Baseball Season 2011

[Sophie Scholl]

Bo Jackson!   A Royal and a Raider!

[CountDeMoney]

Because those runner/catcher collisions add a bit of much-needed drama to the game.

Eh?  When the outcome of the game is really critical every moment is dramatic.  If it is not then baserunners running over a catcher once every 50 games or so is not going to make it so.

I still remember when Bo Jackson ran over Rick Dempsey. That was very dramatic and exciting to watch (unless you are Dempsey).

I remember when Bo Jackson ran over Brian Bosworth.  That was fantastic.  I don't remember the Dempsey play, I will have to browse YouTube tonight after work.

You won't find it.  Because it never happened.

[jimmy olsen]

Astros moving to the American League and a 2nd wild card team being added?

http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2011-06-11/major-league-baseball-discussing-division-less-realignment-option

[sbr]

Astros moving to the American League and a 2nd wild card team being added?

http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2011-06-11/major-league-baseball-discussing-division-less-realignment-option

That's one of the dumber ideas I have seen.

[alfred russel]

I like it. The wild card sucks. I view it is something of an abomination that the Marlins have won the world series twice but have never won their division.

[alfred russel]

The Astros shouldn't move, it should be the Brewers. But I guess Selig isn't going to force his team to move back, and the Astros could have a rivalry with the Rangers.

I do question how they will schedule leagues with odd numbers of teams. Does this mean interleague play throughout the year? 

[sbr]

I do question how they will schedule leagues with odd numbers of teams. Does this mean interleague play throughout the year? 

Besides the extra teams in the playoffs this is my biggest problem with it.  It was stupid when the NFL had an odd number of teams for a year or two and it would be even worse if it MLB were to do it.

[alfred russel]

I do question how they will schedule leagues with odd numbers of teams. Does this mean interleague play throughout the year? 

Besides the extra teams in the playoffs this is my biggest problem with it.  It was stupid when the NFL had an odd number of teams for a year or two and it would be even worse if it MLB were to do it.

I'm a big believer that the 162 game schedule is the best guage of a team. 5 and 7 game series between relatively evenly matched teams are crapshoots. From a competitive point of view, I think it would make sense to go back to the no division era, abolish the wildcards and championsip series, and just play the world series between the best AL and best NL teams (by regular season record).

But as that won't happen, at least this would give a real incentive to not be a bubble team. The NFL lets a lot of teams in the playoffs, but gives the best teams a bye (and big advantage). In baseball, where home field doesn't mean all that much, you can win 110 games and are basically in the same boat as a team sneaking in with 85 wins. It bothers me that the Marlins have won 2 world series but never won a division. But if you force the 85 win team to go through a playoff, it is a little easier to justify their inclusion ("Their regular season wasn't as good, but they survived a trial by fire to get in"). Also, getting rid of the divisions will keep out marginal teams that are able to get in because the entire division sucks.

[sbr]

I do question how they will schedule leagues with odd numbers of teams. Does this mean interleague play throughout the year? 

Besides the extra teams in the playoffs this is my biggest problem with it.  It was stupid when the NFL had an odd number of teams for a year or two and it would be even worse if it MLB were to do it.

I'm a big believer that the 162 game schedule is the best guage of a team. 5 and 7 game series between relatively evenly matched teams are crapshoots. From a competitive point of view, I think it would make sense to go back to the no division era, abolish the wildcards and championsip series, and just play the world series between the best AL and best NL teams (by regular season record).

I agree, from a selfish standpoint I would like to see that.  It will never happen though, because of the money it would cost MLB and their TV partners.

But as that won't happen, at least this would give a real incentive to not be a bubble team. The NFL lets a lot of teams in the playoffs, but gives the best teams a bye (and big advantage). In baseball, where home field doesn't mean all that much, you can win 110 games and are basically in the same boat as a team sneaking in with 85 wins. It bothers me that the Marlins have won 2 world series but never won a division. But if you force the 85 win team to go through a playoff, it is a little easier to justify their inclusion ("Their regular season wasn't as good, but they survived a trial by fire to get in"). Also, getting rid of the divisions will keep out marginal teams that are able to get in because the entire division sucks.

So your first choice is to have no playoffs and the next best thing is to add more teams to the existing tournament?

With 5 teams in each league I suppose they give the #1 seed from each league a bye into the second round?  That isn't the worst idea I have ever seen but still don't like it.  The baseball season is already too long, adding a third playoff round is just stupid.  They have stretched it out so far that they have to deal with horrible weather and threats of snow both at the start of the season and in the playoffs.

After some thought this does have one possibility of improving the baseball playoffs.  If they would just condense the playoff rounds so there aren't so many days off we could have something here.  MLB teams play 162 games in ~180 days in the regular season to decide who gets to the playoffs, then they completely change the game once the playoff start.  With all of the days off in the playoff schedule once a team makes the playoffs they no longer need a 4th or 5th starter and most teams bullpens become irrelevant.  It is crazy how much the game changes from regular season to the playoffs. 

