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Post by Rufus-T on Oct 1, 2018 17:55:15 GMT
That is the point for the wild card game. If a good team did not win the division, they have a second chance. This year is a rare exception that a 100 win team, Yankees, did not win a division, and this 100 team is only better than only 2/4 other playoff teams. In the pre-wild card days, the team would not even make the playoff. Without the premium of winning the division with a one game do-or-die wild card game, the regular season becomes just is a fight for the playoff instead of winning the division, the drama of being a wildcard is lost, and we won't have two exciting one-game playoff games today. But should it be the point of the Wildcard game? A team that has a better record than 95% of the rest of the league and it's 'Do or Die'? Previously just 1 WC team was granted acceptance into the dance - and their chances to advance did not rely on 1 game. The one thing that make the regular season meaningful is winning the division. That 1 WC format was a huge flaw as it ruined the drama towards the end of the season. When the Yankees & Red Sox tied going into the final game one year being both clinched a playoff spot already and that both teams played their B team, it was a flag for the problem of the format that the regular season is not as important anymore as long the team gets into the playoff. That 1 game is a punishment for not trying to win the division. That 1 game takes away the tied breaker so that there are two tie breaking playoff games today. The one game is scary, so the teams today will try the hardest not to play that wildcard game. If you look at football, they play do-or-die playoff game at every round, which is more than baseball. |
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