Put us out of our misery

[Justin]

1 minute ago, yk9001 said:

The last time the best record was guaranteed to meet in the World Series was 52 years ago.

The last time the two teams with the actual best record met in the World Series was.. (checks standings).... this current World Series.

Yeah, I could have phrased that better. I would like to go back to the days when the best record in each league were guaranteed the meet in the World Series.  

[yk9001]

I lived in Maryland in the early 80s, and was an Oriole fan.  We got tickets months before for the last game in 1982, Earl Weaver's last game as manager.

Turns out the Brewers were playing the Orioles, and the Orioles won on friday and saturday to make the last game a winner-take-all for the AL East championship.  Jim Palmer vs. Don Sutton.  I think this is the kind of scenario that @Justin is describing.

That's awesome if your team is in it, but man, that leaves a lot of teams playing out the string.  Maybe you could do it in the 50s, 60s or 70s, but with the entertainment options of today, teams are going to be SOL if you are 30 games out going into september.

[kevinb]

9 minutes ago, Justin said:

Yeah, I could have phrased that better. I would like to go back to the days when the best record in each league were guaranteed the meet in the World Series.  

seriously? 

[yk9001]

2 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

seriously? 

Back when a nickel will buy you a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the Polo Grounds.

[Justin]

5 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

I am 38 and I didn't take it as snide. I think baseball should adapt some NFL and to a lesser extend NBA kind of changes to make MLB more entertaining. When the NFL smokes the MLB in ratings on a regular season game compared to a WS game that's a problem. People are turning away from MLB more than ever. It is losing ground nationally, regionally it does well. But I honestly couldn't tell you a single Ray in the WS and I think that's a problem. I can tell you a player from every NFL team. 

I definitely respect this opinion. I just don't share it. I wish they would make MLB more entertaining by making the regular season matter like it used to. For last 25 years, teams have been able to make the World Series without winning their division. With this current format, teams can make the World Series without even having a winning record, as the Astros almost did 

A lot of my friends call me "a purist," but I don't think I am. I love the DH, I like interleague play, and I love the enthusiasm players have been showing this postseason, when in years past it would have been frowned upon. 

I just would prefer that the regular season mean more than it does now. If they aren't going to do that anymore, then sure, might as well cut the number of games. There is no reason to play 162 anymore if you're not going to get a substantial reward for being the best team over a 162-game season. 

[Lou]

Nothing MLB does will make the regular season more exciting.

[Lou]

16 minutes ago, yk9001 said:

I lived in Maryland in the early 80s, and was an Oriole fan. 

It was Lenn Sakata, wasn't it?

[Justin]

4 minutes ago, Lou said:

Nothing MLB does will make the regular season more exciting.

Well, I haven't yet gotten to my Topless Wednesdays idea. 

[Lou]

Just now, Justin said:

Well, I haven't yet gotten to my Topless Wednesdays idea. 

I hope this means we're signing Pablo Sandoval.

[kevinb]

9 minutes ago, Justin said:

I definitely respect this opinion. I just don't share it. I wish they would make MLB more entertaining by making the regular season matter like it used to. For last 25 years, teams have been able to make the World Series without winning their division. With this current format, teams can make the World Series without even having a winning record, as the Astros almost did 

A lot of my friends call me "a purist," but I don't think I am. I love the DH, I like interleague play, and I love the enthusiasm players have been showing this postseason, when in years past it would have been frowned upon. 

I just would prefer that the regular season mean more than it does now. If they aren't going to do that anymore, then sure, might as well cut the number of games. There is no reason to play 162 anymore if you're not going to get a substantial reward for being the best team over a 162-game season. 

I respect your opinion. If I may I would love to ask some random questions...
Do you watch the NBA or NFL?

How many games of the Angels would you say you watch during the regular season?

How many other teams games would you say you watch during the regular season?

I ask this mostly because while I love baseball, I have found myself over the last 10 years watching less and less baseball and watching more and more football. I still care obviously I post here on the regular. But I just find this long season to be mind numbing to me. I think I would care more like I did this season with a shorter season and more playoff teams. I have nephews neices friends who have kids etc and all ages and out of all of them only 2 of them like to play baseball the rest don't want to watch, don't want to play, don't care about it. I see this as a problem and a problem MLB can fix with some finely tuned changes. 

[yk9001]

2 minutes ago, Lou said:

It was Lenn Sakata, wasn't it?

Hot Hawaiian guys will get you every time.

[Justin]

18 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

Do you watch the NBA or NFL?

Yes, I watch both, although I can't stand how the NBA has become a three-point shooting contest so I do not watch 1/10th as much as I used to. 20 years ago, I watched every single Lakers game. This year I stopped watching on Christmas Day when they blew a 15-point lead to the Clippers and attempted 45 threes in the game. I did not watch again until Game 1 of the Finals, and that was the only game I watched. 

I watch NFL every weekend, usually three games, sometimes more. 

My favorite sport besides baseball is college football, so that is what I watch the second-most. 

18 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

How many games of the Angels would you say you watch during the regular season?

I watch every Angels game unless I have a date, so... well, all of them. 

Seriously, though, I watch at least 150 per season. 

18 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

How many other teams games would you say you watch during the regular season?

I watch a lot of games. In addition to those 150+ Angels games, I probably watch another 50-100 games in total. 

I do understand that I am probably in the minority and most people would prefer less regular season and more postseason. But I don't get tired of baseball during 162 games. If the stakes were higher for winning your division, or it were the old days and only the best record in the league went to the World Series, I honestly think I would watch a 250-game season.

