the year.  *That's* why CBS
isn't doing as well as they had hoped.  No one wants to watch *just* the 
playoffs.  This *isn't* football, or basketball, or hockey, and you
can't market it the same way.

-- 
David M. Nieporent   | "We don't need anymore [sic] wretched refuse.  It's 
niepornt@phoenix.    |  time to send the Statue of Liberty somewhere else"
   princeton.edu     |      -- Jack "Not a bigot" Schmidling, 1/7/93
Baltimore Orioles 93 |
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball