As a passionate baseball fan what I find truly shocking and disgusting is that it is possible this year that a team who played under .500 ball during the regular season could end up winning the World Series. The American League Central and Western divisions are pathetic but could end up having a team in the World Series.

So what the heck does the regular season mean with the playoff system we have now? For example, teams as bad or mediocre as Cleveland, the White Sox and a few others could end up with a first round bye while the far superior Yankees and Red Sox battle it out in a crap shoot best of three series to get to the ALDS.

We live in a republic not a democracy

4 minutes ago, Thesieve300 said:

As a passionate baseball fan what I find truly shocking and disgusting is that it is possible this year that a team who played under .500 ball during the regular season could end up winning the World Series. The American League Central and Western divisions are pathetic but could end up having a team in the World Series.

So what the heck does the regular season mean with the playoff system we have now? For example, teams as bad or mediocre as Cleveland, the White Sox and a few others could end up with a first round bye while the far superior Yankees and Red Sox battle it out in a crap shoot best of three series to get to the ALDS.

It is what it is, the fairest way to rectify a situation like that is to emulate English Premier League Soccer with no divisions, the NL and AL after expansion in 1962 were 10 team leagues and finally went to divisions in 1969 when 2 teams in each league were added.

To the best of my knowledge no team as least in the modern era (I don't know before 1900) has ever made any type of post season with a losing record in baseball.

Had the 1994 season not been ended early because of the labor situation it could have taken place.

At the time of the shutdown Texas led the West with a record of 52-62. Every team in that division had a losing record. With only six weeks to go, they'd have to get white hot to get back over the .500 mark.

I agree a team getting in with a record of .500 or worse would be an embarrassment in my opinion.

To many teams "qualify" for the playoffs, it's becoming a joke.

Go back to four teams make it, division winners and the second place team from any of the three divisions that has the best record.

Our Sox get in so infrequently and now you want to make it harder.....

15 minutes ago, wegner said:

Our Sox get in so infrequently and now you want to make it harder.....

For real lol. I’m still pissed they didn’t make it to the post season in 2006 after winning 90 plus games.

20 minutes ago, wegner said:

Our Sox get in so infrequently and now you want to make it harder.....

Call it incentive to actually strive for greatness. Besides with Ishbia as owner the situation financially and talent-wise may be putting the Sox into a much better spot to actually take control of a division where they should have a number of advantages. We're not talking about the A.L. East here are we?

35 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Call it incentive to actually strive for greatness. Besides with Ishbia as owner the situation financially and talent-wise may be putting the Sox into a much better spot to actually take control of a division where they should have a number of advantages. We're not talking about the A.L. East here are we?

Idk. Detroit really, from a talent standpoint, should have won this division this year, handedly. If they had any semblance of a decent pen, they would have. But as Sox fans we know all too well from our previous rebuild that talent alone doesn’t promise anything.

If Detroit fixes their pen, and they resign Skubal (which I think is a legitimate possibility), they and Cleveland will be tough next year to contend with.

The Sox did well against the division this year though and they need to continue doing that. It’s why they are in the position they are. It’s too bad Cleveland has the easiest schedule to finish the season though. The only real chance I think we have at maybe retaking 1st place is when they play Boston and we play KC.

2 minutes ago, AntMan26 said:

Idk. Detroit really, from a talent standpoint, should have won this division this year, handedly. If they had any semblance of a decent pen, they would have. But as Sox fans we know all too well from our previous rebuild that talent alone doesn’t promise anything.

If Detroit fixes their pen, and they resign Skubal (which I think is a legitimate possibility), they and Cleveland will be tough next year to contend with.

The Sox did well against the division this year though and they need to continue doing that. It’s why they are in the position they are. It’s too bad Cleveland has the easiest schedule to finish the season though. The only real chance I think we have at maybe retaking 1st place is when they play Boston and we play KC.

I think we have an easier schedule. The Rockies have been bad all year and are 1-9 in their last 10 so they are currently playing terrible.

20 minutes ago, wegner said:

I think we have an easier schedule. The Rockies have been bad all year and are 1-9 in their last 10 so they are currently playing terrible.

