On one hand, the new one-game playoff system in baseball gives an additional team an opportunity to play for a World Series title. That certainly builds drama and suspense, but it also means two teams have only one chance to keep their championship hopes alive in a sport that is structured around series. This is the only year Chipper Jones will have to deal with the new format, but he’s not thrilled about it.
“I think it’s stupid, to be honest with you,” Jones said according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But Major Lague Baseball wants a bunch of teams in the playoffs. There’s nothing like cut-throat baseball for the fans. And people love that 163rd regular-season game. They’ve loved it in the past. I’m sure that’s probably what’s promoted a second wild-card team. I wish they would’ve done it a year earlier so we would have had a chance last year. But it is what it is.”
The Braves currently hold a six-game lead over the Cardinals in the wild card with 11 games remaining. They have a 7.5-game lead over the third-place Brewers, so it’s safe to say Atlanta is a lock for one of the spots. I tend to agree with Chipper that deciding a team’s fate based on one game after such an incredibly long season filled with series is unfortunate.
“That doesn’t seem fair because anything can happen (in one game),” he said. “Now if you were to say the two wild-card teams will play a best two-out-of-three (series), I’d be OK with that. We play three-game series all the time, and we concentrate on winning those series all the time. I think it’s more fair from a standpoint that anything can happen in one game – a blown call by an umpire, a bad day at the office … at least in a two-of-three-game series you have some sort of leeway.”
At the end of the day, the team who plays better will win. There are no second chances, which will make for great television ratings. For Major League Baseball, that’s all that matters.
