October 09, 2013

How would I change the playoffs

The FIVE things I would do to fix baseball (if it's broken or not):
Old Time Baseball at Tiger Stadium in the '90s. 

  1. Start the season earlier. It's time to start the season on April 7 or whatever the corresponding Monday is each year. And let's consider starting in the warmer weather cities or in places where the teams have domes. 
  2. Revert back to 1985. Play double headers — the traditional kind from the old days — during each week–end in June, July, and August. The DH could be on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday depending on opponent, travel, etc. The fans would pay one price, maybe even elevated, to attend both games. This would be a total of 14 double headers during the summer for each team. 
  3. End the season earlier, closer to the beginning of the football season. End the season on Sunday, Sept. 14, or the equivalent date each season. This would allow for 162 games (including all the double headers in the summer) to be played between April 7 and September 14. That's a little over five months for the regular season. 
  4. Change the playoff structure immediately.  
    1. The First Round, which would include only the wild card teams, would play a three–game series beginning on Sept. 16 and ending by Sept. 19. 
    2. The Second Round, considered today's "division series" would be played from Sept. 20 through Sept. 26. 
    3. The Championship Series would be played from Sept. 28 through Oct. 6.
    4. Finally, the World Series would be played beginning Oct. 8 and ending Oct. 16. The Fall Classic would be completed two weeks into October. 
  5. End the WHOLE SEASON by the middle of October. This would be a huge development for MLB. It almost has to happen because even die hard fans are leaving the game. 


    Overall, there are some tweaks that need to be made in my proposal. 

    I'm a die hard Tigers fan/baseball fan, and I think the season runs too long. When you're rooting for your team and it's 36° on Oct. 28, there's a problem. I think if baseball ended it's regular season on Sept. 14, it's no longer going to be completing against NFL or college football on the week–ends, except for postseason baseball — which is more appealing to fans than watching the dog days wind down. Boring September baseball is destroying the game. 

    I would love to know what you think ... 

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