Wednesday, September 19, 2007
THERE IS NO BATTLE BETWEEN THE RED SOX AND YANKEES
Memo to everyone who thinks the Red Sox-Yankees "race" is vital:
IT'S NOT!!!
The wild-card system has made the race for second place more vital than the race for first.
The real race is between the Yankees and the Tigers, folks. All the Yankees have to do is win a few more games to make the "race" between them and the Sox totally meaningless. They'll both be in the playoffs. The only thing that will matter is home-field advantage. And that is what the Sox and Yanks are playing for. Is that really exciting? Nope. The Tigers (and let's just assume for the sake of the argument that the Mariners are not going to stop sucking right now) are the ones that the Yankees really need to pay attention to, if the Yankees can't put a few more wins away.
I try to do this at least once a year, to expose the folly of the wild-card system. I haven't done it yet this year and the season is almost over. Look at what the wild-card system prevented:
Which means this: We will never again see a game like the Bucky Dent game from 1978: a playoff game between the two outstanding teams.
Are you old enough to remember this game? If you are, do you ever recall hearing anyone say that it would be more exciting if both teams could make the playoffs? Just do away with the one-game playoff and put them both through to the postseason?
No, you didn't. Because even the stupidest of the stupid knew that that would not have made any sense.
Come on, people. Are you stupider than the stupidest of the stupid? Can you imagine the three-way race between the Red Sox, Indians and Yankees right now? I can. It would be better than the wild-card nonsense we have going on.
IT'S NOT!!!
The wild-card system has made the race for second place more vital than the race for first.
The real race is between the Yankees and the Tigers, folks. All the Yankees have to do is win a few more games to make the "race" between them and the Sox totally meaningless. They'll both be in the playoffs. The only thing that will matter is home-field advantage. And that is what the Sox and Yanks are playing for. Is that really exciting? Nope. The Tigers (and let's just assume for the sake of the argument that the Mariners are not going to stop sucking right now) are the ones that the Yankees really need to pay attention to, if the Yankees can't put a few more wins away.
I try to do this at least once a year, to expose the folly of the wild-card system. I haven't done it yet this year and the season is almost over. Look at what the wild-card system prevented:
In the A.L. East, the race would have looked like this: Boston and Cleveland tied for first at 90-62, with the Yankees 2.5 games back at 87-64.As it happens now, there is one race that will be an all-or-nothing scenario: the N.L. Central race, with the Cubs and Brewers tied for first. The second-place finisher will almost certainly not make the playoffs, so there is some urgency there. But here's the thing: These two teams are mediocre. Both are just six games above .500. That's not playoff quality. This is a prime example of a flaw in the wild-card format: The only time you'll ever see a winner-take-all division race anymore is when the teams involved are so bad that the loser wouldn't be good enough to even be close to the wild-card spot. And that's pretty bad.
In the N.L. East, the Mets, at 83-67, would lead the 82-69 Phillies by 1.5 games.
And in the N.L. West, the Diamondbacks would lead San Diego by 1.5 games. And none of the teams in thse races would have the wild-card spot to fall back on. It would be all for first: Win, or go home.
Which means this: We will never again see a game like the Bucky Dent game from 1978: a playoff game between the two outstanding teams.
Are you old enough to remember this game? If you are, do you ever recall hearing anyone say that it would be more exciting if both teams could make the playoffs? Just do away with the one-game playoff and put them both through to the postseason?
No, you didn't. Because even the stupidest of the stupid knew that that would not have made any sense.
Come on, people. Are you stupider than the stupidest of the stupid? Can you imagine the three-way race between the Red Sox, Indians and Yankees right now? I can. It would be better than the wild-card nonsense we have going on.
