Again I am bringing these up because I think everyone needs to take a look at them b/c I believe they are broken. This isn't a "what if" or "what could've been" discussion. I'm going to explain how these rules affected me in playoffs and hopefully everyone will gain some perspective of the impact of these rules.
Here is the rule as it currently stands: The playoffs will be considered one continuous series with regard to player fatigue and injuries.There will be one day off between series following completion of the longest series.Ex: Team F wins its series in 5 games and Team G wins in 6 games.Team F would have 2 days of rest before beginning the next series and Team G would have 1 day of rest.During the playoffs, injuries will be considered in days injured, not games injured.Ex: A player is injured in Game 2 for 3 games.He will miss the remainder of Game 2, 1 day off during travel, Game 3 and Game 4, but be back for Game 5.
**This rule affected me b/c Torri Hunter gets hurt in one of the of the last games of round 1 of the playoffs for me for 10 games. He doesn't get to play in the 2nd round at ALL, and he misses the first 2 games of the championship series because of the way the rule is written.
Here is why I think this rule is an abortion:
A MLB playoff series usually last 12 days... Day 1/2 - Game 1/2 Day 3 - Travel Day 4/5/6 - Game 3/4/5 Day 7 - Travel Day 8/9 - Game 6/7 Day 10/11/12 - Usually 3 travel days between series.
If Team A wins there series in 5 games, and Team B wins there series in 5 games, then each team will get one days rest and start the next round per the current rule. Why is this? Why do we not account for games 6 and 7? What about the travel day between games 5 and 6? And why are we not giving these playoff teams rest between series no matter how long the series go? That's the way MLB works, and it's really no sweat off anyones back to change the rule to give playoff teams this rest.
So lets play this out with both scenarios for Torri Hunter b/c the rule is written that the injured players will miss "days" not "games".
How it actually happened: Round 1 Game 7 - Hunter Injured for 10 games (or days as rule is written) Travel Day Between Series - Inj day 1 Round 2 Game 1 - Inj day 2 Game 2 - Inj day 3 Travel day - Inj day 4 Game 3 - Inj day 5 Game 4 - Inj day 6 Game 5 - Inj day 7 Travel Day Between Series - Inj day 8 Round 3 (World Series) Game 1 - Inj day 9 Game 2 - Inj day 10
How it would happen if we actually accounted for the 9 days a series should actually have to account for and with the 3 days of rest teams should get between series. Round 1 Game 7 - Hunter Injured for 10 games (or days as rule is written) Travel Day 1 - Inj day 1 Travel Day 2 - Inj day 2 Travel Day 3 - Inj day 3 Round 2 Game 1 - Inj day 4 Game 2 - Inj day 5 Travel day - Inj day 6 Game 3 - Inj day 7 Game 4 - Inj day 8 Game 5 - Inj day 9 Travel day - Inj day 10 Game 6 Game 7
As you can see from the second scenario the injury still hurts, but when you account for games that would "normally" be played if the series goes 7 games and the "should be" 3 days rest between series then the injury becomes manageable.
I just think we really need to have a discussion on whether we are going to use "games" like we do in the regular season or "days" like we do in the playoffs. I also think we need to restructure the rule to allow for 12 days per series no matter how many games the series goes. Why is this? Because it makes damn good sense and it's how it's done in MLB.
Rule #3 Rest between 2nd round of playoffs and the World Series
Current Rule: The playoffs will be considered one continuous series with regard to player fatigue and injuries.There will be one day off between series following completion of the longest series.Ex: Team F wins its series in 5 games and Team G wins in 6 games.Team F would have 2 days of rest before beginning the next series and Team G would have 1 day of rest.During the playoffs, injuries will be considered in days injured, not games injured.Ex: A player is injured in Game 2 for 3 games.He will miss the remainder of Game 2, 1 day off during travel, Game 3 and Game 4, but be back for Game 5.
How it affected me: Because both series (Cont and Fed) went 5 games in the second round and we don't account for the unplayed games or have realistic travel time between series. Therefore my normal starters for the world series were no where to be seen.
Why it should be changed: Because there is usually a 5-7 day window between the last game (game 7) of the 2nd round and World Series in MLB. Why is this? Because the New York Yankees NEVER start their number 4 starter in game 1 of the WS. The aces of both teams always start game one. However in ARBA this year, I didn't get to start my ace, or even my 2nd ace. Carpenter and Felix were no where to be seen in game 1 b/c they pitched in the 2nd round (therefore tired) and our league doesn't account for any actual rest that would occur. Hell our rule, doesn't even account for the unplayed games in the series when it ends early.
So instead of pitching Carpenter and Felix in 5 out 7 games and my #4 starter only pitching in 1 games, I had to start the series with my #4 starter and he ended up pitching 2 games. IF the series would have gone 7 games, Carpenter and Felix would still have only pitched in 3 of 7 games based on the current rule.
I think this is not only an unrealistic rule, it doesn't serve the league very well when the best players on each team aren't allowed to play like they normally would in real life b/c we have some screwy rest rule that doesn't account for the days or rest that a real series would take.
I honestly think someone just randomly wrote this rule in a drunken stuper. It has no sense of reality, and doesn't take into account any of what "would" or "should" happen. It's just randomly written with no rhyme or reason. It's so simplistic it's commical. It's like it was written for an 8 year old who couldn't account for any elementary math.
So my recommendation is for there to be a 5 OR 7 day gap between the last game of the 2nd round and the start of the World Series. It essentially mirrors MLB, it doesn't favor one team over another, and essentially both teams get to start their aces from game 1 which is how it occurs in real life.
