The randomness of baseball playoffs, good or bad?

[msgkings322]

So this year, like almost every other one, had an unexpected team win the Series. No one saw the 10 teams in the playoffs and said 'Atlanta is going to win it' outside of Georgia.

In general this is a good thing, right? Does it matter that the best regular season teams rarely, or rather no more than almost random chance, win it all?

As a Giants fan, I lean towards approval, they were the underdogs in every series they played in all 3 title runs last decade.

In the NFL and especially the NBA, you can kind of figure who likely wins, or which 2-3 teams have any shot. In baseball it's almost random.

Curious how the board feels.

 

[The Q]

So this year, like almost every other one, had an unexpected team win the Series. No one saw the 10 teams in the playoffs and said 'Atlanta is going to win it' outside of Georgia.

In general this is a good thing, right? Does it matter that the best regular season teams rarely, or rather no more than almost random chance, win it all?

As a Giants fan, I lean towards approval, they were the underdogs in every series they played in all 3 title runs last decade.

In the NFL and especially the NBA, you can kind of figure who likely wins, or which 2-3 teams have any shot. In baseball it's almost random.

Curious how the board feels.

I like when the best team wins.

I like 162 games mattering

But the excitement is fun

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I think it's mostly good and offers a nice counterbalance to the ultra-stacked/monied teams and the refuse-to-spend teams, but I'd 100% be good with making the series longer. Namely the ALDS and WC rounds. Maybe if you wanted to get a more radical solution bring back the 9 game series. More postseason baseball is a bandwagon I am very much in on.

NBA playoffs there are about 3 teams that can do anything for the most part the past decade plus and you can ignore the rest. It's good baseball doesn't have that problem, though it may be me.

 

[BrockForBroglio]

I think it's a good thing. Baseball is the game where hitters and pitchers can get hot and carry a team, allowing a team from maybe, under the radar, win a series.

Like you said, that rarely happens in the NBA or NFL.

 

[Cedrique]

So this year, like almost every other one, had an unexpected team win the Series. No one saw the 10 teams in the playoffs and said 'Atlanta is going to win it' outside of Georgia.

In general this is a good thing, right? Does it matter that the best regular season teams rarely, or rather no more than almost random chance, win it all?

As a Giants fan, I lean towards approval, they were the underdogs in every series they played in all 3 title runs last decade.

In the NFL and especially the NBA, you can kind of figure who likely wins, or which 2-3 teams have any shot. In baseball it's almost random.

Curious how the board feels.

I think it's fine. They've had NL and AL playoffs since I started watching baseball and they are here to stay. Except I'd maybe add 2 more teams and set up 4 divisions of 4 teams each and get rid of the wildcard. And make both playoff series 7 games. There might be some cases that leave a 106 win team like the Dodgers out some seasons but shit, if you can't win a division against 3 other teams there shouldn't be too much to complain about.

 

[nynasty]

They've got to do something about the 1)the WC round and 2) the seeding

I'm no Dodger fan, but a team winning 106 of 162 games having to play 1 game for their lives is ridiculous. Equally ridiculous is they got past that game and had to face a 107 win team in the divisional round.

I think I liked it better when teams in the same division couldn't play each other until their league championship series.

 

[bksballer89]

They've got to do something about the 1)the WC round and 2) the seeding

I'm no Dodger fan, but a team winning 106 of 162 games having to play 1 game for their lives is ridiculous. Equally ridiculous is they got past that game and had to face a 107 win team in the divisional round.

I think I liked it better when teams in the same division couldn't play each other until their league championship series.

I dont mind it happening but should be off seeding which should be decided by record

 

[bksballer89]

And as i said before the playoffs started if you do not want to give WC HFA in the wc one then that's fine but they still shouldn't be the 4th seed. Make them the 3rd seed. Point blank the teams with the top 2 records should not play in the LDS

 

[msgkings322]

And as i said before the playoffs started if you do not want to give WC HFA in the wc one then that's fine but they still shouldn't be the 4th seed. Make them the 3rd seed. Point blank the teams with the top 2 records should not play in the LDS

My point though is seeding hardly matters. The best regular season teams have about the same chance of winning it all as any other team. Because baseball is fundamentally a long term game, it takes many games for the best teams to emerge. The playoffs are a blip.

