Major League Baseball's Wild Card Playoff System example essay topic

Major League Baseball's wild card playoff system was started in 1995. Before 1995 there where the same two leagues, the American and the National League. In each league there where only two divisions and each division had one winner, each winner played each other in a 5 game series, which was changed to a 7 game series in 1985. The winner of the American and National league championship series played each other in the World Series. The wild card system saw each league separate from its two divisions into three divisions.

There is a winner in each division and then a wild card winner. The wild card winner is the team with the best record that did not win their division. The wild card winner then plays the team with the best record in their league unless they are in the same division. If the wild card winner is in the same division as the team with the best record in their respective league then the wild card winner plays the team with the second best record. Baseball purists are the biggest critiques of the wild card system, purists usually being, "baseball conservatives".

These are people who think that baseball was best before any of the current innovations took place such as the designated hitter, inter league play, elimination of the day / night doubleheader, and of course the wild card. These baseball purists would like baseball to go back to the old two leagues, only one division in each league, and one post-season series to determine the champion. Years ago when this was actually the system, baseball did not have any competition and whether it was know then or not, baseball is a business. In the past baseball did not have other sports as major competitors. Now the baseball season only has about 7 weeks where they are the only major sport playing. This means more needs to be done to keep fans interested in baseball towards the end of the season.

Divisional baseball was started in 1969 to extend the post season and increase television revenue. The wild card is a further extension of this divisional baseball, and this is done to increase the interest of fans whose teams normally would not have a chance in making the post-season. The National Football League has become so popular, which is another reason something had to be done to increase fan interest in baseball during the final month of September. This year for example provides a great example of how the wild card created a great race for the post season during the month of September. This past September saw over 7 national league teams competing for the wild card spot.

If not for the wild card all games in September would have been useless because the Atlanta Braves had their division won easily and it did not appear that the San Francisco Giants would have given up their division lead. Critiques also say that a system that allows teams with a winning percentage under. 500 to stay in contention is bad for baseball. Going back to baseball being a business, then this is good for baseball. More teams being in the race in September means more ticket sales and higher television ratings.

Parity in sports is good and the NFL who has been very successful with "League think" as their motto proves this. "League Think" has allowed any team to win any given game in the NFL. This will obviously never happen in baseball but the wild card winner has won the world series three times now. The wild card has created much more exciting post-seasons, if it was not for the wild card this past post-season would not have seen the dramatic play at the plate finale between Florida and San Francisco. There would not have been the dramatic series between the Yankees and Red Sox, among a great deal of other excitement. Another great aspect of the wild card is that if you look at normal distribution of winning percentages then there will almost always be a race for the wild card.

The wild card is usually going to fall in the middle-steep part of the bell curve, where the population is naturally going to be larger than the top of the curve. This means there is going to be more of a race for the wild card spot as opposed for winning any given division. Purists also argue that the wild card diminishes the importance of the divisional races. They say for example that it takes away from the amazing come backs that we could see if for say the Los Angeles Dodgers would have come back to surpass the Giants.

The wild card certainly does not take anything away from amazing come backs because with the wild card the Dodgers still did not even make the post-season. There was still the opportunity for the Dodgers to make an amazing come back and pass the Giants, the wild card certainly has not prevented that from happening. Another argument from baseball purists is that the wild card teams have the same chances of making it to the World Series as the teams who win their division. With this said though there is also a chance for a team to win their division and have a lower record than the team who is the wild card winner. Use the 1985 season as an example that the Yankees finished the season with a 97-64 record and the Mets finished with a 98-64 record and neither of these teams made the playoffs. Both these teams finished with above.

600 winning percentage well above Kansas City and Los Angeles who made the playoffs just because they won their division. The wild card assures that the team with the second best winning percentage in the league makes the post-season. Also the wild card team could never be worse than the fourth best team in the league. With this said, the argument that the wild card cheapens the pennant races is proven to be false because if anything the 1985 season shows that the wild card would have made that post season more competitive by allowing teams with better records the other division leaders into the post-season. In 1980 the Orioles ended with a 100-62 record and the Yankees who ended with a slightly better 103-59 record and it is said that the two teams would not have had such a tight race through the summer under the current system. While this may be true that the summer would have been not as exciting but under the wild card system the Orioles would have made the post-season and most likely the Yankees would have faced the Orioles in a more exciting ALCS.

The 1995 season proves that the wild card does not cheapen the pennant race but actually strengthens it. The Angels had an 11 game lead in September and in the old system going into September with that kind of lead was almost a given that you where in the playoffs. With the wild card the Mariners where playing for something and while chasing for the wild card they actually caught the Angels. The two teams ended the season in a tie, so here is an example of a one game playoff for the division. The Angels ended up losing that one game playoff to the Mariners. The wild card has also gotten a bad name due to its use in other major organized sports.

