Should the wildcard be best of 3?
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What are peoples opinion on this? I liked this rule last year because we got to see more baseball.
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Yes, even though a do or die game is exciting, it is not the way to measure a great baseball team. One bad pitching performance and your season is over. And to think this year either the Giants or Dodgers (the 2 best records in baseball) will have to play a win or go home playoff game (I'd be bummed if I cared about either of those teams).
Baseball should be seeded by record and the wild card should be a 3 game playoff.
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I like the one game wild card game. It stresses the importance of winning your division rather than coasting once you clinch a playoff spot. A best of three will bring back the resting players and starts to defeat the purpose of making games matter at the end of the season. You want to avoid a do or die wild card playoff game, win your division. Like this year, the Dodgers could start resting players once they clinch their playoff spot and rest up for a 3 game series instead of pushing for the division. Instead, they will continue to try to win the division as they don’t want to risk their season on a winner take all wild card game.
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@raylewissb47_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
I like the one game wild card game. It stresses the importance of winning your division rather than coasting once you clinch a playoff spot. A best of three will bring back the resting players and starts to defeat the purpose of making games matter at the end of the season. You want to avoid a do or die wild card playoff game, win your division. Like this year, the Dodgers could start resting players once they clinch their playoff spot and rest up for a 3 game series instead of pushing for the division. Instead, they will continue to try to win the division as they don’t want to risk their season on a winner take all wild card game.
I agree with this if they were to seed the teams. The wild cards should be the two worst records. Basically it would be the NL east team v. Whoever lucks into the final playoff spot (Cards are the only one actually making an effort it seems). I hate the Dodgers and Giants so I'm not worried for their sake but it's hard to rationalize a team 40 games over .500 in a WC game while a team 8 games over gets a bye.
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@ericulous1_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
@raylewissb47_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
I like the one game wild card game. It stresses the importance of winning your division rather than coasting once you clinch a playoff spot. A best of three will bring back the resting players and starts to defeat the purpose of making games matter at the end of the season. You want to avoid a do or die wild card playoff game, win your division. Like this year, the Dodgers could start resting players once they clinch their playoff spot and rest up for a 3 game series instead of pushing for the division. Instead, they will continue to try to win the division as they don’t want to risk their season on a winner take all wild card game.
I agree with this if they were to seed the teams. The wild cards should be the two worst records. Basically it would be the NL east team v. Whoever lucks into the final playoff spot (Cards are the only one actually making an effort it seems). I hate the Dodgers and Giants so I'm not worried for their sake but it's hard to rationalize a team 40 games over .500 in a WC game while a team 8 games over gets a bye.
Wouldn’t we be right back where we started with teams resting up at the end of the season with reseeding based on record? What would be the Dodgers and Giants motivation to win the division?
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I get what you're saying and won't refute you because that is a definite plus side to the current setup. Love them or hate them, the Giants and Dodgers are poised for an exciting finish and either way, they at least both get in.
Personally I don't think resting players and taking it easy is always a winning approach. Ask the Rockies of 2007 or the Tigers of 2006 who had a week off before the world series amd came out playing like a rec league team. The Mariners in 2001 wrapped up their division in July (slight exaggeration) winning 116 games and never made it out of the league championship. Momentum and rhythm are huge in baseball. But to your point, it definitely allows teams to take their foot off the gas which not only creates a weaker product but can unfairly effect other division and WC races. If the Dodgers can sit half their team, their opponent plays a much more beatable Dodgers. It's a hard one to figure out.
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@notandris_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
What are peoples opinion on this? I liked this rule last year because we got to see more baseball.
I get it, but it’s a rare instance to have 2 100 games winners in the same division. The 1993 NL West was even worse with only LCS winners in 2 divisions; man I was mad the Braves won that year
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Baseball is played with an entire season of series' and ends with a series. The wildcard being a single game makes no sense at all outside of TV ratings. There's no doubt it's exciting but it should also be a series.
