~2024 MLB Thread~

[ELA]

Statistically, there's no one to blame for a top team's early exit in the postseason.  The format is to blame. 

In a vacuum, yes.

But over 11 years, LA is 41-47 in the postseason in non-COVID situations.  88 games is not a small sample size.  54-52 if you include games with no fans.

In any given year, it's a fluke.  When the best team in baseball is under .500 over like 60% of a season's worth of games, there is an issue.

[ELA]

I would expand to 8 teams, and the 3 division winners are guaranteed a top 4 seed.  The higher seeded team hosts the entire Wildcard Series.  The lower seeded team always needs to win 4, but the #1 seed needs to win once, #2 seed twice, #3 seed thrice, and #4 seed also needs to win 4.  Just getting in is worth maintaining interest, and if you can go on the road and win 4 straight at the #1 seed, I'm good with that.

Then from the ALDS on, it should all be best of 7, but the ALDS should also be hosted entirely by the higher seed.

So you would have

AMERICAN

• #8 Twins at #1 Yankees
• #7 Mariners at #2 Guardians
• #6 Tigers at #3 Orioles
• #5 Royals at #4 Astros

NATIONAL

• #8 Cardinals at #1 Dodgers
• #7 Diamondbacks at #2 Phillies
• #6 Mets at #3 Brewers
• #5 Braves at #4 Padres

Simulated both this version and the actual playoffs.  The actual playoffs, I didn't get the same results, but I got equally screwy results.  Doing it this way, 7 of the top 8 seeds advanced to the DS, with Mets over Brewers as the one exception.

Then the top 2 seeds in both leagues advanced to the CS.  Then we got the 2nd "upset" with the Phillies beating the Dodgers in 6 to face the Yankees in the WS.

I think that allows you to keep more teams interested in the regular season, while still rewarding regular season performance

[847badgerfan]

Your earlier remark about how the White Sox should have moved to Florida did not age well.

Now they would have an open air stadium. No biggie.

[ELA]

Now they would have an open air stadium. No biggie.

They just got one

[847badgerfan]

They just got one

Am I missing something?

[ELA]

The other thing I noticed with both Cleveland and Detroit, is you don't have transplants.  You have people in LA or NY or or Chicago or Houston who are there because its an event.  There were empty seats all over the place in the Astros series.  This Cleveland-Detroit series feels monumental.  The crowds are absolutely electric.  I was expecting a little more out of KC, but I guess they do have the Chiefs.  I remember the Tigers fans in 2006 feeling different coming off 7 Pistons/Red Wings championships in the past decade vs. now when the Lions just won the first postseason GAME for a team in the city since 2014.

[ELA]

Am I missing something?

Tampa now has an open air stadium

[847badgerfan]

That's what I was saying. Stadium is still there.

The Rays want out though. They are looking at a site in Ybor City. That would be a good move for them. The Trop sucks.

[SuperMario]

 She said "oh thank god, I'm 70, and if you saw him play, I feel even worse about how old I look"

bahaha.. that truly made me laugh out loud. Glad the rest of the group around you was solid..There's genuinely so many good people in the midwest but so often at some of the games can be overshadowed by a small percentage of outliers. Couldn't agree more about the passion and electric moments in these areas because it is lifelong fans. I was lucky enough to experience my first hockey game at Joe Louis Arena in the 90's and the playoff atmosphere was absolutely incredible. I was at game 7 of the 2016 world series and when Rajai Davis tied it in the bottom of the 8th with his HR off Chapman. I've never felt a sports moment like that. The crowd was so insane that Progressive Field honestly shook as a building and i've been to enough games to know that's never happened. 

Now if you can ask your Tigers to give the Guardians at least one more win today so we can keep the baseball season alive i'd appreciate it. 

[OrangeAfroMan]

In a vacuum, yes.

But over 11 years, LA is 41-47 in the postseason in non-COVID situations.  88 games is not a small sample size.  54-52 if you include games with no fans.

In any given year, it's a fluke.  When the best team in baseball is under .500 over like 60% of a season's worth of games, there is an issue.

88 games is still a small sample in baseball.  Especially when each subgroup is a best of 5 or best of 7 series.  
When each year is a coin flip, the best team being sub-.500 over 11 coin flips is unremarkable.  That's the problem.

[FearlessF]

162 games is too many
88 is small

100 about right?  120?

[ELA]

Now if you can ask your Tigers to give the Guardians at least one more win today so we can keep the baseball season alive i'd appreciate it.

OK, there's the one.  Any more would be selfish of you 

They also changed the game time tomorrow from 4 to 8 once the Yankees-Royals series ended, now moved it up to 1 due to inclement weather.

[SFBadger96]

Sports fans in the US long ago agreed that they prefer playoffs to determine their champions, rather than regular seasons. We've had plenty of discussions here over the years about what the best way to crown champions is, but the US fanbase likes its playoffs, and the leagues like the money that the extra games generate. 

For actually crowning the best team, I like the system the european footballers use: you play everyone home and away, the team with the best record is the best team; they are the champions. That seems pretty straightforward and most likely to identify the best team for the season. But it can also lead to less exciting games at the end of the season (although promotion/relegation, and qualifying for the the Champions League and Europa League help), and it only works where you can make the number of teams and games match up correctly. 

The old system in baseball: play everyone in your league, then the best team from each league plays in the World Series. But then the leagues got too big, so they added the League Championships. Still pretty reasonable, and playing 5-to-7-game serieses continued to allow teams to use their depth--which is key to a baseball season--to determine the champions. But once MLB decided to add the divisional serieses, it decided that making money on the playoffs was more important than excellence in the regular season. I understand both the financial incentive and the desire to keep more teams in the running later in the season, but the current baseball format--I think--just isn't very good for crowning the best team.

The NFL is probably one of the most competitive leagues in the world, parity-wise. And its playoffs system also values making money over the regular season. But at least the argument for the number of teams in the playoffs is better because the season doesn't lend itself to the European style to sort out which the best teams are.

CFB is just a mess for that. So, sure, have a playoff to generate a bunch of revenue and figure out what team has the hot hand at the right moment. Why not?

[ELA]

Sports fans in the US long ago agreed that they prefer playoffs to determine their champions, rather than regular seasons. We've had plenty of discussions here over the years about what the best way to crown champions is, but the US fanbase likes its playoffs, and the leagues like the money that the extra games generate.

For actually crowning the best team, I like the system the european footballers use: you play everyone home and away, the team with the best record is the best team; they are the champions. That seems pretty straightforward and most likely to identify the best team for the season. But it can also lead to less exciting games at the end of the season (although promotion/relegation, and qualifying for the the Champions League and Europa League help), and it only works where you can make the number of teams and games match up correctly.

Well, yes and no, because they also have a million different cups they play for.

It would be like if the MLB just gave a trophy to the best team after the season.  But then also they had a separate tournament where all 30 teams play, plus college teams, minor league teams, beer league teams, etc...  And also the best teams played for a third trophy where they also let Canadian and Mexican teams in.

I think as long as you recognize each trophy for what it is, it's fine.  I mean the NHL does have a Presidents Cup, awarded to the team with the best regular season record.  It's on the fans for not caring about winning it