Major League Baseball

[phoenix_night]

Why so many games in a season?

Is it really possible to get that excited over ANY regular season game?
Are any of them actually that important?

Surely there can't be that much vested in any given game till the playoffs...?

Can anyone explain this to me? Does the amount of games not dilute the importance/interest?

I mean, ****, that's an insane number of games...

 

[dgfred]

Yeah it's alot, but still very interesting as 1 game can mean the difference
between making the playoffs or not .

 

[El Justo]

the long schedule adds to the charm of MLB in my opinion.

i like to think that the schedule is sort of broken down into a few different segments.

the first 2 months are essentially a wash imo. by that i mean that a team can perform poorly during this part of the schedule but they still have time left to turn it around.

June and July are a little more important b/c the standings begin to cement themselves a little more.

August and September are the 'do or die' months. perform poorly during this time span and you can kiss that playoff spot goodbye

some observers, however, often note that the games played in April and May are just as important as the others b/c a win is a win and a loss is a loss; and it doesn't matter when they Ws & Ls accrue.

i know here in south jersey, the phils have been lambasted by the press for their poor starts and that this is directly corelated to their not making the playoffs the last few years (usually a game or 2 or 3 behind). thus a good start to a season may mean less pressure to win later in the season.

 

[Son_Of_Dido]

Also, playing from ahead vs. playing from behind. In one game, if you get a big lead, you can pull your starters so as to protect them from injury or fatigue, and also get your backups in there to get some in-game reps so they don't get rusty, just in case.

Extrapolate that to a whole, long, season. If you're up by a large number of games, you can let a good player take an extra day or two to rest or recover from injury. The team behind by several games can't necessarily afford to do that, because they need to grab every game they can to catch up.

The NFL is a sprint. MLB is a marathon.

 

[The Yankee]

There are such strategies available because "there's always tomorrow."

I also like that if a guy gets injured and needs three months, there's still a portion of the season that could be played. In the NFL, it's the Injured Reserve for you.

Though the NBA and NHL also have long seasons, the fact that there is usually at least one day between games wouldn't work well in baseball, especially with the pitching staffs.

 

[civverguy]

I think it's strange that the regular season is so long and the playoffs are so short. Does anybody know why this is besides the fact that there are less teams in the playoffs?

 

[The Yankee]

Unless the series are settled in three or four games, they do last longer than your typical regular-season series against an opponent.

 

[civverguy]

Unless the series are settled in three or four games, they do last longer than your typical regular-season series against an opponent.

What I meant was that there is only a month of playoffs in baseball compared to 5 months of the regular season.

 

[The Yankee]

Because the MLB isn't like the NBA and has a week between games just to make sure they're all on national TV at the same slot.

Plus, it starts getting cold in late October.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

More games = more ticket revenue = more money for the players.

I don't think you'll see the season shortened any time soon.

 

[Azale]

What would we watch in the summer if it wasnt so long? Arena Football and the WNBA?

 

[The Yankee]

What would we watch in the summer if it wasnt so long? Arena Football and the WNBA?

A REAL sport like the MLS!


....



....


[crickets]

 

[Son_Of_Dido]

Baseball's post season is the shortest and most exclusive of the major professional American sports because it is the oldest, most conservative, tradition oriented, and resistant to rules and format change. And it used to have no post season, other than the world series. The National League and The American League were just that, and there were no divisions and no wild cards, and you either had the best record in your league or you went home.

Interleague Play and the current three division format are bows to the winds of change and are attempts to cater more to television like the other sports do, but bear in mind it took baseball a lot longer to do this.

 

[Supermath]

And honestly, the first round of the playoffs shouldn't be longer than the Summer Olympics, as it is in the NBA.

 

[cubsfan6506]

Pre american league their actually was no playoffs.

 

[civverguy]

Maybe its just me but I like watching a longer playoffs because I don't really care about regular season games unless someone is trying to break a record (Bonds) or key games for a team.

 

[Son_Of_Dido]

The Longer playoff structures ensure, and in fact require, more and more mediocre/less worthy teams qualify for the playoffs (and then get appropriately stomped into the ground by the top teams in the early rounds. Basketball and Hockey commonly have teams at around .500 or even below .500 getting the #8 seed).

Part of why I like Baseball's exclusive playoff structure is that the small, short nature of excludes all but the best teams (for the most part) and in fact makes it very likely that a very good team not qualify. And in fact baseball history is full of such unlucky teams.

I find it makes the playoffs more meaningful and impressive.

 

[civverguy]

The Longer playoff structures ensure, and in fact require, more and more mediocre/less worthy teams qualify for the playoffs (and then get appropriately stomped into the ground by the top teams in the early rounds. Basketball and Hockey commonly have teams at around .500 or even below .500 getting the #8 seed).

Part of why I like Baseball's exclusive playoff structure is that the small, short nature of excludes all but the best teams (for the most part) and in fact makes it very likely that a very good team not qualify. And in fact baseball history is full of such unlucky teams.

I find it makes the playoffs more meaningful and impressive.

So would you like a playoffs with a best of 3 in the first round and and a best of 5 in the later rounds? Or the same thing except for more teams?

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Phoenix, the 162 game season gives a different pace to it all compared to, say, European football leagues. An excellent team might win 100 of those 162, while a 60 win season is seen as a disaster. So this ratio certainly does mean that no single regular season game is as important as, say, a Chelsea-ManYoo game in the EPL over the last couple of seasons. This actually works pretty nicely - it lets you want your team to win, but to be much more honest about who has played better and deserves to win. And it stops any individual defeat being a head in the hands depression moment. If you lose 9 in a row (ah, my beloved Cardinals!), then you just know that you're not a good enough team.

It also means that over 162 games, there isn't a lot of room for hiding - the better teams will invariably top their divisions, as bad calls, injuries (for the most part), freak events etc will tend to even themselves out.

For me, an analogy with test cricket works pretty well. 20/20 cricket is basically not far from a toss-up, and a one-day cricket game depends extensively on who wins the toss. A test match, however, will normally go to the better team ( but can still obviously be significantly altered by the toss). but by the time you get to a six test series, you just know the better team is going to win.

Ah, not sure I've explained it very well. Would be better explained sitting in a ballpark over a beer....

 

[downtown]

Ah, not sure I've explained it very well. Would be better explained sitting in a ballpark over a beer....

Haha, as I'm sure most things in life would be!

With that sweep of the Detroit kitty cats, the Tribe moves into a tie with the best record in baseball, and lowers their magic number to 3.

I'm actually pretty excited for the playoffs. Along with Boston, Cleveland really has the best pitching staff in baseball. Their offense can be explosive, albeit a little inconsistent, but having dynamite pitching is what wins you games in the postseason.

I'm not really afraid of any NL team (I think the Indians could beat any of them in 6), but all 3 AL squads kinda scare me. Boston's rotation can go toe to toe with Cleveland's, LA is scary good at home, and the Yankees are the Yankees (on paper, I think we're the better team, but they seem to have our number)

Long live october!