The Yankees, and several other teams, played their 150th game of the season yesterday. My bold proposal season would end at 150 games. It is not because I dislike the long baseball season - though I do think the prospect of November baseball in New England and the upper midwest is highly questionable. It's more that I would love to see baseball have a genuinely balanced schedule. If there are 16 first division teams as there are in my alternate universe, they would each play each other 10 times over the course of a 150-game season.
At this point, the top eight teams in the first division would enter the playoffs, seeded according to the standings. Relegation to the second division would happen at this point, as well. The second division could actually have a slightly longer regular season. In a 14-team league, each team could play each of the others 12 times, allowing for a 156-game season.
For the purposes of my experiment, I shall use the real world 162-game season standings. Otherwise, things get way too confusing.
Bear in mind, I'm not really opposed to November baseball. I just think it should look differently. Stay tuned.
Perhaps it is time for you to shoot Selig an e-mail. I'm sure you could find a way to fit the 150 game format in with his longer playoff format....
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