Yes
Baseball hit it out of the park when it added two wildcard teams for the 2012 season.
I have always admired the MLB playoff format for having just four teams in each league make the playoffs compared to the NBA, which has eight teams from each league make it.
In baseball, the regular season actually means something and being in the playoffs is an accomplishment. But by adding one more wildcard team in each league the MLB got the best of both worlds.
The three division winners will earn a bye and the two wildcards in each league will play in a one-game playoff to see who moves forward.
There is nothing more exciting in sports than a win or go home elimination game and with the new format we are guaranteed at least two of those before the actual playoffs begin.
It will be a ratings boom for baseball.
Sure we won’t have the excitement of the elimination of teams on the final day of the season like we saw in 2011, but that doesn’t happen every year anyway.
By adding just two more teams to the playoffs it is still an accomplishment to make the postseason and the level of excitement is raised.
Expanding the playoffs will be great for the fans and for baseball.
-Alex Ross
No
As the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s exactly how I feel in regards to the Major League Baseball expanding its postseason by adding 2 teams for a one-game playoff.
Did everyone already forget Sept. 28, 2011? It was the most exciting day in baseball history. The Boston Red Sox were one out away from making the playoffs, and the Tampa Bay Rays were down 7-0 to the New York Yankees in the eighth inning. Two miracles later and the Rays were spraying champagne across their clubhouse, and the Red Sox completed the biggest September collapse in MLB history.
At a time where the NBA allows teams with sub .500 records, nearly every NCAA football team gets to play in a bowl game and March Madness will probably increase to 128 teams, it’s nice to have a league where only the top four teams are allowed to play in the postseason.
Baseball is America’s pastime and is based off of traditions. Why does it need to change it’s postseason format?
MLB doesn’t have the entertainment value that NBA has for dunks, NHL has for fights or the NFL has with its commercials. That’s what works for baseball, and it shouldn’t try to fix its postseason when it’s perfect.
-Bobby Nightengale
