How Creating Points Can Add Value to April and May
So we all know MLB is doing a fantastic job lately and remains about as strong as ever, right? Despite all the negative talk about attracting only old people, the league is healthy, has strong television ratings, and even though the empty seats can look ugly the attendance numbers remain quite impressive considering that it’s a long season competing against a fast-moving world.
The number that constantly prevents baseball from being bigger and more entertaining is 162. 162 games is too long a season for new fans, and too long a season for people just trying to jump in to the baseball mayhem. I am one of the biggest baseball fans around and I will be the first to admit that thinning the fat is necessary. I have mentioned this many, many times before. But we also know that money talks and keeping it between 152-162 games is an eternal fact. So the solution is let’s increase the stakes and make each game contain more value.
So how can you make a game more valuable without cutting the season short? I have a ridiculous proposal, but it might be crazy enough to work. This is a mix of the soccer/hockey technique of scoring the wins/losses and adding incentives for good performances. It might be time for MLB to adapt a scoring system to determine the playoff seeds. But it won’t be just wins and losses, we will also reward extra points for all types of scenarios, from current standing to having a good month, to even winning one of two tournaments that occur in the middle of the regular season.
Here are all the ways you can earn points throughout the season:
Loss in Extra Innings: 1 Point
Win: 3 Points
Win Against Division Opponent: 4 Points
Win by Shutout: 5 Points
Win by Scoring 10+ Runs: 5 Points
Win Division on Mid-Season/End-Season Tournament: 5 Points
Win by No-Hitter: 7 Points
Best Record of Month: 9 Points
Perfect Game: 12 Points
Mid-Season/End-Season Tournament Win: 15 Points
Look at all the scenarios in which you can attend a game and walk out with points. And notice that for having a good month, you can earn extra and remain in the playoff hunt if you had been slightly out of reach. Before we get to the tournament situation that happens twice a season, let’s discuss the regular season games:
The points you can earn in a regular season game ranges from 1 point to 12 points, depending on what occurs. No longer is it just a win or a loss. With the point system, you have more reason to score some runs, you have more reason to keep the pitcher with the hot hand in the game, you have more reason to rev up the defense and make sure the opponent doesn’t score. With the point system, now there is added value to winning against your divisional opponents, with the bonus point.
Let’s take the point system and go further. Baseball season is a rather long 6 months. So why not reward the best teams of the month? That way usually subpar teams can scratch their ways back into the playoff picture if they succeed for a month or two. The American League and the National League will reward the team with the best winning percentage of the month in question. So if the Miami Marlins are 18 points behind the last Wild Card slot in August, they can excel in August, collect the win points and then nab an additional 9 points to be right back in.
Finally, we will have two tournaments amongst all the teams right before the all-star break, and right at the end of the season. The tournament setup is quite simple:
Divisional leaders get two bye days and will host all the divisional matchups in the beginning of the tournament ---which is best-of-one, win-and-advance
The other four teams will battle each other in a span of two days for the chance to beat the division winner, advance, and collect 5 points on the way to the next round
Among the 6 teams remaining, the team with the best record in each league gets a bye day and will host the second round.
The second and third seed in each league will play each other to take on the #1 seed
The two remaining teams left standing will play each other in the city hosting the All-Star Game to determine who earns the 15 points—this also applies to the end of the season tournament so the city can get a little extra playoff baseball before the actual playoffs
This way it adds a little drama right before All-Star Week, and will allow a team that’s struggling in last place an opportunity to jump right back in to the mix by being the last team left standing. With 20 points (adding the 5 for winning the division in the tournament), it’s the equivalent of over 6 regular season wins which will more than benefit any squad in the vicinity. Hosting a second one of these right at the end of the year pretty much guarantees that no team can clinch a playoff spot or a division until the final week of the season---because I love chaos.
Imagine 6-7 teams within playoff and wild card range competing in the final tournament to collect the final available points. This is technically a playoff tournament before the actual tournament, which enables baseball fans of nearly every single team having a sliver of hope to continue advancing towards the World Series. This also enables the fact that nearly no divisional leader or wild card leader is actually safe, which forces you to collect as many points as possible to avoid being knocked out because of a poor performance in a tournament at the end of the season---which goes back to my original point of why setting up a point system would add value to every regular season game in such a lengthy season---good placement and a guarantee before running into a tournament that can mess up your placement in a span of a week.
If the regular season has to be 152-162 games, why not add a point system and add intrigue to each and every single game leading up to the actual playoff chase? With my system, which rewards teams with a good game, a good month, and even by winning in a quick tournament, it will enhance the long regular season tenfold and will increase the value of divisional games and games in April and May, which to this day are deemed as slightly pointless. With over 530 points to have to try to collect, baseball can become even wilder than it already is.