PL Playoffs Through 2007, Possible CL Playoffs?

Having Central League playoffs would add to the excitement. However, in the NPB environment they are a bit superfluous and illogical. Last year's Pacific League playoffs resulted in the best team in that league losing the pennant. This year the prospect (admittedly unlikely) of the third place team actually winning the pennant whilst maintaining a less than .500 win ratio is not very encouraging. Having playoffs in Japanese baseball rather negates the whole point of the league system.

The only way playoffs would work without trivializing the regular season, I think, would be if NPB were to expand to 16 or more teams, with each league split into divisions. What should be one of the best pennant races ever - Chiba and Daiei and their fantastic records - is basically meaningless since they'll both be in this cheapened playoff at the end of the year.

What is the Giants' owner talking about when he says "the end of inter-league games"? They'll be playing them again next year, too. Or is he implying that the whole stretch of baseball from now until October isn't exciting? Well, I suppose he's right if "baseball fans" = "Giants fans." Supporters of other CL teams have a lot to look forward to this year!

Yokohama has come forward with an interesting, suggestion for the playoffs. Baystars president Susumu Minegishi proposed an East vs. West format for the Central League playoffs, with the winning team moving on to the Nippon Series. The East would be made up of the Yomiuri Giants, the Yakult Swallows, and the Yokohama Baystars, while the West would be composed of the Chunichi Dragons, the Hanshin Tigers, and the Hiroshima Carp.

According to the Nikkan Sports article, the proposal is to get the top clubs from the East and West divisions of the Central League to face off against each other after the regular season is completed. However, if the top three teams are all from the West (or East as well) division, then the top team from the East division would face the the 2nd place team from the West in the first round of playoffs, with the winner going on to face the 1st place team from the West (The 1st place team at the end of the regular season).

This might seem a little confusing so here's an example:

1) Hanshin Tigers
2) Chunichi Dragons
3) Hiroshima Carp
4) Yakult Swallows
5) Yokohama Baystars
6) Yomiuri Giants

In this scenario, Yakult would face off against Chunichi in the first round of playoffs, with the winner facing off against Hanshin in the second round.

original article in Japanese from Nikkan Sports

I must confess to being underwhelmed by this suggestion. It still doesn't negate the possibility that a third place team with a below 50% average could end up competing in the Japan series.

Or even, in the example given by Jingu Bleacher Bum, the fourth placed team!

It looks as though we may well be seeing CL playoffs in place by 2006 or 2007. If Yomiuri are in favour of them then surely it's just a matter of time before they are introduced?

[Full Story - Mainichi Daily News - in English]

If the other clubs are also in favor, I can see it being adopted, but no longer only because Yomiuri wants it. Things also depend on what the players union thinks.

Can't believe I missed this over the weekend, but Nikkan Sports is reporting that Hanshin and Chunichi have agreed to a 3 game playoff, in the event that the 1st place team finishes with a higher winning percentage, but fewer wins, than the 2nd place team. The article states that this would be the first time a Central League playoff has occured since this playoff rule was introduced in 2002, and that there have been 4 times where the 1st place team had fewer wins than the 2nd place team (1961, 1974, 1982, 1986). [Original Article from Nikkan Sports (In Japanese)]

The Players Association is going to propose another playoff system for both leagues to NPB on September 19th. In this proposal, three teams per league will advance to the playoffs, with the first and second place teams advancing, along with the top teams from each league in the inter-league standings. [Original Article from Jiji Tsuushin via Nifty Sports (in Japanese)]

Wow, that's bizzare. How could a team deserve a playoff spot for performing well in just 36 games!? The third team in each league seems to be a stretch. There aren't often three team races for the pennant. Top two teams in a playoff where all games are played at the top team's stadium sounds about right, but more games = more money, so I guess that's what the PA's trying to offer to NPB.

They need to get rid of that handicap for teams that finish behind a certain amount of games (I think 5).

The only way the playoff system would make sense is if only the top two teams from each league advanced to play each other. The third-placed team in a six-team league frankly has no place in the playoffs; the only way the current PL system would work is if there were eight or more teams in the league. The two-team system would work like the League Championship Series in the MLB, much like it did before the wild card was introduced.

Kyodo News is now reporting that the Central League will not be adding playoffs for the 2006 season, but are looking into the 2007 season for introduction.

Some increasingly bizzare ideas being touted for the revamping of the Central League. They draw comparisons with Premier League Rugby in the UK. The playoff victors and ultimate Champions of the last three years, London Wasps, have never finished first in the table, drawing criticism that marathons aren't decided by a 100 meter sprint at the end and would be pointless if they were!

This Daily Yomiuri article said the Central League put off possible playoffs because not all teams agreed on a vote at a board meeting.