by bigh0rt » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:26 pm Major League Baseball, however, runs a 162-game schedule. Out of 30 teams, 8 qualify for the postseason. The first round is a best-of-5 series, while the final two rounds are best-of-7. The tradeoff is simple - a longer season, requiring more endurance, gives a team a little bit larger margin for error in the playoffs. In collegiate ball, two losses in a round and a team is out. In MLB, depending on the round, elimination comes after three or four losses. Also, regular season games are individually less valuable to each team.
Out of curiosity, I simulated the 2006 MLB Playoffs (using the original first-round matchups) to see how each team would have fared in a College World Series-style tournament. Each league was a four-team double elimination bracket, with the World Series being a best-of-three championship. Home team is the team with the better record, with the wild-card team ineligible for home field until the World Series (as the MLB runs the playoffs).
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