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By Rob Neyer - National Baseball Editor
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Aug 31, 2011 - Here's why the current protocol sucks: We've been robbed of the single best thing that baseball has to offer, that being a tight pennant race featuring two great teams.
Here's why neither Bud Selig nor anyone else who matters gives a damn: Hardly anyone else does, either.
Let's see ... 53 words ... onward!
I might argue that the best baseball in the last 20-some years happened in 1993, when the Braves and the Giants fought for the National League West title until the very end. Ultimately, the Giants won 103 games ... and finished out of the money because the Braves won 104 games.
That sort of thing is, of course, gone. Now, if you win 100 games you're in. If you win 95 games you're almost in; only one team in the Wild Card era has won at least 95 games and failed to qualify for the postseason.*
* In 1999, the Mets and Reds both finished their schedules with 96 wins; the Mets won the one-game playoff for the WC.
Great pennant races? Still got 'em, some years. Great pennant races featuring great teams? They're almost entirely a thing of the past, and will be even less likely once the inevitable move to add postseason teams is made.
This might bother you, if you're like me at all. As a fan, I live for pennant races featuring great teams. I suspect that you do, too.
Here's a dirty little secret, though ... We're uncommon. We love baseball; the great majority of baseballs fans direct (on average) 93.7 percent of their baseball passion toward their favorite team, and their favorite team only.
How much money does Major League Baseball lose because we don't have great pennant races anymore? Oh, maybe a few hundred bucks. Or maybe no bucks at all. The Red Sox and Yankees aren't engaged in a particularly meaningful pennant race ... but their fans will still fill their ballparks. The Phillies and Braves aren't engaged in a particularly meaningful pennant race ... but Phillies fans, at least, will still fill their ballpark.
You see, Commissioner Bud and his merry henchmen really never had anything to lose. They knew -- I mean, assuming they bothered to think about this, which I'm not at all sure about -- that the great teams would attract fans regardless of the pennant-race situation, while some of the non-great teams would draw somewhat better because the Wild Card was available. And while Selig habitually overstates the impact of interleague play and the Wild Cards on attendance, I suspect attendance is slightly higher with those things than without.
It worked. The local fans are happy, and the local fans drive MLB's revenues.
Unfortunately, this leaves you and I to just the scraps.
Fortunately, in most years the scraps are still pretty damn tasty.
READ MORE: San Francisco Giants
Follow @sbnbaseball on Twitter, and Like Baseball Nation on Facebook.
Follow @sbnbaseball on Twitter, and Like Baseball Nation on Facebook.
Aug 31, 2011 - Here's why the current protocol sucks: We've been robbed of the single best thing that baseball has to offer, that being a tight pennant race featuring two great teams.
Here's why neither Bud Selig nor anyone else who matters gives a damn: Hardly anyone else does, either.
Let's see ... 53 words ... onward!
I might argue that the best baseball in the last 20-some years happened in 1993, when the Braves and the Giants fought for the National League West title until the very end. Ultimately, the Giants won 103 games ... and finished out of the money because the Braves won 104 games.
That sort of thing is, of course, gone. Now, if you win 100 games you're in. If you win 95 games you're almost in; only one team in the Wild Card era has won at least 95 games and failed to qualify for the postseason.*
* In 1999, the Mets and Reds both finished their schedules with 96 wins; the Mets won the one-game playoff for the WC.
Great pennant races? Still got 'em, some years. Great pennant races featuring great teams? They're almost entirely a thing of the past, and will be even less likely once the inevitable move to add postseason teams is made.
This might bother you, if you're like me at all. As a fan, I live for pennant races featuring great teams. I suspect that you do, too.
Here's a dirty little secret, though ... We're uncommon. We love baseball; the great majority of baseballs fans direct (on average) 93.7 percent of their baseball passion toward their favorite team, and their favorite team only.
How much money does Major League Baseball lose because we don't have great pennant races anymore? Oh, maybe a few hundred bucks. Or maybe no bucks at all. The Red Sox and Yankees aren't engaged in a particularly meaningful pennant race ... but their fans will still fill their ballparks. The Phillies and Braves aren't engaged in a particularly meaningful pennant race ... but Phillies fans, at least, will still fill their ballpark.
You see, Commissioner Bud and his merry henchmen really never had anything to lose. They knew -- I mean, assuming they bothered to think about this, which I'm not at all sure about -- that the great teams would attract fans regardless of the pennant-race situation, while some of the non-great teams would draw somewhat better because the Wild Card was available. And while Selig habitually overstates the impact of interleague play and the Wild Cards on attendance, I suspect attendance is slightly higher with those things than without.
It worked. The local fans are happy, and the local fans drive MLB's revenues.
Unfortunately, this leaves you and I to just the scraps.
Fortunately, in most years the scraps are still pretty damn tasty.
READ MORE: San Francisco Giants
Follow @sbnbaseball on Twitter, and Like Baseball Nation on Facebook.
I love the scratching and clawing that occurs for the Wild Card spot and in the non-Eastern divisions.
He's severely understating the importance of the Wild Card. Moving back to the pre-94 system would have hurt the game at the gate.
I wouldn't call Yankees-Red Sox pennant races exciting either. I'd rather watch paint dry.
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