While former-owner-turned-commissioner Bud Selig may have supporters and detractors, what is certain is that he has presided over significant changes in baseball that have will have a lasting effect on the game. We are not talking about relative labor peace, the 1994 work stoppage or even steroids, no, we are talking about these fundamental Selig-driven changes: 1) Realignment and adding a Central Division, which led to a Wild Card playoff team and an extra playoff round; 2) Inter-league play; 3) The unbalanced schedule - where teams play a disproportionate amount of games versus their division opponents; and 4) Home-field advantage via the All-Star game.
The most significant of these changes is realignment and the Wild Card. While traditionalists may still object to the Wild Card (they seem to object to any change), the change has been great for baseball. It has heightened the playoff race drama and increased the number of teams and fans interested in baseball in August and September when traditionally teams are knocked out of playoff contention.
Since it was implemented in 1995 (1994 playoffs were cancelled due to a work stoppage), there have been four Wild Card World Series champions (1997 Marlins, 2002 Angels, 2003 Marlins, 2004 Red Sox), and the 2002 Series was an all-Wild Card affair.
This year the NY Yankees, Cleveland Indians / Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies and LA Dodgers are the grateful teams as they are all within three games of the Wild Card.
1 comment:
Bud will always go down as the commish who oversaw the player strike and steroids era in the 90s.
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