Baseball 2019

[blues]

If baseball were still baseball, you wouldn't have to beat a wild card. #realignmentsucks #stayoffmyinfieldlawn

I've been having that discussion with the missus quite a bit lately. Used to be just the two best teams in both leagues battled it out. So it'd have been Astros vs. Dodgers

Of course, when I started going to hockey games it was still just the original six. (That's Boston, NY, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto and Montreal for you miserable lot who know nothing about hockey.)

And dinosaurs roamed the earth.

[Darth_Uno]

I don't like the second wild card. Divisions I'm ok with, you gotta win the division even if it's weak (like the 2019 NL Central). But you can grind all year to get finish 2-3 games ahead of the 2nd wild card spot and get hosed in one game. I dunno. I know it's all about the post-season chase, and the excitement, and squeaking into a playoff spot, and getting hot when you're under the gun tv revenue, but it doesn't seen fair.

[Darth_Uno]

True story:

In a softball league my team was tied for 4th place, and only the top 4 teams made the playoffs. We split this team 2-2 in the season, but being a semi-rural beer league nobody knew the run totals for those games or any others. Last night of league we were offered the chance to play an early playoff game at 8:00 am on Saturday, or just flip a coin right now on Friday night. I took a team vote and we flipped....and lost. Of course some guys were mad, but I knew for a fact I wasn't going to get 10 (slowpitch plays with 10) guys to show up at 8 am on Saturday anyway.

[Hambo]

I've quit watching the post-season, and not just because the Indians aren't in it. MLB is all about the long run of 162 games. If a player or a team has a bad game, it really doesn't matter. What matters is the average, the long term trend. That's the season, and then baseball changes radically for the playoffs. One, five, or seven game playoffs are a radical change in the game. Management strategies that wouldn't be used in the regular season become necessary. Because it's so different, it might as well be Darth_Uno's coin toss, or a series of them. The playoff structure was changed not because it's better, or even good baseball, but to increase revenue for more teams.

And don't get me started on trying to make games take less time.

[blues]

I've quit watching the post-season, and not just because the Indians aren't in it. MLB is all about the long run of 162 games. If a player or a team has a bad game, it really doesn't matter. What matters is the average, the long term trend. That's the season, and then baseball changes radically for the playoffs. One, five, or seven game playoffs are a radical change in the game. Management strategies that wouldn't be used in the regular season become necessary. Because it's so different, it might as well be Darth_Uno's coin toss, or a series of them. The playoff structure was changed not because it's better, or even good baseball, but to increase revenue for more teams.

And don't get me started on trying to make games take less time.

I'm not far behind you and my team is still in it. I just don't care for the way the game is being run from top to bottom. There's a lot not to like.

I'd still like my team to win but I care less and less daily. My wife is more invested in sports these days as she has a relationship with a lot of other fans and broadcasters online.

Also the lack of sportsmanship and wildly exorbitant contracts, (across the various sports and leagues in general...less so, hockey) are off-putting.

[Darth_Uno]

I've quit watching the post-season, and not just because the Indians aren't in it.

I'll still watch although at this point I don't really care who wins. There's a lot of ways you could criticize baseball as an industry...but I just like the game. And, to a lesser degree, the players. They're not a bunch of showboating assholes like the NBA and NFL.

[Hambo]

I'll still watch although at this point I don't really care who wins. There's a lot of ways you could criticize baseball as an industry...but I just like the game. And, to a lesser degree, the players. They're not a bunch of showboating assholes like the NBA and NFL.

I love the game, which is why I prefer going to a game, any game. MLB, minors, college, HS, it's all good. Failing that I love to watch the Tribe every night, seeing how the season goes from night to night.

[blues]

I'll still watch although at this point I don't really care who wins. There's a lot of ways you could criticize baseball as an industry...but I just like the game. And, to a lesser degree, the players. They're not a bunch of showboating assholes like the NBA and NFL.

The Astros come mighty close...and have for the past few years.

[TC215]

The Astros come mighty close...and have for the past few years.

Which is why I’ll be cheering for the Nationals if the Yanks don’t come through.

[blues]

Which is why I’ll be cheering for the Nationals if the Yanks don’t come through.

You know that!