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What about the setup last year? 1st and 2nd place in each division made it plus 2 wc. personally i thought it was a bit much, but the league tried to do it again this year but the PA wouldnt agree(probably money)
but you have to think the league will push for expanded playoffs for the new CBA at the end of this year. -
No baseball series should be decided by less than 7 games. Anything can happen in 1 or 3 games. You play 162 games a year to try and separate the teams who just got hot from the teams that were built to last, why stop in the playoffs? NBA finally figured it out years ago and eliminated the 5 game first round series. And they only grind half as many games.
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@chuckclc_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
No baseball series should be decided by less than 7 games. Anything can happen in 1 or 3 games. You play 162 games a year to try and separate the teams who just got hot from the teams that were built to last, why stop in the playoffs? NBA finally figured it out years ago and eliminated the 5 game first round series. And they only grind half as many games.
The 5 game opening NBA series was perfect imo. Top seeds could get upset in 5.
I think the NBA was petrified that their meal ticket/ratings/big market teams could be out too soon, so they got scared. -
I'm iffy on this, just because it wouldn't incentivize winning your division like others have said. If you are going to have 2 wildcard teams a one game playoff is best IMO. Its not really a secret that the dodgers wuld have a massive advantage over STL/CIN/SD in a 3 game series over a 1 game playoff. I do think they should re-seed round to round though like the NFL does. If the dodgers win the wild card game(just going off of current standings), they should be playing Milwaukee in the divisional round, not the Giants. That avoids the best to teams playing each other right off the bat. There is no reason the team with the best record in baseball should be playing the team with the second best record immediately
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Everyone is talking about the Giants (1st in NL West) and the Dodgers (2nd in NL West) but what about the AL East? You have potentially 4 teams that could have 90+ win seasons. There are multiple scenarios where you could have 2-3 teams tied for 1st or 2-3 teams tied for 2nd place. Crazier possibility but if TB hits a wall and only wins like 2 or 3 of their remaining 18, you could have 4 teams tied for first place. Currently NYY, TOR and BOS are all 9 games back. I am not a fan of any one team but more so a baseball fan in general, I follow my favorite players instead of a favorite team but I will definitely be invested in the AL East and NL West for the remainder of the season.
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@chestnuts20_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
Everyone is talking about the Giants (1st in NL West) and the Dodgers (2nd in NL West) but what about the AL East? You have potentially 4 teams that could have 90+ win seasons. There are multiple scenarios where you could have 2-3 teams tied for 1st or 2-3 teams tied for 2nd place. Crazier possibility but if TB hits a wall and only wins like 2 or 3 of their remaining 18, you could have 4 teams tied for first place. Currently NYY, TOR and BOS are all 9 games back. I am not a fan of any one team but more so a baseball fan in general, I follow my favorite players instead of a favorite team but I will definitely be invested in the AL East and NL West for the remainder of the season.
I think the AL east isn't talked that because it happens all the time in that division. There os always 3 or 4 really good teams in that division depending on the year. Also seattle and oakland aren't completely out of the wildcard yet. Its already clinched that 1 of SF/LAD will win the division and the other the 1st wildcard
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A one game WC is wack. They should seed based on record...not division standing.
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@notandris_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
What are peoples opinion on this? I liked this rule last year because we got to see more baseball.
One game playoff in baseball is stupid. Three is a good compromise.
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I don't think so because baseball is a really long season. It's not like football where one bad game will keep you out. You find out who the best teams in baseball are by the end of the season.
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@chuckclc_psn said in Should the wildcard be best of 3?:
No baseball series should be decided by less than 7 games. Anything can happen in 1 or 3 games. You play 162 games a year to try and separate the teams who just got hot from the teams that were built to last, why stop in the playoffs? NBA finally figured it out years ago and eliminated the 5 game first round series. And they only grind half as many games.
Three is still better than one. What a joke a one game playoff is.
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I’m sure those McCutchen Pirates teams wish it was a series.
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