What Major League playoff stucture do you like the best?

[bendova]

Wrong. The AL East had the best record in MLB, probably around 60 games over .500 which means they beat up on the other 5 divisions, proving that overall they have the best teams. Al East teams are obviously exactly .500 against each other, meaning those 60 are all by beating the teams in the other divisions.

The Jays played 72 of their 162 games in their own division, meaning almost half their games are played against the best teams. If they were in another division they would play against those best teams less often. Even a modest 5 or 6 game improvement due to an easier schedule brings them much closer to the playoffs.

Correct.

Especially with baseball you can't say the best team always wins. Just like derek Jeter said "the best teams make the playoffs but the hottest team wins the world series"

Meaning, usually over the course of 162 games the best teams (in division, the way it is set up now) make the playoffs. Once in the playoffs it just comes down to which team gets the hottest (pitching & hitting)

 

[johnhenrygalt]

I like the hockey format, although I'd prefer that they eliminate the divisions and just seed the top 8 in the conference 1-8. The current format is a bonus to the 6th seed who gets to play the weak third division winner, while the 5th seed has to play the 4th seed (sometimes #2 in the conference).

The advantage of the hockey format is that most games "mean something" right up to the end of the regular season. With 8 of 15 making the playoffs in each conference, clubs usually do not get eliminated from playoff contention until there are only a few games left; and among the playoff teams, they are often jockeying for seed position up to the end. NFL is nice as well since due to the short season (only 16 games), most of the games on the final week have playoff implications.

But with MLB, too many clubs simply have no chance by September.

 

[OnTheWayOut]

But with MLB, too many clubs simply have no chance by September.

You would have REALLY hated the old setup where the 2 league winners played in the World Series. That's it, 1 team from each league. The advent of divisions and wild cards gives lots more teams a chance these days.

I hate hockey and basketball where 1/2 the league is in the playoffs and most of them don't belong. Why bother with 80-some games? Just make the whole season a playoff .....

 

[maurice93]

Wrong. The AL East had the best record in MLB, probably around 60 games over .500 which means they beat up on the other 5 divisions, proving that overall they have the best teams. Al East teams are obviously exactly .500 against each other, meaning those 60 are all by beating the teams in the other divisions.

My bad. Its obvious that with both of my posts in this thread covering the entire period of 2000-2008, that I should have realized that you would have based my conclusions being on 2008 alone, and therefore should have reached a conclusion that was counter to all the facts that I had presented.

 

[Sniper Jr.]

The advantage of the hockey format is that most games "mean something" right up to the end of the regular season.

No, most games mean something to the mediocre teams. The games mean very little to the teams that have already locked up playoff spots and are playing for position. And making the playoffs is a less meaningful goal anyway when once you've made it in, you've only got a 1-in-16 chance of winning the championship.

 

[shack]

And if you want to pick on me for 2008, then fine from 2000-2007 the Jays did not have that excuse.

I haven't looked it up and I imagine you haven't either but I strongly suspect that with the Sox and Yanks being among the best in all of baseball almost every year that the AL East would have had a very good record every year against all the other divisions. Maybe not best every year but constantly up there. If I'm correct, then my "excuse" is really a "reason".

How about another factor to consider, look at the AL West, only 4 teams competing for the division and two are small (very small) market and one mid-market. The only team that ever does anything is the one big market team, the Angels. Even when the A's, M's or Rangers make the playoffs (do the Rangers ever make the playoffs?) they're immediately knocked out, again demonstrating how weak a division like that is and how likely it is that a team like the Jays would have occasionally made the playoffs against such mediocre competition.

 

[yaya17]

They don't need to shorten the schedule in terms of games at all. They need to go back 15 or 20 years ago and play 10-15 doubleheaders per team.

The team would still be able to get the gate reciepts as they would still play 162 games -- teams could even do the day/night deal and clear out the stadium after the first game.

 

[OnTheWayOut]

They don't need to shorten the schedule in terms of games at all. They need to go back 15 or 20 years ago and play 10-15 doubleheaders per team.

I sure do miss doubleheaders .... I mean the true double dips that were back to back, not the stupid day/ night money grabs.

Only thing better than sitting watching a game on a beautiful summer's day is to watch two! But with all the new stadiums being built, those days are past I'm afraid. As long as the stands are filled they have no incentive to throw us any kind of bone.

 

[blueline]

I sure do miss doubleheaders .... I mean the true double dips that were back to back, not the stupid day/ night money grabs.

Only thing better than sitting watching a game on a beautiful summer's day is to watch two! But with all the new stadiums being built, those days are past I'm afraid. As long as the stands are filled they have no incentive to throw us any kind of bone.

I believe there is now something in the Collective Agreement that limits teams to only two doubleheaders per season? Not 100% sure on the number but that number stands out in my mind. I seem to recall hearing this come up the last week of the season when all that bad weather hit the east coast of the USA and there was a possibility of teams playing doubleheaders.

 

[ocean976124]

Here's a radical idea. Baseball gets rid of its divisions and puts season back to 154 games. Just the two leagues and the top 4 teams in each league make the playoffs.
Round 1 - the bottom two playoff teams
Round 2 - winner of Round 1 plays League's 2nd place team
Round 3 - winner of Round 2 plays league's 1st place team
Round 4 - World Series, League Champions play each other.

