The MLB Wild Card Is Perfectly Fine Being A Best Of-Three Series Instead Of A Winner-Takes-All Game

Groundhog Day here at Barstool as this convo comes up every few years. Should the MLB go back to a 1-game Wild Card winner take all game, Big T blogged it here, I responded 2 years today actually as well and I still stand by my stance. 

MLB having the best of 3 series is perfectly fine and makes for great baseball. I think we are all victims of recency bias here, just because we got 4 sweeps doesn't mean the format is bad, and just because we've seen great games in the one-game winner take all, doesn't mean that it is the perfect format. The best of 3 is a great way to determine the better team 99% of the time. Sometimes you have teams just not show up like we saw with the Rays and Jays. But if you look at it, 2 home teams won, 2 lost. 2 higher seeds won, 2 lost. It's very even, just let the baseball run its course. As opposed to having your season end on a botched ground ball to right field like the Brewers in 2019 or your manager falling asleep like Buck in 2016. Let the teams figure it out on the field and not circumstances.

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Chris talked about it too, if you don't want to have to play in that one-game playoff then win more, I agree. But I also think that is what makes the best of 3 even better, you get that second life. Take the Rays for example. They were in first place for a majority of the season and faded due to injuries and off the field stuff. They may have gone into that 1 game set and got dog walked, that could have happened, but it gives these teams a legit shot to turn it around and win 2/3 to keep fighting. I get that the 1 game playoff is awesome, it's an automatic Game 7 but that isn't really what I want as a fan. I want to watch a team who fought and grinded for 6 months to have a legit chance to win that series, which they do. What I didn't like about the 1 game playoff was that if you NEEDED to win in Game 162 and use your ace, your horse, he's out for that 1-gamer. He may not be able to go in full capacity in that 3-game set but he can at least give you something. So now you are in a Game 7 without all your bullets. 

I thought we had potential with these 4 series to get at least 3 of them going the full length, that didn't happen. That's baseball, Suzyn. Plus, who wouldn't want more baseball? I'm sure the players are in favor of a 3-game round instead of the 1-game. Plus the league makes more money so duh. I've seen it both ways. I saw the O's win in 2012 and I got my teeth kicked in by the Jays in 2016. Waking up and knowing "my team could be done in 12 hours because of 1 pitch" was terrifying. It did make the game electric, but it still isn't the best way to figure out who the better team is, and that is what the end goal should be. This makes winning the division SO important. The Orioles needed to win the AL East to get their pitchers rest, they needed a reset. They got it and move on. If they would have had to go to the Wild Card 1-game playoff they would have been cooked due to having 2 off days the last 19 days of the season. That isn't their fault, they can't control that. So why should they have been penalized for it?

We've seen some great stories come from both iterations of the playoff format, I just think where we are is just fine. Again, you don't want to play in the 3 game set? Win the division, reset your rotation, get rest. That top seed should have an advantage, they earned it. The winner take all is really not fair to those involved, work your ass off to play 1 more game? That seems like a waste, and I know, if you don't want it to be a waste then win it. I get that. This format is much, much better. Teams with depth benefit from the 3-game set, they should be able to showcase that. If you've got some horses ready to go for a 3-gamer you are feeling good, obviously you can throw them all in the 1-game but then they may be cooked. I get on any given day anything can happen, and that is what is unfair to some teams. You take away everything when you leave it up to a 1-game set. Takes away all the flukes that could happen. 

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Not every series may not be the most exciting, but it gives us the best product in baseball overall. It's like the NCAA Tourney. We have seen those low 15 and 16 seeds win a game on a fluke play and then go on to get crushed later. Not every time, but a lot. That isn't what we really want. I want to see the best in the end, so a 14 seed in the elite 8 getting smoked isn't great for the sport, them winning early is, but we still want to see the best teams when it comes down to it. More times than not a 3-game set gives us that. Keep the format the way it is. As I said in the last blog, baseball doesn't do many things right but I think this is one of them.