On October 7th and 8th, the New York Yankees and 98 win Pittsburgh Pirates saw their seasons end right before their eyes after a one game playoff. The Houston Astros traveled to New York behind starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel to blank the Bronx Bombers’ offense. Across the Allegheny River, the Cubs made a statement in Pittsburgh as pitcher Jake Arrieta threw a complete game, four-hit shutout, to punch their ticket to the division series against the impending St. Louis Cardinals.

It is depressing; not only as a Pirates fan, but also as a sports fan in general to watch a team work so hard for NINETY-EIGHT wins and have their season abruptly end because the team they are playing has the hottest pitcher in baseball. Granted, the Pirates and Yankees clearly had weaknesses that would have hindered them deeper in the playoffs, but their seasons should not have come down to a winner-take-all scenario.

For the second year in a row, the Pirates have fallen in the one game playoff because the opposing team throws their most unhittable pitcher. Yes, this is an acceptable strategy (all is fair in love and baseball), but would the outcome have been different if the Pirates played the San Francisco Giants or the Cubs in a three game series? Possibly. That is the first issue with the MLB Postseason: the Wild Card round should not be decided by one game.

Also, why are TWO of the TOP THREE teams playing in a winner-take-all match to begin the postseason? The Buccos and Cubs had the second and third best records in the entire league at 98-64 and 97-65. They should not have to play in a winner-go-home game. It is unfair just because they did not win the division. The 93-69 Los Angeles Dodgers and 90-72 New York Mets should have played in the Wild Card game, but since they won their weak divisions, they are the second and third seeds in the playoffs.

The final issue I have with the MLB Postseason is the number of teams. Five is such an unusual number; I understand that four was not enough, but five does not make much sense. There should be six playoff teams in each league just like the NFL. Six is the perfect amount and it gives the MLB more playoff games, and most importantly to them, more money.

My proposed MLB playoff changes to make the game more fun, interesting, competitive and fair:

1. The top six teams enter the playoffs from each conference
2. Seeds are decided solely on record. Teams that win their division are still in the playoffs, but then the seeding is based on number of total wins.
3. The top two seeds get a bye, while the bottom four seeds play a three game series against their respective seeded opponent to advance to the divisional series.
4. The divisional series will continue to be a five game series, and the conference series, as well as the World Series, will continue to be seven game series.

I have introduced the idea to peers, friends, family members, etc. They like the sound of it, but each person has always pointed out that the season would go on until mid-November, hypothetically. I have a solution for that: shorten the MLB regular season by 12 games.

The MLB has little to no reason to not make these changes. With the deduction of games, not only will it give the other teams more time to rest in the offseason, although very minimal, and the MLB season will not drag on into November. The MLB will also be able to make a larger profit because there will be more playoff games, more playoff merchandise and tickets sold and more fans will be interested to see more of their favorite teams in the postseason.

The MLB has been discussing shortening the regular season for a while now, and this would be an excellent reason to do so: by extending the postseason. I love baseball and the MLB postseason. I thought the one game series was a step in the right direction, but after watching it screw teams after doing so well in the regular season, it is time for a change.

– Zach S.