Secret Weapon wrote:Is head to head matchups really an arbitrary tie breaker? And playoff seeding is already determined by that. The final wild cards would just be considered the final seedings.
Playoff seeding is a lot different than a whole additional round. Get rid of the idiotic Selig Game if this is perceived as a problem.
And as far as the Cardinals go, they had a chance last night, they have a chance with their ace on the mound tonight, and there's a third chance for Johnny Cueto and the Reds to take care of business for them. If they wind up tied with the Pirates after losing the last two games to the sucky Diamondbacks, and after playing badly in that Cubs series, they deserve to be in a Game 163.
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:I agree. Not only is it ridiculous that two playoff teams have to play game 163, its adding another day to the schedule. W/o this possibility, you could have wc games tuesday or really on Monday. Start the division series on Wednesday. Avoid November baseball.
I don't think its ridiculous at all. The Pirates haven't won anything and for that matter, neither have the Cardinals. Earn it. Those that don't earn it have to plan for ridiculous outcomes. [expletive] 'em. I like this better than the free pass some second place team used to get. Yes, I know the Cardinals benefited twice from that free pass. But I like this better and I like the excitement of a game 7 to start the playoffs. You don't want to deal with ridiculous? Win.
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:I agree. Not only is it ridiculous that two playoff teams have to play game 163, its adding another day to the schedule. W/o this possibility, you could have wc games tuesday or really on Monday. Start the division series on Wednesday. Avoid November baseball.
I don't think its ridiculous at all. The Pirates haven't won anything and for that matter, neither have the Cardinals. Earn it. Those that don't earn it have to plan for ridiculous outcomes. [expletive] 'em. I like this better than the free pass some second place team used to get. Yes, I know the Cardinals benefited twice from that free pass. But I like this better and I like the excitement of a game 7 to start the playoffs. You don't want to deal with ridiculous? Win.
The problem is winning doesn't keep teams from dealing with the ridculousness, avoiding ties does. The pirates are unquestionably better off with the Cardinals winning today than they would be if there was a tie-breaker that they lost. That's the whole point. The Giants aren't playing in some 163rd game despite finishing 2nd in their division. They didn't win, why don't they get penalized.
In addition to the non-sense, it lengthens the schedule. 4 off days...really?
Also, is a single game a better indicator of whom the better team is than 18 games? It's just so absurd....
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:The pirates are unquestionably better off with the Cardinals winning today than they would be if there was a tie-breaker that they lost. That's the whole point.
And they'd be better off still with a tie-breaker that they won, thus allowing them to go straight to the NLDS, skipping the Coin Flip.
One of these years there is going to be like a 3 or 4 way tie for one or both WC spots and there will have to be like a round robin or something. Even this year the Tigers and Royals could tie for the division and the A's and Mariners could tie for the 2nd Wild Card. The loser of the Tigers vs Royals 1 game playoff would play the winner of A's vs Mariners 1 game playoff in the Selig 1 game playoff in order to go to the next round of the playoffs.