Major League Baseball made it official Friday with Commissioner Bud Selig getting his way and upping the number of teams that will make the 2012 playoffs to 10.
The move leaves me uneasy. I can’t help but wonder if 10 teams are too many teams being rewarded with playoff berths. Just because the NBA and the NHL invite in just about every team doesn’t mean baseball has to do so, t0o. How many teams are too many teams? Baseball must be very careful not to dilute the quality of the post-season.
Baseball has always been cautious about diminishing the value of the regular season. The sport has the longest regular season of the four major team sports leagues in the United States and baseball plays more regular season games than football, basketball and hockey, so it is wise to preserve the importance of the 162-game season by making it mean something.
Traditionalists always cringe when baseball implements big changes. Up until 1969 the pennant winner in the National League faced the pennant winner in the American League in the World Series and there were no preliminary playoffs. Time has proven the decision to expand the playoffs to be a correct one. Everyone loves the American League Championship Series and the National League Championship Series. Likewise the addition of the Wild Card in 1995 turned out to be a popular and successful move.
Given that track record, those of us that might be prone to protesting the shift to 10-team playoffs would do well to keep our mouths closed and adopt a wait-and-see attitude. While I tend to be skeptical of a plan that would permit a third-place regular-season team to win the World Series, somehow these expansions have always worked out pretty well for baseball. Certainly over the long run the thrills and chills added to the post-season have out-numbered the questionable winners. So I am leaning toward trusting Selig’s judgment on this one.
Under this new plan one more team in each league will gain entry to the playoffs as a wild card. The catch is this (and this aspect of the plan provides the greatest chance of it all working) the new team will only be guaranteed a one-game playoff to press its case to continue, not an entire series. You win and you go on. You lose and you go home.
Last year the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves lost their playoff spots on the final day of the regular season. Under this year’s rules, they would have had a chance to redeem themselves. Fittingly, someone asked new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine what he thought about expanding the playoffs and he said, “The more the merrier.” Red Sox fans likely groaned and said, “A year too late.” Of course Valentine would not even have the job if the new rule applied last year and the Red Sox survived the one-game playoff.
I did have to laugh when Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said he hoped the Astros could grab the bonus spot. The Astros lost 106 games in 2011. The closest Houston is coming to a playoff game in 2012 (unless they let everyone in) will be just like last year: Watching on TV.
So 10 out of the 30 Major League teams will qualify for the post-season this season. While my gut tells me that is too many, my brain and my respect for history tell me that this new-fangled plan just might work out.
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