Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Truth be told, I am a fan of the one- game wild card format. But the start of the Division Series still signals the start of Major League Baseball's postseason for me.
It's no secret why MLB wanted this one-game wild card.
They wanted to, and needed to, generate some excitement in their sport. MLB wanted this type of Game 7, do-or-die, atmosphere every year.
And it has worked. It's still relatively new, though. The new car scent hasn't worn off yet, but trust me, two or three years down the road, that excitement is going to tail off.
You don't believe me? Well, how's interleague play going?
The thing about these one-game playoffs - like the one 36 years ago on this date at Fenway between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox - was that it was special. The Yankees-Red Sox game in 1978 was essentially the first of its kind to settle a division and there wasn't another one for two years.
MLB then went 15 years before there was another game like that.
You win and you are in. You lose, you go home.
MLB may have came up with this new format to generate some interest, but really what it has done is place way more emphasis on winning your division.
That should have been the plan all along, but with this current regime, you never know. And hopefully you get games like the one we had Tuesday rather than the stinker we had on Wednesday.
Eventually, though, this will become a best-of-three series. Mark my words.
Now you know why Clint Hurdle went all out in that final regular season game on Sunday with ace Gerrit Cole. He wanted at least a chance to avoid the one- game playoff.
Great, the Giants won and Madison Bumgarner was awesome. But the Giants didn't win their division. They absolutely should be at a disadvantage when they start their series with the Washington Nationals, you know, the team that finished with the best record in the National League.
Bumgarner now won't be available until Game 3 of that series.
It made no sense that in years past the wild card team entered the playoffs on equal footing as a division winner.
Two things you can take from those games, though. One, Ned Yost has less composure than Geno Smith, and, two, Bumgarner could become the breakout star of this postseason.
James Shields had made 68 starts for the Royals, and not once was he pulled from a game with less pitches than he had thrown on Tuesday. Yost decides to yank him with a lead in the biggest game the franchise has had in nearly 30 years because he put two men on.
Panic much?
Had he gone to Kelvin Herrera, maybe we could have lived with it. The Royals had the best bullpen in baseball after all, but Yost went to a 23-year-old rookie in Yordano Ventura, who had just thrown 73 pitches two days earlier.
It made no sense. The Royals moved on despite their manager not because of him.
And as far as Bumgarner goes? Well, what can you say. He was phenomenal. If the Giants can somehow manage a split in these first two games with the Nats, watch out.
Remember it is an even year.
So, let's take a look at how the Division Series could shake out:
DETROIT - BALTIMORE: The ultimate power pitching versus power hitting series. Baltimore led the league with 211 home runs, while the Tigers have the last three AL Cy Young Award winners in their rotation. Pitching normally wins in these matchups and that is where I am leaning. Admittedly, though, I may be a little too high on the names in the Tigers' rotation and not really focusing on what they have done lately. Plus I really like a very underrated Orioles starting staff and Baltimore's bullpen might be the second best of the teams in the playoffs. Still, I just can't imagine Baltimore's staff being able to outduel the Tigers' rotation over the course of the series. TIGERS IN FOUR
KANSAS CITY - LOS ANGELES ANGELS: There is no better story in baseball right now than the Kansas City Royals. The Angels might be ripe for the picking, but the Royals won't be the team that is going to beat them. I have to admit I am banking an awful lot of this prediction on the fact that I think Mike Trout is going to shine. Plus James Shields won't be able to go until Game 3 and by that time the Royals could be fending off elimination. I just don't see how KC's starting staff is going to contain the Angels' lineup. And I do think Matt Shoemaker is healthy. Either way, the fact that Jered Weaver could potentially pitch twice against Jason Vargas tips the scales in the Halos' favor. Not to mention they are just better. ANGELS IN FIVE
LOS ANGELES DODGERS - ST. LOUIS: Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball. But come postseason time, he has been rather ordinary. The Dodgers can probably get by without him being superhuman, but it would make things a whole lot easier if he pitched to form. The Dodgers were built for October. Anything less than a World Series title would be considered a disappointment. St. Louis is probably the worst possible opponent for them. Somehow, someway the feisty Cardinals will make this a series, but the Dodgers will be up to the task, and that includes Kershaw. DODGERS IN FOUR
SAN FRANCISCO - WASHINGTON: As we stated earlier, the Giants are at a huge disadvantage not having Bumgarner until Game 3 when the series shifts back to San Francisco. Washington might be the best team in the league from top-to- bottom. But they get no attention. And why that is, I have no idea. On paper, this should be a relatively easy series to predict. The Nats hit more, they have a better rotation and their bullpen is solid. Yet for some reason, I like the Giants. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. GIANTS IN FOUR
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