But like I wrote a little while ago, if they're going to stick with this 16-team postseason, or even if they go with 10 or 12, I have no problem with them cutting down the amount of regular-season games. There is no reason to have a 162-game marathon if it is then going to be followed by a 16-team sprint. 

[kevinb]

20 minutes ago, Justin said:

Yes, I watch both, although I can't stand how the NBA has become a three-point shooting contest so I do not watch 1/10th as much as I used to. 20 years ago, I watched every single Lakers game. This year I stopped watching on Christmas Day when they blew a 15-point lead to the Clippers and attempted 45 threes in the game. I did not watch again until Game 1 of the Finals, and that was the only game I watched. 

I watch NFL every weekend, usually three games, sometimes more. 

My favorite sport besides baseball is college football, so that is what I watch the second-most. 

I watch every Angels game unless I have a date, so... well, all of them. 

Seriously, though, I watch at least 150 per season. 

I watch a lot of games. In addition to those 150+ Angels games, I probably watch another 50-100 games in total. 

I do understand that I am probably in the minority and most people would prefer less regular season and more postseason. But I don't get tired of baseball during 162 games. If the stakes were higher for winning your division, or it were the old days and only the best record in the league went to the World Series, I honestly think I would watch a 250-game season.

But like I wrote a little while ago, if they're going to stick with this 16-team postseason, or even if they go with 10 or 12, I have no problem with them cutting down the amount of regular-season games. There is no reason to have a 162-game marathon if it is then going to be followed by a 16-team sprint. 

Thanks for the honesty. I got to be honest I’m not a huge basketball fan but I prefer 3 point jump shooting to 5 step travel dunks but that’s just me. NFL is just fun it’s a timed game with an ending it fits into my life perfectly. Baseball is more tricky. I remember when I first had season tickets I could get people to go with me most games and then it became hard to long games long season etc etc and it’s not like I had bad seats I had seats 3 rows behind home plate. Even myself I kind of got over going to that many games. I applaud you for watching that much baseball honestly I’m probably around 50 games a year watching at least 5-7 innings worth. I honestly don’t think I’ve watched a full baseball game on television unless it’s a game I am personally  at in quite sometime. The last game that wasn’t an Angels game I watched was the Dodgers Red Sox World Series game I went to. Other than that I won’t watch other teams play. 

[Inside Pitch]

51 minutes ago, Lou said:

Nothing MLB does will make the regular season more exciting.

Bullshit, if they released T-Rexes in the stands during the 7th inning stretch, shit would get real.

[Justin]

6 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

I got to be honest I’m not a huge basketball fan but I prefer 3 point jump shooting to 5 step travel dunks but that’s just me. 

I would like to go back to the days when basketball was just white guys with buzz cuts in tiny shorts and Chuck Taylor's. Even Hoosiers was too modern for me.

Just kidding. 

[Angel Oracle]

162 games has been good enough since the early 1960s.

Go back to 4 teams in each league’s post-season.   That worked well enough from 1995-2011.

[Lou]

1 hour ago, Kevinb said:

Nope. Didn't say they were. Regular season means nothing. It's how you do in the post season. All you got to do is get there, doesn't matter how you do it. 

But that was his major point and you responded to it.

[Lou]

27 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Bullshit, if they released T-Rexes in the stands during the 7th inning stretch, shit would get real.

Everyone is gone by then.

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

Nothing MLB does will make the regular season more exciting.

Yes, but only because everything MLB does is stupid.

[Inside Pitch]

23 minutes ago, Lou said:

Everyone is gone by then.

Hmm.   Good point.   Could let them out in the parking lot instead.  

[Angelsjunky]

5 hours ago, Kevinb said:

This season has been a blast. Every game mattered more. I think baseball can take a lesson from this for the future. I wouldn’t mind a shorter condensed version of the regular season to say 100 games and more teams in the playoffs. I’d prefer longer series in the playoffs to all 7 games series. But I enjoyed this season. 

Here's where I'm a traditionalist. A large part of the fun of baseball is the stats, and greatly reducing the number of games played sort of damages that. I could live with a return to 154 games, but anything less would be bad.

I also don't like the NBA-style playoffs. More than half of all teams shouldn't be there, and we almost saw a below .500 team in the World Series. The postseason should be earned by the  best teams in baseball. 10, which is one third, should be the upper limit.

[Jay]

I don't want to see the MLB playoffs drag on into November.

It's enough that the regular season is 6 months long, limit the playoffs to 1 month.

 

[Angel Oracle]

The NBA and NHL playoffs seem to drag on forever, unless the Lakers and/or Kings get at least to the conference finals.

[stormngt]

3 hours ago, Justin said:

I definitely respect this opinion. I just don't share it. I wish they would make MLB more entertaining by making the regular season matter like it used to. For last 25 years, teams have been able to make the World Series without winning their division. With this current format, teams can make the World Series without even having a winning record, as the Astros almost did 

A lot of my friends call me "a purist," but I don't think I am. I love the DH, I like interleague play, and I love the enthusiasm players have been showing this postseason, when in years past it would have been frowned upon. 

I just would prefer that the regular season mean more than it does now. If they aren't going to do that anymore, then sure, might as well cut the number of games. There is no reason to play 162 anymore if you're not going to get a substantial reward for being the best team over a 162-game season. 

No need for 162 games?

How about 81 home games which includes ticket sales, parking sales, concessions, and souvenirs sales.

[Justin]

4 minutes ago, stormngt said:

How about 81 home games which includes ticket sales, parking sales, concessions, and souvenirs sales.

I assumed television revenue in the expanded postseason would compensate.