The Sky is Falling: NL Clubs With Losing Records Could Reach Playoffs

By Dan Schlossberg

Before scheduled playoffs complicated the picture, pennant winners of the two leagues went directly to the World Series.Photo byDan Schlossberg

With the season half over, how do nine of the 15 National League teams have losing records? And how can MLB cope with the obvious embarrassment if any of them reach the playoffs?

Seven sub-.500 clubs were within 3 1/2 games of a playoff spot when the season entered the last week of June, leaving only the hapless Rockies and Marlins with zero chance to land postseason spots.

That is precisely the problem with expanded playoffs.

What if one or more of these losing teams suddenly gets hot and makes it to the World Series?

As stated many times before in this space, anything that compromises the integrity of the World Series is bad for baseball.

In the Good Old Days of baseball, pennant winners from both leagues went directly to the World Series without having to win multiple playoff rounds first.

Since its creation in 1903, the Fall Classic has lived up to its name. Except, of course, in the three seasons (including 2023) when wild-card teams won pennants by winning the playoffs.

That also happened in 2002 (Giants-Angels) and 2014 (Giants-Royals).

Seven wild cards have actually won a World Series (Florida in 1997 and 2003, Boston in 2004, St. Louis in 2011, San Francisco in 2014, Washington in 2019, and Texas in 2023).

From a historian’s perspective, that is bad news.

Wild-card teams are not championship teams. All of them are johnny-come-latelys, teams that failed to prevail over the 162-game schedule.

NONE OF THEM FINISHED IN FIRST PLACE.

Why even play 162 games if the world champion excels only part of the time?

The Miami Marlins, for example, have never won a National League East title but have won two world championships.

Boo, hiss.

When wild-cards win the last round, they distort the century-long history of the best teams reaching and perhaps winning it.

Although Major League Baseball claims the introduction of the wild card was designed to keep fans interested after football season starts in the fall, that is not exactly accurate.

It was created as a revenue-grab, pure and simple, because teams needed the extra television revenue to meet payrolls that have rocketed through the stratosphere.

Beyond that, it has almost killed the most exciting time of the season — the trade deadline — because way too many teams think they can make playoff runs no matter how poorly they’ve played over the first four months.

Thank you, Marvin Miller.

Sorry, guys, but I’m not wild about the wild-card.

Baseball likes to stage Turn Back The Clock games on weekends, with teams wearing irregular uniforms — often of City Connect or Negro Leagues vintage — and starting at irregular times (4:00 EDT kills dinner plans and date night for millions).

Why not have a real Turn Back the Clock program and restore the old World Series, with the winners of both leagues — the first-place finishers of the 162-game season — going directly to the World Series without passing GO or collecting $200?

Say what?

I didn’t think so.

HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is a baseball historian who considers himself a baseball purist. He believes that changing the game is not necessarily improving it. Dan’s email is ballauthor@gmail.com.