Would MLB Playoffs become more popular if the series were shortened to best of 3?

[RedTruck]

I can't help but feel if the MLB playoffs were cut down to best of 3 for each series, keeping it more quick and fast paced, they would draw a bigger crowd for when the World Series airs on tv.

[AtomicDumpling]

Originally Posted by RedTruck

I can't help but feel if the MLB playoffs were cut down to best of 3 for each series, keeping it more quick and fast paced, they would draw a bigger crowd for when the World Series airs on tv.

Or they could have just one game and let it be sudden death so the first team to score wins. That would be ultra-exciting!

Ideally they would be more concerned with creating a format that determines which team deserves to advance rather than worrying about TV ratings.

[R_Webb18]

I think it would but I also who hate it. Would seem dumb to play 162 games they have best of 3.

[mdccclxix]

I think the wild card round did really well this year, fwiw.

I think the avid baseball crazy fan would rather keep things as they are with 1-5-7-7.

[CySeymour]

Originally Posted by AtomicDumpling

Ideally they would be more concerned with creating a format that determines which team deserves to advance rather than worrying about TV ratings.

In a perfect world, sure. But would that be the most exciting and most fun for fans to watch? Sometimes creating a format where the big dog can be toppled gets fans more excited.

[alwaysawarrior]

I like it the way it is now. They are now rewarding division winners, and the do or die round for wild card winners is exciting. I wouldn't change it.

[Superdude]

Originally Posted by mdccclxix

I think the wild card round did really well this year, fwiw.

I think the avid baseball crazy fan would rather keep things as they are with 1-5-7-7.

Three games would be awful IMO. For a game that's lost ground at the margins and relies heavily on the "avid baseball crazy fan", I don't see dumbing down the sport in hopes of ratings as a good idea at all.

[marcshoe]

To be blunt, baseball isn't football. The game develops more slowly. So much depends on a small events, small confrontations, that don't skew as consistently in favor of talent as they do in football. A confrontation between two aces will frequently be decided by some off-the-wall occurrence. Baseball is a game decided in the tiny margins.

As such, talent is much more likely to win out given a larger number of games.

This reminds me of the One Day cricket matches that were held when I lived in Sydney. Purists hated the idea, which was to take a game in which the leisurely pace was part of its very character and make it more of a flash-bang event. They said that doing this damaged what was worthwhile about the game. I think trying to make baseball a fast, low attention span even will do the same. Let baseball be baseball.

[cumberlandreds]

If you have a best of three playoffs then you might just as well have a home run derby between the two teams. It would amount to the same effect.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Originally Posted by mdccclxix

I think the wild card round did really well this year, fwiw.

I think the avid baseball crazy fan would rather keep things as they are with 1-5-7-7.

Well, I would personally like the playoffs shortened and the regular season be more meaningful. In other words, fewer playoff teams. Dump the WC and go back to the 2 division format. I know it won't happen, but that's what I'd prefer.

I absolutely detest seeing a world series champion who couldn't even manage to win their own division. That's not a champion in my book, that's just the last man standing.

[RedEye]

I hate this idea. I think the wild card has already rendered the regular season much less important than it should be. Three-game series would make the whole darned thing a crap shoot even more than it already is.

[RedEye]

Originally Posted by _Sir_Charles_

I absolutely detest seeing a world series champion who couldn't even manage to win their own division. That's not a champion in my book, that's just the last man standing.

Absolutely. It was better in the past when there were sometimes underdogs, but when the regular season grind was more rewarded by the system.

[RED VAN HOT]

The regular season is a grind in which roster depth, especially starting pitching depth comes into play. I would like to see the playoff format reward the same team structures that got the participants there, e.g., no leaving the fifth starter off the playoff roster in order to add an additional bat. For me that would be 1-7-7-7 with no days off except between series. Number 5 starters would likely come into play. At times teams are able to play successive days on opposite coasts during the regular season by scheduling a night game after a day game. Why not during the playoffs?

[traderumor]

While I also love the good ole days and the balanced, 24 team divisional playoffs format, given what we have, the Wild Card makes sense and has always yielded a good team. It overcomes the weakness of divisional format where a weak division makes the champion of the division a dubious distinction.

For my money, it would be more fair if you get rid of divisions and take the top 5 to get your playoff field from each league. A lot of inequity is created by the divisions. The division setup can be random and you end up with 82 win teams making the playoffs simply because they're the best of the worst in that division.

[Salukifan2]

I love the first wild card. Hate the second. The '12 braves were a playoff team, as are almost all the first wildcard teams. 8 was enough, it made making the playoffs a difficultly obtained goal as opposed to the NBA, NHL, and to a lesser degree the NFL.