 

[The Q]

My point though is seeding hardly matters. The best regular season teams have about the same chance of winning it all as any other team. Because baseball is fundamentally a long term game, it takes many games for the best teams to emerge. The playoffs are a blip.

It’s also an entirely different game in the playoffs with the off days and lack of a 5th and even 4th starter at times

 

[bksballer89]

My point though is seeding hardly matters. The best regular season teams have about the same chance of winning it all as any other team. Because baseball is fundamentally a long term game, it takes many games for the best teams to emerge. The playoffs are a blip.

Yeah i agree seeding doesn't matter in terms of winning the whole thing

 

[msgkings322]

It’s also an entirely different game in the playoffs with the off days and lack of a 5th and even 4th starter at times

It's almost a different sport in the playoffs

 

[The Q]

It's almost a different sport in the playoffs

yeah, i don't love it.

but at the same time, you need built in travel days to protect you from rain outs and such.

 

[Robotech]

So this year, like almost every other one, had an unexpected team win the Series. No one saw the 10 teams in the playoffs and said 'Atlanta is going to win it' outside of Georgia.

In general this is a good thing, right? Does it matter that the best regular season teams rarely, or rather no more than almost random chance, win it all?

As a Giants fan, I lean towards approval, they were the underdogs in every series they played in all 3 title runs last decade.

In the NFL and especially the NBA, you can kind of figure who likely wins, or which 2-3 teams have any shot. In baseball it's almost random.

Curious how the board feels.

The purest way to determine a champion is a round robin, but that's never gonna happen, and it would suck to see the Dodgers win 20 straight championships. I just don't want a team with a losing record getting to the World Series, which could happen if they keep expanding the playoffs.

 

[calsnowskier]

It is horrible. They should just eliminate the playoffs all together and give the championship to the team with the best record. Or better yet, cancel the regular season and just sim the season 1000 times to determine who the champ should be. That eliminates all randomness completely.



Seriously, it is part of the game. Play the game and see what happens. That’s the beauty.

 

[calsnowskier]

It’s also an entirely different game in the playoffs with the off days and lack of a 5th and even 4th starter at times

I love the fact that the playoffs is almost an entirely different game than regular season (akin to limit vs no-limit hold em). It requires that a team be a little more well rounded to win it all. They have to be good enough to qualify during the marathon portion, but still be able to compete in the sprint portion. Deeper teams will excel during the marathon while top heavy teams will have an advantage during the sprint. If a team concentrates too heavily in one vs the other, they have less of a chance to get the Championship.

 

[broncosmitty]

I think it's mostly good and offers a nice counterbalance to the ultra-stacked/monied teams and the refuse-to-spend teams, but I'd 100% be good with making the series longer. Namely the ALDS and WC rounds. Maybe if you wanted to get a more radical solution bring back the 9 game series. More postseason baseball is a bandwagon I am very much in on.

NBA playoffs there are about 3 teams that can do anything for the most part the past decade plus and you can ignore the rest. It's good baseball doesn't have that problem, though it may be me.

The Division Series being 7 games would be something I fully support.


Nine game WS has always been something somewhat mythical to me. Wouldn’t mind seeing that either.

 

[bksballer89]

The Division Series being 7 games would be something I fully support.


Nine game WS has always been something somewhat mythical to me. Wouldn’t mind seeing that either.

Both would require slightly shorter season imo

 

[broncosmitty]

Both would require slightly shorter season imo

You’re probably right. Starting earlier in March and loading up doubleheader’s may not be enough.


No idea if more playoff games could lead to increased revenue despite cutting back to say 148 again. Seems like the owners would take a net loss by cutting regular season games even by just a couple.

 

[navamind]

Good. There's always going to be more randomness in baseball than any other sport anyway IMO. Yeah every now and then you'll get a weird champion (2006 Cardinals, 1987 Twins), but I'd say most WS winners were among the best in the regular season anyway. And it's not like MLB's the only sport that has crowned weaker champions, either.

And even in the case of the 2021 Braves, I don't think their overall record does them justice. 88-74 is rather low for a division winner, but they did underperform their pythag W-L by 6 games (and their pythag was the 3rd best in the NL behind LAD/SFG and 7th in MLB). The Braves also played .611 ball in the second half after playing .494 ball in the first half.