OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Will We Ever See Deserving Teams In The World Series Again?

Le Grande Orange · 11-02-2023, 04:52 PM

For all the dislike some have for interleague play and expanded playoffs, the interesting thing is these idea were considered many times by MLB in its past but were, for various reasons, never adopted. Some examples:

Commissioner Frick had a proposal for interleague play in 1963, and even had a schedule prepared to push the idea. Clubs would have played 13 games against the other nine teams in its league and 4 games against the ten teams of the other league, for a total schedule of 157 games.

For 1973, the AL not only wanted the DH but also a slate of interleague games. There were various proposals which ranged from 6 to 18 games. The proposal with the best chance called for 6 interleague games against traditional or geographic rivals, either a home-and-home arrangement against the same team, or one series against two different opponents since some MLB teams didn't really have a 'natural' rival. The 6 interleague games would have come from reducing the interdivisional games in each league from 12 to 11. Another proposal, one liked by the Mets GM, called for a schedule in which teams played 22 games against each division rival (110 games total), 8 games against each of the teams in the other division (48 games total), and 4 interleague games against a 'natural' rival.

During the 1974 summer meetings, several proposals for expanding the playoffs from 4 to 8 teams were considered. The top two teams from each division would qualify, with the second place team playing the first in each division in a best-of-five series. An alternative was for the second-place team in one division to play the first-place team in the other division. Another idea was for the two division winners and two wild card teams to qualify in each league. The last idea was to split each league into three divisions with one wild card team (a concept no doubt inspired by the NFL's successful realignment in 1970 after absorbing the AFL). These same ideas would continue to be proposed in subsequent years right up through 1993. (MLB ultimately chose to realign into three divisions in each league, formally adopted by a 27-1 vote on Sept. 9, 1993. The lone dissenting vote was cast by Texas.)

These are just some of the 'what ifs' MLB might have done had things gone differently. There are several others.

11-02-2023, 04:52 PM	#142
Le Grande Orange Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Up There Posts: 15,642	For all the dislike some have for interleague play and expanded playoffs, the interesting thing is these idea were considered many times by MLB in its past but were, for various reasons, never adopted. Some examples: Commissioner Frick had a proposal for interleague play in 1963, and even had a schedule prepared to push the idea. Clubs would have played 13 games against the other nine teams in its league and 4 games against the ten teams of the other league, for a total schedule of 157 games. For 1973, the AL not only wanted the DH but also a slate of interleague games. There were various proposals which ranged from 6 to 18 games. The proposal with the best chance called for 6 interleague games against traditional or geographic rivals, either a home-and-home arrangement against the same team, or one series against two different opponents since some MLB teams didn't really have a 'natural' rival. The 6 interleague games would have come from reducing the interdivisional games in each league from 12 to 11. Another proposal, one liked by the Mets GM, called for a schedule in which teams played 22 games against each division rival (110 games total), 8 games against each of the teams in the other division (48 games total), and 4 interleague games against a 'natural' rival. During the 1974 summer meetings, several proposals for expanding the playoffs from 4 to 8 teams were considered. The top two teams from each division would qualify, with the second place team playing the first in each division in a best-of-five series. An alternative was for the second-place team in one division to play the first-place team in the other division. Another idea was for the two division winners and two wild card teams to qualify in each league. The last idea was to split each league into three divisions with one wild card team (a concept no doubt inspired by the NFL's successful realignment in 1970 after absorbing the AFL). These same ideas would continue to be proposed in subsequent years right up through 1993. (MLB ultimately chose to realign into three divisions in each league, formally adopted by a 27-1 vote on Sept. 9, 1993. The lone dissenting vote was cast by Texas.) These are just some of the 'what ifs' MLB might have done had things gone differently. There are several others. Last edited by Le Grande Orange; 11-02-2023 at 04:54 PM.