Coolican: Imagining a midseason tournament for baseball

Liam Coolican Associate sports editor

Imagine yourself in any mid-size minor league baseball town: m ontgomery, Toledo, Frisco or s outh b end. n ow imagine the scene if an m L b team like the Yankees, r ed s ox or d odgers rolled into town for a playoff game. This could be a reality if m L b ever adopts a mid-season tournament similar to the e nglish FA c up.

The hugely popular tournament matches up teams from the giants of the Premier League all the way down to the ninth division. e ach year, some of e ngland’s biggest clubs travel to small stadiums throughout the country, to face off against teams whose players make less in a year than the Premier League’s stars do in a week. e ven though a top-flight team always wins — the last time a team from a lower division won the c up was 1980 – there have been some memorable upsets over the years. r ecently, there has been talk of implementing a similar mid-season tournament in n orth American sports, most notably in the nb A. According to The Athletic’s s hams c harnia, the format would involve cup games throughout n ovember with eight teams advancing to a single-elimination final.

It certainly is an intriguing idea. As a fan of the basement-dwelling d etroit Pistons, I’ll readily admit that I haven’t watched a full game in weeks. It would give fans something to cheer for amidst an otherwise lost season. Yet I can’t help but feel as if it’s an empty trophy. The FA c up is special because it matches up teams that would never otherwise thing about n otre d ame’s victory against Louisville is it offered a blueprint for the Irish to follow the rest of the way. The Irish avoided sloppy mistakes or having their weaknesses exploited. They hung tight on rebounds, losing the margin by just three, notched 16 assists and finished plus-nine on turnovers and plus12 on points off them. d oing that against the abysmal c ardinals is one thing. r epeating it against a m arch m adness hopeful in Wake Forest would be quite another. While the d emon d eacons are a bit buried in the A cc standings — their 6-6 record in conference play is tied for eighth — they are on the edge of the bubble and a strong last month of the season could propel them into the tournament. s o far, n otre d ame’s only conference wins have come against the two teams below them in the A cc standings — Louisville and Georgia Tech. b eating the d emon d eacons would be a whole different echelon of victory. o f course, Wake Forest will not be eager to provide the Irish play each other. h owever, there is one sport that would be a perfect fit for a midseason tournament: m ajor League b aseball. m inor league baseball has been in trouble recently, and m L b teams have faced declining attendance for years. n o one change can fix these problems that are plaguing the game. b ut a midseason tournament could go a long way toward rejuvenating interest in the sport especially among younger fans who are increasingly turning to basketball and football.

It is not that the Irish are not capable of hanging with good teams. They have proven that with competitive games against top-six A cc teams in nc s tate and m iami. A game half as clean as the one they played s aturday might have been enough to win those games. While fixing these mistakes will not change this season’s fate, getting things back in the right direction is always a good thing.

While there are many different formats the league could experiment with, the ideal scenario would likely include teams at each of the five levels of affiliated baseball, from s ingle-A to the m L b . With roughly 30 teams at each level, it could feature seven best-of-three with a much-needed confidence boost. The d emon d eacons actually could be an ideal matchup for the Irish, who have struggled on defense all season. Wake Forest does the same, allowing 73 points per game, third-most in the conference. Like n otre d ame, Wake relies heavily on the three, shooting at nearly an identical clip and volume as the Irish while also defending them at a similarly poor rate. b etter still, if the Irish can continue to protect the rock as they have done all season, they can mitigate one of Wake Forest’s biggest strengths — their ability to force turnovers. d amari m onsanto leads the conference in threes per game.

The similarities do not stop there. The d eacs also have four players in double figures scoring, with guard Tyree Appleby leading the way. The Florida transfer is a duel threat, ranking second in the A cc in points per game and first in assists.

Andrew c arr and c ameron h ildreth are just outside the top ten in rebounding in the A cc e ither way, the Irish and d emon d eacons meet for the first time this season s aturday at Purcell Pavilion. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. The game is available on local regional sports network and the n otre d ame r adio n etwork. rounds. m uch like the FA c up, there is something remarkably appealing – for most fans – about the Yankees potentially being eliminated by a d ouble-A squad. As we’ve seen in the playoffs, anything can happen in a bestof-three series. While the m L b teams would more than likely dominate the competition, there would also be some intriguing storylines. h ow many m inor League batters Jacob deGrom could strike out? h ow far Aaron Judge could hit a ball against a s ingle-A pitcher?

The one obvious advantage Wake has is depth. n ine players average at least 10 minutes per game for them, compared to seven for the Irish (who might be at six if ven-Allen Lubin cannot go).

This would certainly attract fans far and wide to minor league baseball stadiums, as well as give players a much-needed change of pace from an otherwise grueling season. The 162-game season can become a slog in July and August. h aving meaningful games in the middle of the season would be beneficial for fans and players alike. It would also give teams a chance to evaluate their top prospects against m ajor League talent.

There are certain kinks to work out. Unlike e nglish soccer, minor league baseball teams are affiliated with an m L b team. As a result, teams could manipulate matchups easily by moving top prospects up or down strategically before big games.

Another is providing an appropriate incentive structure for teams and players who are only looking to win a World s eries Trophy. b ut these problems aren’t insurmountable. The benefits of this format could be huge for the sport.

Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

As odd as it may sound, considering the frigid temperatures and giant masses of snow around the n otre d ame campus, the 2023 m ajor League b aseball ( m L b ) season is quickly approaching, with opening day set to occur in less than two months. With pitchers and catchers slated to report as early as Feb. 13, it’s time to look ahead to the upcoming season and the expectations for each club. o ver the next few weeks, I’ll dive into previews for all 30 teams, division by division, helping get fans ready for the 154th season of professional baseball. Up this week, the n ational League West.

Division Overview o ver the past decade, the n L West has been dominated by the Los Angeles d odgers, who have won nine of the past 10 division titles, with the s an Francisco Giants being the only other team to capture a division crown in 2021. Last season followed a similar path, with the d odgers winning the division, followed by the s an d iego Padres, the Giants, the Arizona d iamondbacks and the c olorado r ockies, respectively. h owever, it was the Padres who received the last laugh after securing a wild card birth and eliminating the d odgers three games to one in the n L d ivision series before being vanquished