As the Baltimore Orioles, ranked 1st in American League winning percentage, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, ranked 2nd in National League winning percentage, were on the verge of being eliminated from the division series, there were calls for a change in the postseason format.
on the 10th (Korean time) that a change is needed in the Major League Postseason format, saying, “Is there a need for a change in the Major League Postseason format in a situation where higher seeded teams are losing their advantage?” insisted. 스포츠토토
Currently, Major League Baseball has a structure in which the top two teams in winning percentage among each league’s district winners advance directly to the division series, and the remaining district champions and three wild card teams play a wild card series and advance to the division series.
In this season’s postseason, teams that advanced through the wild card series are showing strength. In the American League, Texas (90-72), which came up with two wins over Tampa Bay (99-63) in the Wild Card Series, took the lead with two wins over Baltimore (101-61), and in the National League, Miami (84 wins) Arizona (84-78), who defeated the Dodgers (78 losses) by 2 wins, recorded 2 wins against the Dodgers (100-62). Minnesota (87-75) and Philadelphia (90-72) also won the first game, but Houston (90-72) and Atlanta (104-58) won in the second game to make up for the loss in the first game. .
The five-day break after the regular season was not the reason Baltimore lost twice to Texas. This is not the reason why the Dodgers lost to Arizona in Game 1 even after playing Clayton Kershaw. “Even if the top-seeded teams are eliminated in this round, it will not be for that reason,” he said, but pointed out, “But the fact that Atlanta lost the first game of the division series for two years in a row makes us discuss the fairness of the current postseason format.”
In the postseason, the team that performed well in the regular season does not always win. Since 1969, when each league was divided into districts and the League Championship Series (1969) and Division Series (1995) were introduced, numerous upsets have occurred. Reporter Rosenthal also said, “There has been no easy answer since the league was divided into districts in 1969. “From that moment on, it became impossible to guarantee that the team with the best performance in the regular season would advance to the World Series,” he admitted.
“The top two teams among the winning teams in each district advance directly to the division series, creating a five-day rest day. “That kind of rest day may be too long,” he said, explaining that the top seeded teams are actually suffering in the current format.
who emphasized that it is not enough for top teams to have home advantage, suggested an alternative, a suggestion from legendary pitcher John Smoltz, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and the current KBO League postseason format.
Smoltz proposed eliminating the rest day between Game 3 of the Wild Card Series and Game 1 of the Division Series. However, this proposal has the problem that Game 3 of the Wild Card Series must be held as a day game considering the travel time for each team, and that the winning team of the Wild Card Series must end the series with two wins in order to have a rest day.
focused on was the KBO League postseason wild card game. KBO starts the series by giving the fourth-place team a one-win advantage in the wild card game. The 4th place team needs only a draw to advance to the semi-playoffs, and the 5th place team must win 2 games to advance to the semi-playoffs.
argued, “You could borrow a concept from the KBO and start the series by giving one win to the team that goes directly to the division series,” adding, “Then the team that goes straight to the division series only needs to win two, and the lower seeded team needs to win three. (Potentially, there may be a loss in league revenue.) However, the KBO also uses this method only in the best-of-three wild card game,” he explained.
who said that this problem is difficult to solve, said, “Ultimately, expanding the league to 32 teams could be the solution. Then, the number of teams advancing to the postseason can be increased to 16, and everyone will start the schedule equally. Of course, there is a risk that this method will also disadvantage teams with good regular season results. “Think of the repercussions when the 16th-seeded team beats the 1st-seeded team,” he said. “It would be difficult for any method to be truly fair.”