Brady’s Grisly Year, Mediocre QBpalooza, the Frisky Pats, and MLB Playoff Fixes With Cousin Sal
The question is going to be asked, and I’m not sure there’s an answer, at least not in the first year of a new, expanded postseason format.
Do wild-card qualifiers still have it too easy?
The new format, with two best-of-three wild-card series replacing the single, one-game knockout that existed from 2012 to 2021, was supposed to be more onerous for the wild-card teams. Over time, it might turn out that way. But so far, nope.
Which means one thing: The format is going to come under scrutiny, even though everyone had seven months to prepare, even though the losers played too poorly to complain.
Three of the four wild-card series ended with the lower seeds triumphant, despite playing every game on the road. Now, in the Division Series, the top seeds are a combined 6-8. Both NL series ended in upsets, the 87-win Phillies knocking off the 101-win Braves and the 89-win Padres eliminating the 111-win Dodgers.
In the AL, the 106-win Astros swept the 90-win Mariners, but only after Yordan Alvarez twice bailed them out with go-ahead homers and Jeremy Peña hit an 18th-inning shot in Game 3. The only series between division champions also is upside down, with the 92-win Guardians leading the 99-win Yankees, two games to one.
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