[Eddie Teach]

With 5 teams in each league I suppose they give the #1 seed from each league a bye into the second round? 

But then you have 3 teams left in each league, they'd need to give the top 3 a bye.

[alfred russel]

So your first choice is to have no playoffs and the next best thing is to add more teams to the existing tournament?

With 5 teams in each league I suppose they give the #1 seed from each league a bye into the second round?  That isn't the worst idea I have ever seen but still don't like it.  The baseball season is already too long, adding a third playoff round is just stupid.  They have stretched it out so far that they have to deal with horrible weather and threats of snow both at the start of the season and in the playoffs.

After some thought this does have one possibility of improving the baseball playoffs.  If they would just condense the playoff rounds so there aren't so many days off we could have something here.  MLB teams play 162 games in ~180 days in the regular season to decide who gets to the playoffs, then they completely change the game once the playoff start.  With all of the days off in the playoff schedule once a team makes the playoffs they no longer need a 4th or 5th starter and most teams bullpens become irrelevant.  It is crazy how much the game changes from regular season to the playoffs.

You would have to give the first 3 seeds a bye. The #4 and #5 seeds would be the "first round". That series would have to be a 1 game series, or you are going to disadvantage the second round team that plays them (a week without seeing live pitching isn't going to help anyone).

So this is how I see it: right now it basically doesn't matter how you do in the regular season so long as you get into the playoffs. Due to way first round playoff matchups are set, the best team isn't even guaranteed to face the team with the worst record. This change would make the regular season more relevent: no one would want to be the #4 or #5 seed. The #1 seed would be much more valuable, as the team that advances out of the first round would be coming off of a do or die game where they needed to use their best pitchers (not to mention they probably just went through a final regular season stretch that was do or die as well).

I prefer whatever gives maximum weight to the regular season and increases the chance of the best teams in the regular season to get to the world series. Even though this idea increases the number of playoff teams, I think it may do that. Though I would miss the division rivalries.

[Strix]

Because those runner/catcher collisions add a bit of much-needed drama to the game.

Eh?  When the outcome of the game is really critical every moment is dramatic.  If it is not then baserunners running over a catcher once every 50 games or so is not going to make it so.

I still remember when Bo Jackson ran over Rick Dempsey. That was very dramatic and exciting to watch (unless you are Dempsey).

I remember when Bo Jackson ran over Brian Bosworth.  That was fantastic.  I don't remember the Dempsey play, I will have to browse YouTube tonight after work.

You won't find it.  Because it never happened.

Oh, it happened. Just look up Cleveland versus Kansas City on 07/22/87. Not sure if there is a video somewhere or not.

[CountDeMoney]

Because those runner/catcher collisions add a bit of much-needed drama to the game.

Eh?  When the outcome of the game is really critical every moment is dramatic.  If it is not then baserunners running over a catcher once every 50 games or so is not going to make it so.

I still remember when Bo Jackson ran over Rick Dempsey. That was very dramatic and exciting to watch (unless you are Dempsey).

I remember when Bo Jackson ran over Brian Bosworth.  That was fantastic.  I don't remember the Dempsey play, I will have to browse YouTube tonight after work.

You won't find it.  Because it never happened.

Oh, it happened. Just look up Cleveland versus Kansas City on 07/22/87. Not sure if there is a video somewhere or not.

Oh, that explains it, then.  Because it never would've happened with Rick Dempsey in an Orioles uniform.  Must've been his brother Larry in Cleveland.

[Valmy]

Great week to swing the old aluminum around.  Well ok it was 100F for all four games but besides that...

The regional championship against Kent State last Monday started at 1PM so I had to leave work early and made it at around the 4th Inning.  It was really really hot and humid and those Ohio guys, already being pushed constantly on the base paths (in the two games on Sunday and Monday Texas collected 7 bunts and 7 stolen bases and Kent State committed 5 errors under the pressure) wilted under the heat.  The Texas coaching staff constantly shifted in pitchers to take advantage of Kent States batting order which grouped their left handers at the top of the order and their righties at the bottom.  Six pitchers combined for a 5-0 victory that was as decisive a butt kicking as I have seen in a long time.

Then came the series against a scummy Arizona State bunch that used a bureaucratic technicality to play despite being on probation.  All three games in the series started at 6PM and despite that it was freaking boiling hot the whole time.  But the Arizona guys are used to that.

Arizona State has a powerful offense and one of the best defenses in the country so Texas couldn't pull the same stuff they did against Kent State.  The Texas pitching staff came up huge again allowing only 4 earned runs the whole series and only lost Game 1 because of two critical Texas errors.

So 5-0, 1-3, 5-1, 4-2.  Not bad in championship play.

Now on to the very poorly named 'College Word Series' where the National Championship will be at stake.  Never got why they play a World Series for a National Championship but whatever it is just good marketing.  Florida Gators on Saturday!

[Eddie Teach]

Well ok it was 100F for all four games but besides that...

And you saw them all in person?