Michael Hurley, writing for something called CBS Boston, is not at all happy the Detroit Tigers will be in the playoffs simply because they won their division.
It is an absolute outrage that baseballs allow mere division winners to go to the American League Division Series when the two wild card teams, likely Baltimore and Oakland, must compete in a play-in game.
This, Hurley explains, proves the new expanded Major League Baseball playoff system is worse than Osama Bin Laden crossed with Hitler. On astroturf.
Both Oakland and Baltimore should automatically go to the ALDS like in the good old days before Bud Selig ruined the sanctity of baseball’s traditional playoff structure and the integrity of its 162-game structure.
Oh wait...that’s horseshit.
Prior to this year’s wild card expansion, only one wild card team made the playoffs. Under that arrangement either Baltimore or Oakland would have been left out of the post-season completely. And, following Hurley’s logic, if the AL Central champion Tigers don’t belong on the same field as the other playoff teams, then Detroit can expect a quick elimination—regardless of rotation set-ups or home field advantages.
What’s more, this isn’t the first time a division champion had a weaker record than another division’s second place team.
Consider the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. You remember the ’06 Cards? They won the NL Central with just 83 wins. They had the worst record of any 2006 playoff team. They also had a weaker record than the 85-win Philadelphia Phillies, who finished second in the NL East and did not make the playoffs. The Blue Jays, White Sox, Red Sox, and Angels also had better regular season records than the Cardinals in ’06 and none of those teams made the playoffs either.
Under this new system, so hated by Bostonian hand wringers, Philadelphia and the 90-win White Sox would have had post-season shots in 2006.
Not to get all Paul Harvey on you but...that 83-win St. Louis team, the one that no one thought belonged, went on to win the World Series. They beat the 95-win Tigers in five games. Do we recognize the Cards’ championship as illegitimate? No, we do not. That would be absurd.
Short of eliminating all divisions and leagues and having the 30 Major League teams play a perfectly balanced schedule to determine the world champion, any playoff system is imperfect. But every team competes for a playoff spot by the same rules. Occasionally, under any given system, some bubble team gets screwed.
This new system does allows one more bubble team in each league to have one more shot at the World Series. Why is that such a horrible thing?
Not every division can be perfectly balanced. Sometimes, probably not the 2012 AL Central, but sometimes a division winner with a weaker record simply means the division was tougher top-to-bottom.
Remember when the 2004 Red Sox won the World Series as a Wild Card? Division mates Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Toronto were the all sub-.500 teams. It’s no great trick winning 98 games against those weak sisters.
And, speaking of 2004, the Yankees bested the Sox by three games in that regular season. Was it fair that the Yankees, after winning a 162-game regular season, had to play the ALCS against the BoSox? Hadn’t New York already proven themselves as the superior team? Where was your concern about the integrity of the 162-season regular season eight years ago, Boston?
You know, and I am speaking for all Detroiters here, we’re genuinely sorry John Henry fired Terry Francona, let Theo Epstein split for Chicago, and allowed the once-mighty Red Sox free fall into last place. That must be hard for you, Boston. We feel your pain.
Or would, if we weren’t too busy celebrating the Tigers’ second straight playoff berth. The post-season is kind of rad. Do you remember the post-season, Boston? You were there last in 2009. Briefly. The Angels swept your club in the ALDS.
In other words, suck it. – JTW
