J.K. Rolling

Author: Jeff Klein

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals for winning their first World Series since 1982. The Cards won in five games despite being heavy underdogs. But that brings me to my point: I have a big problem with the current format of the seven-game series in Major League Baseball.

The current 2-3-2 format makes little sense if you are trying to favor the team with the "advantage" of four home games. Think about it. You are giving the team without home field advantage three straight home games right in the middle of the series, when the outcome is most likely to be decided. If a team can steal just one game on the road out of the first two - as the Cardinals did in the World Series - they head home with the series even and with all the momentum.

The Cards used this to perfection, winning all three of their home games to wrap up the series in front of a raucous St. Louis crowd.

If you do not think home field advantage is a major factor in baseball, think again. The Tigers' defense was absolutely horrendous in St. Louis, with the team's pitchers making at least one error in all three road games. Both flamethrowers Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander, ages 21 and 23, respectively, made extremely costly throwing errors on the road that arguably decided two of the games in St. Louis. These mistakes must have been a result of jitters and hostile crowd noise, especially given Detroit's youth and inexperience.

Sometimes momentum is contagious and unstoppable. That sure seemed to be the case with the Red Birds. At the beginning of the Series, nearly everyone believed that Detroit would wrap up its miracle season with a championship title. The Detriot Tigers had ousted the formidable Yankees and absolutely demolished the Athletics to reach their first World Series since 1984. People were calling them a team of destiny.

The Cardinals gave them a wake-up call by winning game one in Detroit, but the Tigers responded strongly with a victory in game two. At that point, it seemed as if Detroit had shaken off their rust and would regroup to win it all. But then they traveled to St. Louis.

The rest is history.

So how do I suggest changing the format? Simply make it 2-2-1-1-1, so that the team that is supposed to be favored by home field doesn't have to play three consecutive road games.

I am not implying that the outcome of this World Series would have necessarily been different with my suggested format. But under the current format, it seems that the team favored with four home games could very easily wind up with the disadvantage.