Essentially, the better your record the less you have to play to get to the World Series. I know, the problem is there's the whole thing of being off for 2 weeks. But hey, its not like I got paid to come up with this idea.

 

[ocean976124]

But with MLB, too many clubs simply have no chance by September.

I'd rather have that then a bunch of .500 teams in the playoffs. And besides, the difference between a .500 team and a .600 team is 1 win every 10 games. So its really not outside the realm of possibility that a mediocre team could beat a superior team in a 7 game series. And if you're going to let that scenario have a chance of happening then why the heck are you playing 162 games? Just play 100 and then have a round robin doube elimination tournament for pete's sake.

 

[ocean976124]

I believe there is now something in the Collective Agreement that limits teams to only two doubleheaders per season? Not 100% sure on the number but that number stands out in my mind. I seem to recall hearing this come up the last week of the season when all that bad weather hit the east coast of the USA and there was a possibility of teams playing doubleheaders.

I don't believe its 2 per season. Its probably like 2 per so many days or something like that. I'm pretty sure I've seen more than 2 doubleheaders due to rain, but I could be wrong.
As for actually have a double header on the regular schedule, that is indeed now illegal per the 2002 collective bargaining agreement. The whole day/night thing I think has to do with the fact the players get a cut from the gate receipts. The players want 2 paid tickets for those as much as the owners do.

 

[teassoc]

I'd rather have that then a bunch of .500 teams in the playoffs. And besides, the difference between a .500 team and a .600 team is 1 win every 10 games. So its really not outside the realm of possibility that a mediocre team could beat a superior team in a 7 game series. And if you're going to let that scenario have a chance of happening then why the heck are you playing 162 games? Just play 100 and then have a round robin doube elimination tournament for pete's sake.

Depends really what you call mediocre. This year 4 of the AL east teams had excellent records but only 2 went through, and are now in the AL final. It wouldn't be fair to call the 3rd and 4th teams 'mediocre' on that basis.

It would be fairer to call the teams that didn't quite get there in the end other good teams. With that in mind it seems a shame that good teams don't go through.

You also need to take into account that the best teams come the play-offs are not necessarily those with the best record over the year. So occasionally the best playing teams at the end of the season won't be in the play-offs.

Finally as others have already remarked it's debatable whether Chicago was really a better team than the Yankees and Jays this season.

 

[blueline]

I don't believe its 2 per season. Its probably like 2 per so many days or something like that. I'm pretty sure I've seen more than 2 doubleheaders due to rain, but I could be wrong.
As for actually have a double header on the regular schedule, that is indeed now illegal per the 2002 collective bargaining agreement. The whole day/night thing I think has to do with the fact the players get a cut from the gate receipts. The players want 2 paid tickets for those as much as the owners do.

Here is something I found on the issue of DHs. I was pretty certain I heard this come up late this season. Seems there is something in the Collective Agreement that only 2 day-night DH's are allowed. Exceptions can be made, however, I also believe that the MLBPA must agree to it. This is from the article, with its link also included.....

"There are strict, negotiated guidelines to observe. The schedule must be between 178 and 183 days, can include no more than two day-night doubleheaders for any team, teams traveling from Pacific to Eastern time zones must have a day off in between, etc. "

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060404&content_id=1383448&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

 

[ocean976124]

"There are strict, negotiated guidelines to observe. The schedule must be between 178 and 183 days, can include no more than two day-night doubleheaders for any team, teams traveling from Pacific to Eastern time zones must have a day off in between, etc. "

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060404&content_id=1383448&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

OK, but what about the straight up twin bill? Is that considered different from a "day/night? double-header?

 

[Toronto Passions]

Weird, I know - but as I am sure you know, sometimes there is just an imbalance of teams in different parts of the country and you end up with crazy looking divisions that do not make sense geographically.

I'm just a bitter Jays fan. Lol.

 

[johnhenrygalt]

You would have REALLY hated the old setup where the 2 league winners played in the World Series. That's it, 1 team from each league. The advent of divisions and wild cards gives lots more teams a chance these days.

Yes I would have hated that format, and I dislike the Bundesliga format where there are no playoffs - just a 34 match schedule, double round robin against the other 17 clubs. Top record wins the championship, there isn't even a championship match.

I hate hockey and basketball where 1/2 the league is in the playoffs and most of them don't belong. Why bother with 80-some games? Just make the whole season a playoff .....

Well then you must have really hated the 1979-90 NHL seasons where 16 of 21 clubs made the playoffs.

And don't forget the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League where 16 out of 18 clubs make the playoffs.

 

[johnhenrygalt]

Here's a radical idea. Baseball gets rid of its divisions and puts season back to 154 games. Just the two leagues and the top 4 teams in each league make the playoffs.
Round 1 - the bottom two playoff teams
Round 2 - winner of Round 1 plays League's 2nd place team
Round 3 - winner of Round 2 plays league's 1st place team
Round 4 - World Series, League Champions play each other.

Essentially, the better your record the less you have to play to get to the World Series. I know, the problem is there's the whole thing of being off for 2 weeks. But hey, its not like I got paid to come up with this idea.

I wish a number of North American sports would eliminate or reduce the division structure. The NHL could function with just two 15 club conferences; the two baseball leagues don't really need to keep the divisions. The NFL is the only one where I can see the point of the divisions, as they foster regional rivalries - without the divisions one wouldn't have annual home games against division rivals.