How much fun was that Rockies-Padres one game playoff on Monday? 13 innings to decide who would go home and who would play on. Riveting drama. And yet that was just the 7th one game playoff in baseball history. Which got me thinking-shouldn't there be more of these? So I dusted off a theme I started back in 2005 and decided to complete the trilogy (you can check out Episode I and Episode II of Building a Better Baseball in the archive). Without further ado, here are a few more ideas from the desk of the Czar of Sports on how to improve America's pastime.
Play a Play-in Game for the Wild Card
Forget the fact that there's no real detriment (other than one fewer home game) to being the Wild Card team instead of a division champion. Or that the drama was removed from the end of the season in the American League this year thanks to the Wild Card being wrapped up so early. Or that Wild Card teams have won three of the last five World Series. The reason for doing this is simple-one game playoffs are fun! In addition to Rockies-Padres, we could have had Yankees-Tigers playing on Monday as well.
This would prevent the Wild Card team from setting its pitching rotation, which would be a detriment that a division winner most times wouldn't have to deal with. It would also force teams to try and win the division instead of settling for the Wild Card.
But most of all it would provide two do-or-die games every year the day after the season ends. Now that would be fun.
Get Rid of the Coin Toss
Do you realize that even in 2007, if there is a need for a one-game playoff, a coin toss is still used to determine where the game will be played. How ridiculous is that? Consider this: if the Yankees and Indians played a one-game playoff this year, even though the Yankees went 6-0 against the Indians in the regular season, they would still have to play at Cleveland if they lost a coin toss.
During the last week of the season this year, Bud Selig assembled representatives from various clubs for an emergency coin toss session, because there were so many races coming down to the wire that no one ever thought would happen.
How about we use head-to-head records to determine where one-game playoffs should be played? The tiebreaker can be a coin toss. If Bud's lonely and needs people to come to his office, he'll just need to find another reason.
Start the World Series at a Neutral Site
I have to give credit where credit is due. And I'm not ashamed to say who I heard the idea from. Uber agent Scott Boras. It was the best idea he's had since he decided to only represent the cream of the sports world crop and make a ton of money. His idea was to expand the World Series to a best-of-nine and have two games in a neutral location, but let's not get too crazy.
His point was a good one-the Super Bowl isn't just the culmination of the football season. It's an event to be seen and seen at, and having it at a set location (preferably a desirable location, i.e., not Detroit) makes it that much more exciting.
Here's how we could work it: Game 1 of the World Series would be played at a neutral site with a Super Bowl-style extravaganza and atmosphere. The team with the better record (or the league that wins the All-Star Game if Bud Selig insists on keeping that format) could decide which games they'd like to host for the rest of the series. Let's say for instance that Boston and Colorado play in this year's World Series, and Boston chooses to have Game 2 at home. The series would then go Game 2 in Boston, Games 3 and 4 in Colorado, Games 5 and 6 in Boston, and Game 7 in Colorado.
This might add a much-needed kick-start to the World Series.
Expand the Division Series to Best 4-out-of-7
I know I wrote this one already in one of the previous parts, but it's never been more of an issue than it is this year. All four playoff series are 2-0. Which means all four could be over by Sunday night. Three games to decide your fate after a 162-game schedule is just not right.
We can fix this. If we all work together.
Week 5 NFL picks
The picks have been bad. Really bad. I'm in a tough stretch right now. I'm giving it another shot this week, but if I have another bad week, I'm going to have to resort to something drastic.
Arizona (-3) over ST. LOUIS
TENNESSEE (-8) over Atlanta
NEW ORLEANS (-3) over Carolina
NEW ENGLAND (-16 1/2) over Cleveland
Detroit (+3 1/2) over WASHINGTON
Jacksonville (-2) over KANSAS CITY
HOUSTON (-5) over Miami
NY GIANTS (-3 1/2) over NY Jets
PITTSBURGH (-6) over Seattle
INDIANAPOLIS (-9 1/2) over Tampa Bay
SAN FRANCISCO (+3 1/2) over Baltimore
DENVER (E) over San Diego
GREEN BAY (-3) over Chicago
Dallas (-10) over BUFFALO
Last week: 5-9
Season: 22-34-6
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