The wild cards use in hockey and basketball allows teams with a less than. 500 record to make the playoffs because more than half the teams make it, in football it is almost as bad. As long as baseball keeps the number of teams in the post season approximately 25% of the total teams in the league then it will be ok. Also due to the wild card system, people think the one-game playoff is dying out.

The one-game playoff is used when there is a tie for first place in the standings at the end of the regular season, winner take all one game playoff. While we will not see a one game playoff for first place of a division due to the team with the best head to head record is declared to be the division champion. What we will see is teams tied for the wild card spot, an example of this was in 1999, the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds where tied at the end of the season and they played a thrilling one game playoff. Another argument of critiques is that, why should a mediocre team be able to purchase a solid pitcher and add hitting to their team for the playoff run. The wild card has not changed anything here, if anything the wild card allows more teams to compete so more teams look to strengthen their lineup. If more teams are doing this then the teams that are looking to dump will have more choices thus the better players will be spread out among more teams.

With out the wild card then there may be only a few teams competing and all the teams who want to dump salaries will only have a limited number of teams offering to take the available players. The wildcard is not a way for below. 500 team to get into the playoffs but it is a way for a team such as the Marlins this year. They fired their manager and lost its two best starters to injuries early in the season, so they had some issues to figure out early. The Marlins ended the season with the best record in baseball over the last five months. That is not a 20 game hot streak they went on, if you look at their season over their last 130 games they played through the playoffs then they have a better record then anyone they played in the playoffs.

The wildcard allows for a team to have a slow start but get their act together in time to make the playoffs and in the Marlins case win the World Series. Another obvious critique to the wild card each season would be the team with the best record in each league. In the past this team would have been in the World Series just for having the best record. Now the best record gives you home field advantage and that has proven to be no advantage at all.

If the team with the best record is truly the best team in the league than they really should have no problems winning two more series. Many breaks come and go for each team that is uncontrollable but the best team will always take advantage of the breaks given to them and limit the damage done to them from the breaks given to the opposition. It is proven that the wild card has not decreased the competition in the playoffs. Teams who win the division have to remain sharp and still prove themselves to the inferior team.

Teams who dominate their division and don't have to worry about the games towards the end of September do have an advantage in that they can start preparing for the playoffs sooner. They can plan when pitchers need to rest setting up who will pitch game one. As opposed to the wild card team that may need their star pitcher in the final game of the season to secure the wild card. Going back to the fact that MLB is a business and the wild card adds an extra round of playoffs. This extra round of playoffs has meant more bonus playoff revenue for owners. Since players' payroll ends with the regular season, post-season income is icing on the cake for the owner.

Maybe for the Yankees the first round revenue is insignificant but for other small market teams who can earn over $2 million in extra revenue from the wild card proves to be very beneficial to the team. Along with the extra revenue that owners can make, the wild card has also created a positive buzz about baseball. Especially this past post season, which saw two teams, that are legendary losers fighting to make it to the World Series. The Red Sox and the Cubs caused television ratings to sore this season. The Red Sox being the American League wild card and the Cubs being the beneficiaries of having three divisions in each league both only made the playoffs due to the wild card. Also look at some of the all stars that made the playoffs because of the wild card, Sammy Sosa, Nomar Garciaparra, Torii Hunter, Kerry Wood, Pedro Martinez, and there are others that I failed to mention.

The one argument critiques of the wild card have that I have mentioned briefly is the fact that teams who win their division do not really benefit much. They do get home field advantage but that has proven to hardly benefit anyone. One proposal I have that could make the wild card even more interesting while also making it more to a teams advantage to win their division is having two wild cards in each league. The two wild card teams would play a one game winner moves on playoff. This will give the teams that win their division more of an advantage because they get an extra day to rest but primarily the two teams that make the wild card will have to use their ace pitcher. This will increase the competitiveness of the teams that make it to the League championship as well.

Under the current system the division series is a five game series, where one pitcher can win two out of the three wins necessary to move on. If a teams ace has to pitch the one game playoff he most likely will not be able to pitch two games in the division series. This therefore requires a more complete team because one pitcher cannot carry a team into the league championship. In conclusion I think the wild card is extremely beneficial to Major League Baseball. The wild card has prevented a team from not making the playoffs just because of their geographical location. Meaning just because Boston is in the same division as the Yankees they can still make the playoffs if they have the second best record in the American League.

The wild card has also benefited a team that starts a season slow but puts all the pieces together and ends the second half of the season real strong. In the past with two divisions it is much harder to come back after a very slow start. The wild card has also successfully increased fan interest in baseball through the month of September. As for the business of baseball more teams in the postseason means more revenue and higher television ratings. Baseball does not want to go too far and I think the system they have in place now is great and the one game playoff proposed would be as many teams as MLB would want in their post season.