The sportswriters, almost by themselves, bemoan the loss of the old races in which two 100-win teams battled it out and one 100-win team stayed home. Didn't SF and LA do this several years back, or who am I thinking of?
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Rebut: Even if this is a demerit ... all plans have merits and demerits. The 5th WC has the merit of creating meaningful baseball for about +5 more teams per league per season.
That, to me, outweighs a New York writer's desire to see a late-season do-or-die series between Boston and New York.
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Rebut: Do YOU want to see a 100-win team excluded from October? I don't.
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Rebut: the late games are NOT played lightly, even though a team has cinched the playoffs. ... did you see the 116-win Mariners easing off in late September? Do you ever see any walkaway team approaching Sept. 25 like the games don't matter? No. They want the maximum wins possible.
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Rebut: You could emphasize a "regular-season pennant" if you chose to. In Europe they emphasize that, almost more than the championship tournament.
The Mariners hang division flags even though they lose in the playoffs. You could hang a "pennant" flag -- simply announce a new trophy and flag and have MLB.com promote it.
It's not farfetched. In Europe it's the reality.
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