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MLB’s 162-game regular season is over and it’s now time to get serious. I’m talking about some playoff baseball, folks, where championships are won and legacies are made.
This year’s playoff format is going to look different to all of us, with one more team added in each league and with the two top seeds in the AL and NL getting a bye through the wild-card round.
I think the addition of teams is actually a great move for baseball, which needs all the help it can get these days. Adding two more fanbases – Seattle and Philadelphia this year – only adds the excitement and puts more eyes on the product, which is a good thing.
The NFL recently added a team to the playoffs in each conference and that feels like a little bit of overkill. The NFL is a huge beast that doesn’t need to worry about having eyes on its product.
MLB, however, needs to find ways to attract fans and this does just that. Think those fans in Seattle, who haven’t seen their team in the playoffs since 2001, aren’t going to bring something extra to the postseason experience when their series with the Blue Jays kicks off? Think those Phillies fans aren’t ready to go nuts while playing the Cardinals in their wild card series?
The other two series have the Rays facing the Guardians and the Mets squaring off with the Padres.
It’s all pretty great for baseball, which is a wild thing to say because I’m used to Rob Manfred screwing everything up.
The two wild card series in each league will be best-of-3 series, which works, too. Sure the one-and-done games in the past were a lot of fun but after 162 games it does make a little more sense to give each team more of a fighting chance.
Allowing the top teams to have byes is good, too, because they deserve to have a little extra rest as a reward for what they accomplished in the regular season.
All this playoff action starts Friday and while regular season baseball can be a long drag at times, baseball’s postseason is one of the best postseasons in all of sports and I can’t wait for it.
Quick hits: Draymond Green-Jordan Poole altercation… Shohei Ohtani’s hilarious ‘threat’… So long, Roger Maris Jr…. And more.
– Things apparently got heated during a Warriors practice session yesterday. Here’s everything we know about the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole altercation.
– Shohei Ohtani made a hilarious ‘threat’ to A’s first baseman Seth Brown after being hit by a pitch.
– Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run means we can say so long to Roger Maris Jr., which is nice.
– Here are the top 5 most watchable college football games this week.
