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Is getting a “bye” even a good thing anymore in pro sports?


RavensNOsGuy

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59 minutes ago, RavensNOsGuy said:

Sure doesn’t seem that way. It used to be if you had the best record, you went straight to having home field in a 7 game LCS series (pre 1994) or you were playing a wild card team that was starting off the DS same as you (1995-2012). Look at the results today. It’s pretty apparent the winning teams from last week are fresher, ready to go, and confident. 
Not much can be done here or will ever change, but it certainly isn’t the advantage it once was. It’s become the same in the NFL too.

I came here to start this thread, you beat me to it. I was going to say "in baseball," though. It's still worth gold in the NFL. But baseball is a different sport. It's a sport where they are used to playing everyday, with at most one day off here and there. O's lost, Braves were shut out, and the Dodgers are losing 9-0. Only the cheaters won, barely.

They wanted to make the MLB playoffs like the NFL's, but these are vastly different sports.

 

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The more you expand the playoffs the more importance you give to it—and devalue the regular season. I watch a lot of games so I put a lot of value in winning the most regular season games. I wouldn’t mind, after 162 games, if the playoffs was simply the best team in the AL meeting the best team in the NL for a fun exhibition of who is the “best” that year. If you like the playoffs vibe, cut the regular season in half and expand the playoffs significantly. The current model of playing an eternity then having teams play best of three games is nutty.

 

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49 minutes ago, RavensNOsGuy said:

Shorten the season to 154 games and start the playoffs a week earlier. Maybe it ends a week later in November still, but does that really matter? Know this isn’t going to ever happen, but just my thoughts.

Agreed though I'd make it even shorter than that.  The season is already too long and then they force more postseason games on us.  The fans have less and less of an attention span for each game the more they thrust on us.  

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This will never happen because of TV money, but go back to the old 1 game wild card playoff with only two wild cards.  Next day start the ALDS .  No days off.  No travel days during the divisional series as well.  Make teams  set rosters for the entirety of the playoffs instead of each series.  Teams can only make changes as they do during the season either option or IL.  I thought that after last year's playoffs, not just because of the Orioles.   The current system doesn't reward the better teams as it should.  

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1 hour ago, Chavez Ravine said:

A rolling season long playoff is the natural system that leads to the natural best team that year. But it doesn’t work if bros have to get paid in NY, LA, Vegas, etc.

That's what the NBA does. They have very long playoffs, and the regular season is basically a joke. This will never happen in baseball, and it shouldn't.

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7 minutes ago, Uli2001 said:

That's what the NBA does. They have very long playoffs, and the regular season is basically a joke. This will never happen in baseball, and it shouldn't.

The NBA has a very long season then a very long playoffs. I am saying, a team can get eliminated in June. No more games for them. That’s fun. But people don’t get paid for fun.

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1 hour ago, Uli2001 said:

That's what the NBA does. They have very long playoffs, and the regular season is basically a joke. This will never happen in baseball, and it shouldn't.

The NHL is kind of like that too. Too many teams get into the playoffs in the NHL and it minimizes the impact of the regular season.

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7 hours ago, spiritof66 said:

I think if you asked the Rays, the Jays, the Marlins, or the Brewers, they would say the bye is a nice thing to have. 

I would take the bye every time.   It allows the players to rest and recover.  It allows the pitching to get set up so the teams best pitchers are pitching.

Bottom line the O's offense needs to be better.  Probably not going to win scoring 2 run per game.

Edited by wildcard
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