MLB and the MLB Players Association are rattling away in some office building somewhere trying to beat a March 1st 2012 deadline. By today they need to figure out how they are going to provide an extra wild card slot to one team in each league. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wants to give the team with the next to next best winning average a chance at the Fall Classic. The Wild Card slot will be decided in just one game to see who gets to compete in the playoffs. There are tons of pros and cons spewing into online forums and blogs, defending the idea or condemning the blasphemous change. The only true hurdle here is pure logistics as the regular season ends Wednesday, October 3rd and the Playoffs kick off Saturday, October 6th. This doesn’t leave much travel time especially in winter weather; it doesn’t leave time for playing the game, or figuring out how to rest that ace starting pitcher. Across the leagues many teams play October 3rd at 8:15pm. That leaves two days before the start of the playoffs.
I just don’t see the logistics working out…Well; there is one thing that would work! No, that wouldn’t cut it… wait! What if Selig slips and bumps his head while standing on his toilet to hang a clock, later inventing the flux capacitor, gets his hands on plutonium or finds a Mr. Fusion at his local Home Depot!
Back to reality, and the present, an extra wild card slot has a lot of advantages and really isn’t a big change. Think back to the 2011 regular season. Tampa Bay and Boston were in battle for the AL wild card while St. Louis and Atlanta in the NL, dueling it out for a wild card spot. That is what happened in September without the fancy titles and national TV coverage. Tampa Bay put the hurt on Boston their last four game series September, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th when the Rays took three out of the four games. Meanwhile St. Louis stuck a fork in the Braves after sweeping them in a three game series starting on Sept 9th. If in three weeks these four teams met again under the circumstances of a one game playoff chance, I doubt the outcomes would have been much different. But of course, in baseball anything is possible.
I just don’t see the logistics working out…Well; there is one thing that would work! No, that wouldn’t cut it… wait! What if Selig slips and bumps his head while standing on his toilet to hang a clock, later inventing the flux capacitor, gets his hands on plutonium or finds a Mr. Fusion at his local Home Depot!
Back to reality, and the present, an extra wild card slot has a lot of advantages and really isn’t a big change. Think back to the 2011 regular season. Tampa Bay and Boston were in battle for the AL wild card while St. Louis and Atlanta in the NL, dueling it out for a wild card spot. That is what happened in September without the fancy titles and national TV coverage. Tampa Bay put the hurt on Boston their last four game series September, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th when the Rays took three out of the four games. Meanwhile St. Louis stuck a fork in the Braves after sweeping them in a three game series starting on Sept 9th. If in three weeks these four teams met again under the circumstances of a one game playoff chance, I doubt the outcomes would have been much different. But of course, in baseball anything is possible.
And yes, the below video has something to do with this article...just barely
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