Do You Like The MLB Wild-Card Game?

Major League Baseball may be more than one hundred years old and full of numerous traditions, but that doesn’t mean the sport is completely opposed to change. Last year, the powers that be instituted a new playoff format that forces the two non-division winners with the best records from each league to play one another in a single game, winner-take-all format, with the victor advancing to play a full series against the division winner with the best record.

The most obvious of all the goals is to keep more teams solidly in the playoff hunt in September, and this year, that objective certainly worked. Not only did numerous clubs fantasize about putting together a few wins in a row and making it to October, the final tally for the second wild-card spot wound up being a tie. So, tomorrow, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers will play a one-game playoff for the chance to to compete in the wild-card game. So, in essence, if Texas or Tampa wants to make it to the full series round, they’ll need to run off two wins in a row.

On the one hand, it’s pretty clear why everyone involved thinks the format is so exciting. There are few things better than sudden death, and since there’s nothing more boring than September baseball without any stakes, it’s a win-win on a lot of fronts. On the other hand, however, it seems like there is now an unfair amount of chance involved. Anyone could win a single playoff game in baseball, and it sucks for the team who won the first wild card since as of 2011, they would have just been in the playoffs like the division winners.

What do you think? Do you like the MLB Wild-Card Game? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…

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