EAST - Yankees, Mets, Toronto, Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington, Tampa, Florida, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia
CENTRAL - Boston, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minnesota, White Sox, Cubbies, Cleveland, Cincinatti, St. Louis, Kansas City
WEST - Dodgers, Angels, Oakland, Seattle, Texas, Houston, Arizona, Colorado, San Francisco, San Diego
Divisional play is 72 games; 8 games versus each opponent in the division.
INTERDIVISIONAL PLAY works like this:
5 Central teams play 5 West teams 4 times each, while the other 5 Central teams play 5 East teams 4 times each. (20)
5 East teams play 5 Central teams 4 times each , while the other 5 East teams play the other 5 West teams 4 times each.
5 West teams play 5 East 4 times each. The other 5 West teams play 5 Central teams 4 times each.
Teams then play the other half of the division that they did not play before.
This adds up to 40 games per team against each of the other 2 divisions, or 80 games total against the other 2 divisions.
The regular season therefore totals 72+80, or 152 games.
PLAYOFFS
The top 2 teams in each division play in the Division Series.
The Wild Card teams are the next best teams from anywhere in the 3 divisions.
Four teams emerge from these series.
Let's use some examples:
Top 2 East: Yankees, Braves
Top 2 West: Angels, Astros
Top 2 Central: Boston, Cubbies
Wild Cards: Kansas City, Tampa Bay
In the second round, the four remaining teams are seeded 1-4 based on record.
i.e.
(1) Yankees (100-52) vs (4) Tampa Bay (88-64)
(2) Astros (97-55) vs (3) Boston (94-58)
The remaining two teams play for the World Series.
ALTERNATIVELY...
All teams in the Majors are ranked 1-30 based on record.
The top 16 make the post-season.
1 plays 16, 2 plays 15, and so on in the first round.
The highest seed always faces the lowest seed.
There are 4 rounds of best-of-7, because the regular season, reduced to 152 games, leaves enough time for 4 rounds of playoffs instead of the current 3 rounds.
Either one of these ideas might lead to the possibility (however slim) of a World Series between the Red Sox and the Yankees. It could also potentially lead to a World Series that pits Kansas City against Atlanta, but hey, what's wrong with that?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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1 comments:
I think you need to add a 2 teams to make it 32 teams. Add 2 playoff spots so there is 12 of 32 who can make the playoffs and instead of restrict a players earnings realign teams based on payroll spent. example:
Yanks, Red Soxs, Mets, Phils in one division and Teams like the Pirates, Nationals, Indians, Reds in another. This would ensure teams with lower payrolls can be represented in the playoffs. As you spend more you change divisions. This would keep the schedule fresh and teams like the Pirates and Royals would have a chance to play in October.
check out the plan at:
http://thefairball.com/mlb-realignment-plan/
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