New Playoff System?
Thank god the White Sox won the World Series this year! Mercifully, it breaks a string of 3 consecutive Wild Cards winning the championship. 
Even in 2005, the NL representative in the Series was the Wild Card winning Astros. Now, I don’t have a problem with 4 teams getting into the playoffs, but shouldn’t the division winners have more of an advantage over the wild card winners than 1 extra home game. 
The Yankees, Braves and Cardinals certainly think so. The Yanks have won 8 straight division titles, but when they met the Red Sox in the playoffs in 99, 03, and 04, they received just a small advantage for their great regular season play. The Braves would call the 26-time champs spoiled brats because the Georgians have managed only 1 World Championship in the last 14 years, despite winning their division in each of those seasons. They regularly lose to wild card teams who happen to be hot going into the postseason. The Cardinals have had the best record in baseball over the last 2 years, but have had nothing to show for it after being knocked out of the playoffs the last two years by wild card winners.
There is nothing wrong with wild cards winning it all, but shouldn’t they be punished for not winning their division. I’ve divised a playoff system that would place more emphasis on the regular season records and increase excitement.
Here’s my ideal playoff setup-
First of all 5 teams from each league would make it into the playoffs with 2 wild cards. In the AL where Boston has dominated the wild card, it would give teams like the A’s, Indians, Twins and Blue Jays more hope for making it to October. This would dramatically increase fan excitement because the pennant race would involve 3 or 4 more fan bases, each with a realistic chance of their team advancing to the playoffs. The schedule would switch back to its pre-interleague play days and teams would play each other an equal amount of times to make sure that teams in tougher divisions would not have a reduced chance of winning a wild card spot. The 2 wild card winners would face off in a best-of-three series at the end of the regular season, with the winner playing the team with the best record in the first round of the playoffs. This extra mini-round would act as a great source of revenue for the MLB and it would put the weary wild card team at a disadvantage in the first round. Finally, World Series home field advantage would be determined by record, rather than the All-Star game. No one plays very hard in the All-Star game and we shouldn’t have guys on the Rangers (Hank Blalock) deciding who gets home field advantage in the World Series.
Well, that’s my fantasy playoff system. Feel free to comment on or question my system or any other baseball-related issue.
jcphik
Finally !!!! someone who makes sense and agrees somewhat with what I’ve been saying all along about the wild card!! I’m a cards fan and we got burned by these wild card teams as you mentioned the last two years.
I disagree a little with your arrangement to put them at a disadvantage…I think we could use your system but add to it as such….in the NLDS allow them 0 or maybe 1 home game..in the NLCS give them 1 home game…..if they make it to the WS, then dont mess with the WS structure..give them 3 or 4 home games as normal
It sounds to me like someone is still sore about 2004. The Yankees boasted the best record in the American League, spotted themselves a slick 3-0 lead against the Wild Card Red Sox, then allowed the biggest comeback in sports history. Under your “new” system, the Red Sox would have still made the playoffs in 2004. You would have preferred that they have to play an extra round with a chance of getting knocked off before having to play the Yankees, who would have had a nice little rest. Even then, that is no guarantee that your beloved Yankees would have had any better chance. It’s unfortunate that a team should overextend itself throughout the regular season in an effort to secure the best record, only to be ousted in the early playoff rounds. However, that’s just a fact of professional sports. The expectations to win are very high and if the top team falls short of those expectations, they effectively choke. It’s far nicer to be in the position where the expectations are not as high and an underdog team pulls off the upset, showing just how meaningless the division title or best regular season record can be. If it were the Yankees winning the Wild Card over and over again the last few seasons – and if they had actually managed to win a World Series since 2000, I’m sure the YankeesforLife blogger would not be complaining. Greed enters into the picture when you ask for an additional playoff round. Do we really need any more money in baseball? An additional round only gives the Yankees a chance to rake in more dough, should they be one of those two Wild Card teams. I do agree that the home field advantage should go to the team with the best record in every case. I also think it should be a 2-2-1-1-1 playoff system. If the away team splits the first two and goes on a three game tear back home, the series is over 4-1. If the away team wins both of the first two games on the road, then wins any two of the next three back home, they can win the series 4-0 or 4-1. Home field advantage can be stolen away too easily under the current system. Under a 2-2-1-1-1 system, there is more parity, more fairness; the team with the home field advantage gets to start the series at home for the first two games, with the chance to get off to a fast start. The team without the home field advantage has a fair chance to get back into the series, but if it goes the full seven games, the team with the home field gets the edge they earned when it’s all on the line.
Brilliant, then the world series could be snowed out. That’s just what we need.