THE traditionalists have emerged again to bemoan the wild card, accentuating that the drama of the Red Sox vs. Yankees for the AL East title has been diminished because the runner-up is a near certainty to gain the playoffs anyway.
But the lack of drama is not because there is one wild card in each league. It is because there is one too few.
Now if you are a regular reader of this space (and here is the moment where I thank you for that), you might remember that this is a cause I have championed in the past. Unfortunately, to this point, I have been unable to convince Bud Selig of my wisdom.
However, I am here to try again. Quickly, to repeat the essence of my plan: Have two wild cards from each league. Have those wild cards play a best-of-three on the Monday, Tuesday and – if necessary – Wednesday after the regular season. In other words, no off day even for travel. Then the winner of that series plays the team with the best record in their league in a Division Series beginning Thursday, even if they are from the same division.
Here is why:
There is not enough penalty at present for being the wild card, and there is not enough advantage for emerging after 162 games as a division champion. Last season, for example, the Tigers lost their final five games, all at home, the last three to the 100-loss Royals. The Tigers fell from first place in the AL Central to the wild card. But all that cost them against the Yankees was the potential of an extra home game.
Now imagine if, instead, the Tigers had to play a wild-card round last year, which would have been against the defending-champion White Sox. Even if the Tigers had won that best-of-three, they would have had to further exhaust their whole team, notably their pitching staff, by playing so quickly after the regular season and in an extra round. The Yankees had the best record in the AL. Getting extra rest and that version of the Tigers seems a much more proper advantage.
Now fast forward to this season. Right now, the Yankees and Red Sox feel pretty good about making the playoffs. If both seal a berth early this week, you can imagine them resting players in anticipation of October. Obviously, both want to win the division and the extra home games and esteem likely to come with it. However, neither would do that at the expense of going all-out and damaging their players for the postseason.
Now imagine if the team that finishes second were penalized by having to play a best-of-three against the next-best non division winner, probably the Tigers in this case. You can guarantee both the Yankees and Red Sox would play with fervor to the finish line to avoid that series. Plus, the Angels and Indians would continue to maximize effort to gain the league’s best record as a way to play that exhausted wild-card-round winner.
The same is true in the NL, where it is possible Arizona and San Diego might know they are playoff teams by midweek and not go full throttle to win the NL West. Except, neither would want to play, say, the hot Phillies in a best-of-three, wild-card round, and, thus, would go hard to win the division.
Under this plan, you get the best of all worlds. By making the October road harder for wild cards, you amplify the importance of winning the division and also building the best record in the league. In addition, you expand the chances for more teams to compete for a playoff spot and, thus, potentially expand interest in the game.
The naysayers will claim there already are too many teams in the playoffs. But that is ridiculous. Under this plan, MLB still would have fewer postseason invitees (10) than any of the major North American leagues, including the Teflon NFL, which has 12. We are not going backward to two divisions and four total playoff teams. That is not how the modern sports economy works. So we have to search for ways to heighten the importance of winning divisions. This plan does that.
Does it possibly mean November games and inclement weather? Yes, but not dramatically enough to eliminate the idea. Under my plan, the Division Series would begin no later than Thursday after the season. This year, as a kowtow to its TV partners, MLB is pushing back the start of the Division Series to the Wednesday and Thursday after the regular season already, even without this extra wild-card round.
So under my plan, there would hardly be a ripple in the current schedule, but, meanwhile, it would assure that this week’s Yankees-Red Sox battle for the AL East title had a lot more meaning.
Joel Sherman’s e-mail address is joel.sherman@ nypost.com. “Birth of a Dynasty,” his 10-year retrospective examining how the Yankees soared to the 1996 championship, is available in paperback at bookstores and at amazon.com.