October is right around the corner, and that can only mean one thing: postseason baseball! The marathon of the regular season has come to an end, and the sprint is now on for the teams who are moving on to the playoffs. The top eight teams in MLB will be taking the field on chilled October nights to seek out their goal of a World Series victory.
Just in time for this year’s postseason, proposed MLB changes have now been announced for the 2012 postseason. Commissioner Bud Selig stated that next year’s playoffs would consist of ten teams. Another wildcard team from each division will potentially be added to play the original wildcard winner within their respected divisions. The scheduling has yet to be announced, and there is no information of whether the wildcard battle will be a single or three game series.
Clearly this proposition contains both pros and cons. No fan or player wants November baseball. If this went into effect as the season is now, the postseason would have the chance of running into November. The travel days for the wildcard series will have a big impact on how late the postseason goes, and if it’s scheduled for a three game series, that will more than likely turn into four days of extra baseball. This will not fare well with the division winners.
The current schedule certainly needs help. The hot teams that win their division will be punished, and have to wait for the wildcard series to conclude. No team wants to be resting before the biggest games of their lives. A single-game series could be an obvious way to approach that, but what good does a single-game series really do? This is baseball. Anyone
can win one game, and the way to find the better team is not from a single game, but to schedule a series of at least three games between the two.
The two teams will profit from the MLB upping the dinner party to ten. Both teams that make the fifth spot will increase their revenue by a good margin. Television and ticket sales will increase for the playoffs, and there is no team out there that would mind making more money.
The 2012 season will indeed be interesting, and if this proposal goes into effect next season we will see what the MLB does to avoid the problems at hand. Baseball is a precious thing. There is nothing like America’s Pastime, and nothing like postseason baseball. You can bet that the fans, the players, and the shining moments will still be there no matter what.