We do for the final 2 series of the season which I think will really help us out. But Cleveland had the easiest 2nd half schedule overall in the league which is why they have been a thorn in our side. Of course us having a bad 2nd half has contributed as well…

2 minutes ago, AntMan26 said:

We do for the final 2 series of the season which I think will really help us out. But Cleveland had the easiest 2nd half schedule overall in the league which is why they have been a thorn in our side. Of course us having a bad 2nd half has contributed as well…

I'm assuming the Royals will still be throwing guys like Wacha and Lugo at the Sox, NOTHING is going to be easy.

10 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

I'm assuming the Royals will still be throwing guys like Wacha and Lugo at the Sox, NOTHING is going to be easy.

Lynch, Lugo, Dabnak. Guardians get Wacha on Saturday.

2 hours ago, JTB said:

Lynch, Lugo, Dabnak. Guardians get Wacha on Saturday.

Dobnik former Twins RHP/swingman

no Wacha is the biggest break there

Noah Coleman their second best starter...couldn't ask for much more

The 1973 Mets took the NL East with an 82-79 record, then beat a 99 win Big Red Machine team for the NL pennant. The Mets gave the Oakland A's all they could handle but lost 4-3.

For me that was one of the more entertaining playoffs and WS I watched. I would not change the present format for the playoffs based on one outlier season.

I mean, it’s the entire AL thats mediocre this season so all the records look shitty and undeserving. Then you look at the NL and it’s all higher win totals and it looks like an inspired race to the top.

more playoffs is fun, I like fun. Never go back, always have fun

43 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

I mean, it’s the entire AL thats mediocre this season so all the records look shitty and undeserving. Then you look at the NL and it’s all higher win totals and it looks like an inspired race to the top.

more playoffs is fun, I like fun. Never go back, always have fun

The people in the biz saying the playoff format is the reason why the AL sucks this year I think are misleading in that assertion. The NL isn’t that way and they are under the same format. For whatever reason it’s just a bad season for the AL. Not sure if anyone can point to one specific reason.

One contributing factor could be more interleague play…if NL teams are better then theoretically they are going to beat up on AL teams more.

Edited yesterday at 12:21 PM1 day by AntMan26

18 hours ago, AntMan26 said:

For real lol. I’m still pissed they didn’t make it to the post season in 2006 after winning 90 plus games.

5 hours ago, Falstaff said:

The 1973 Mets took the NL East with an 82-79 record, then beat a 99 win Big Red Machine team for the NL pennant. The Mets gave the Oakland A's all they could handle but lost 4-3.

For me that was one of the more entertaining playoffs and WS I watched. I would not change the present format for the playoffs based on one outlier season.

The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals had an 83-78 record and won the World Series while the 90-win Sox watched the post-season on TV.

Yes, I for one would be outraged if the White Sox went to the World Series, and I’m sure most on this White Sox fan board would agree.

1 minute ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

Yes, I for one would be outraged if the White Sox went to the World Series, and I’m sure most on this White Sox fan board would agree.

1950s-1960s White Sox are definitely glad that the joke concept of playoffs were not existent.

6 hours ago, Quin said:

1950s-1960s White Sox are definitely glad that the joke concept of playoffs were not existent.

Probably at least 7 trips to the postseason including 1959.

Edited 34 minutes ago34 min by The Mighty Mite

7 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said:

The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals had an 83-78 record and won the World Series while the 90-win Sox watched the post-season on TV.

How do you know they watched it

10 minutes ago, Bonemer, I Hardly Know Her said:

How do you know they watched it

JR required the team honor TLR

On 9/19/2026 at 3:09 PM, Lip Man 1 said:

Call it incentive to actually strive for greatness. Besides with Ishbia as owner the situation financially and talent-wise may be putting the Sox into a much better spot to actually take control of a division where they should have a number of advantages. We're not talking about the A.L. East here are we?

That has only worked for a few teams. The losers are still the losers and owners have no issue with it.

This whole discussion started with a strawman.

I'd be in favor of reseeding the teams after the wild card round. If it ends up:
Rays vs. Yankees and Sox vs. Astros, you've got the #1 seed playing the team with the 2nd best record in the Division Series. That's kinda garbage. If they reseeded, it would be Rays vs. Astros and Sox vs. Yankees. You've got to make that 162 game grind count as much as possible and not reseeding is punishing teams not for lack of wins but for being in a tough division.

Kinda strange the Sox may clinch a postseason spot when they can’t be caught by Texas or Houston…and then we have to go to one of these places to win two out of three next week.

In short, eliminate divisions. They’re unneeded.