6/24 Seattle

[Maxbialystock]

It's a wild card. Teams are lucky to even have a shot at winning it all despite not winning their division.

 

For many many years, if you failed to win the division, it was all over. You could have been the second best in MLB with no chance.

 

I have no issue with the play-in game. A 3 game series makes sense, but making the other teams wait and maybe get rusty outweighs the gain.

 

In the NBA, 16 of 30 teams make the playoffs.

 

In the NHL, 16 of 31 teams make it.

 

In the NFL, 12 out of 32 make it.

 

 

I don't disagree with the notion of inclusion, only with the resulting one game playoff. For example, it's possible the Sox or Yankees could end up with the second best record in the AL and have to play a wild card game. That ain't right.

 

Of course, the Sox went to the ALDS--no wild card game--the last two years and got hammered both times. So what's one more game?