Farmer1906 said:
WoMD said:
Farmer1906 said:
WoMD said:
107 wins vs 106 wins at this point in the post season is flat out absurd. The two (wins-wise) best teams in baseball playing against eachother in the first round (don't count the stupid wild card game)? Freaking ridiculous.
How often has this ever happened?
Well technically, before the playoff expansion it used to happen regularly. ****, back in 93 the giants didn't even make the playoffs with 103 wins. But right now, with the number of teams making the playoffs compared to before and the number of rounds, coupled with the absurdity of the total wins between the two teams in this series…yeah, this is a very unique situation. And add in that it's such a huge rivalry between two teams playing against eachother for the first time in the post season ever, and it's set up for quite a series. I'm hoping for an easy giants win of course, but would not be upset if every game is epic and nerve wracking to get there.
Definitely has the feel of previous college football seasons where the national championship was actually the SEC championship, even if both teams don't actually make it to the actual championship game.
I agree, it was an issue. Now with the WC, the issue is somewhat elevated. When they went to two WCs then its helped solve one problem while creating another. It went from rewarding the top non division winner with a DS spot to sending them into a crazy 1 game playoff while rewarding another non division winner that previously was out of the running.
I think any further expansion waters down the regular season too much. So if this is the worst-case scenario (106 win team having to go thru the WC) then I think we can deal with it every decade or so.
Not perfect, but still probably the best playoff format.
Personally I much preferred the previous format with only one wild card. It felt like the perfect compromise to assure the most likely chance of getting the best teams in the playoffs without leaving out anyone who is actually deserving to be there. I know many will argue this point, but I despise the one game play-in crap we have now. You can have a dominant team like the Dodgers go home after playing against an arguably mediocre team (by comparison) after a long season due to an unlucky break not going their way (theoretically, of course). Don't get me wrong, I would've been quite happy if that had happened, being a huge giants fan, but it's almost a disservice to the game in a way to not have the best teams in the playoffs. And no, I still don't count the wild card game part of the playoffs. I know it is, but it never felt right to me…
Overall though, I think your reasoning is the correct one. It's mostly just personal preferences at this point, as there are no true perfect scenarios to make sure things go as they should.