Boring...

With all of the division and wild card races pretty much wrapped up (except maybe the AL Central), there's nothing really exciting going on in MLB these days. Now we're supposed to sit around for the next two weeks of meaningless games and then somehow get all amped up and rabid for the playoffs. I think I'll make it and get enthused again, but the way the end of the season has played out is really hurting the game. I think MLB playoff ratings will be way down as the NFL starts to gain a stranglehold on the American sports consciousness (and me). For me the NFL is the shiney new toy. MLB goes back on the shelf because I've been playing with it all summer and feels like it should be over by now.

This situation allows me to express a couple of things that are on my Sports Wish List of Things That Will Never Happen. Number one: shorten the baseball season back down to 154 games. It would accomplish a number of things. First, it would make each game more valuable and more meaningful, adding to each game's excitement. Second, the World Series would be over before Thanksgiving.

The other thing I would like is for MLB to go back to two divisions in each league instead of three. Keep the number of teams in the playoffs the same, though. That way there would be more quality teams in each division making division races tighter and more hotly contested. Then you could avoid the problem of a crappy division winner at 82-80 getting into the playoffs, while a 90 win team finishes a game out of the wild card.