Little has been said by the pro "lots of playoff qualifiers" that hasn't been said by "authoritative" figures: MLB officials, sports writers, sport casters, etc. So please, don't anyone think I'm picking on them. You're probably not the only one to say it.
Anyway, so why do we have wild cards in MLB? Well, the basic reason is baseball screwed up expansion and division alignment and ended up with an odd number of divisions in each league. So they got themselves a wildcard. Not satisfied with that, they got themselves two. Let them play each other first before the "real" playoffs.
Course MLB (and wild card proponents here) don't actually want wild cards to win. That's why they both support a tougher path for wildcards. And here's the reason they make things tougher for wild card teams.
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From
http://freakonomics.com/2012/11/09/d...-world-series/
if one team is good enough to warrant beating another in 55% of its games, the weaker team will nevertheless win a 7-game series about 4 times out of 10....
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So assuming someone has not screwed up expansion and divisions and has an even number of divisions per league, what are the arguments used in favor of wild cards?
"Divisions might not be equal strength and that second place team in the East might be the second best in the league".
Well, that's nice, but supposedly the playoffs are to determine the best team. The Division winners might be the best team but its already KNOWN the prospective wild card team isn't. So arguing to let it in the playoffs because it "might" be the second best doesn't fly. Playoffs are for teams that might be the best.
"WIld Cards make winning the Division meaningful."
The first place team should say thanks but no thanks. Entering the playoffs with an advantage of a second place team with a tougher path is less meaningful than entering the playoffs with that second place team where it belongs: UNqualified for the post season.
"Some teams put it together late and should have a shot."
OK, well to be fair about it, if a first place team has a bad September, then they shouldn't qualify.
"The second place team had a tougher schedule."
No excuse for that. The game is played almost every day for six months and there's no excuse for two teams in a Division not having equal opponents. Well, there's lame excuses, called interleague play and natural rivalries and screwed up expansion, but none of these are REAL excuses for a tough or easy schedule since only lack of desire prevents the problem from being addressed.
"They were in a strong Division."
Something that can't be completely eliminated but the effect can be minimized by having decent sized Divisions. Four or five teams? Guffaw.
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Hey, but people think playoffs are exciting. So what MLB ought to do is qualify more teams. Division winners, second place team with the best record (they MIGHT be the second best team in the league), team in each Division with the best September record (want to peak just as the playoffs start). best record at the all star break, best record after the all star break, and if that's not enough, best Holiday record or Tuesday record or whatever. Do it right and 2018 Baltimore might even make it.
With those number of qualifiers, the World Series should start on Thanksgiving Day. The AL winner will play hockey vs the Detroit Lions, and the NL winner play basketball against the Dallas Cowboys.
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Now, take some time to laugh instead of getting riled.