Not much point to it

[SWC75]

I was listening to Bud and the Manchild today when Bud mentioned that if the Chiefs win the Governor's Cup then they will be in something called the "Triple A Championship Game", a single game to determine the "championship" at this level of the minor leagues. I was shocked. As a Chiefs fan whose team hasn't gotten a whiff of the playoffs in years, I hadn't been paying attention to what happened in the post season, (heck, it's the football season by then). I assumed that if we win the Governor's Cup, then we play in the Junior World Series against the PCL champs for the title, with the action going back and forth between Syracuse and whatever city's team won the PCL.

It turns out they haven't done that since the year 2000:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple-A_World_Series

They didn't even have a Triple A championship again until 2006:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple-A_Baseball_National_Championship_Game

I'm old enough to remember the greatest Chiefs season, 1970 when we won the IL pennant, (no divisions then), the Governor's Cup and the Junior World Series, which was against the AA champions- the PCL champs were not invited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_World_Series

There was a screwy round robin affair called the Kodak World Baseball Championship in 1972. They wanted the champs of the IL, the AA and PCL and the Mexican League and Japanese champions in a round-robin to be player in Hawaii. The Mexican and Japanese champs declined and were replaced by the Hawaii team of the PCL as the "host" team, (they were not the PCL champs), and a team called the "Caribbean All-Stars". The Latter team won, which meant that no champion of Triple A had been determined. A more uncluttered round-robin was held in 1983 with just the IL, AA and PCL champs but the event failed to draw and was not repeated.
http://www.triple-abaseball.com/PostSeasonOthers.jsp

The Triple A championship series started in 1998 when the leagues were reorganization, (the last year we were in the playoffs- but we lost in the first round). it was a at a neutral site in Las Vegas and folded after three years. The Triple A "Championship Game" started in 2006, also at neutral sites, (this year it's in Charlotte). So the championship will be decided by two teams whose nucleus is sitting on the bench in the big league, playing a single game hundreds or thousands of miles away from their fans. There doesn't seem to be much point to it.

If we lose, it will be meaningless but if we win, hey! We'll brag about it!

 

[SWC75]

I had thought the whole point of getting rid of the American Assocation and shoving their teams in the International and Pacific Coast leagues was to set up a championship between the IL and PCL for the Triple A title. But they didn't even hold that championship from 2001-05 and now it's this farcical 1 game playoff on the moon. It really means nothing.

I've always hated the fact that we are stuck in a 6 team division while everybody else is in a 4 team division. Why not re-create the AA and have three ten team leagues with two 5 team divisions. Either have the division champs play off for the league title or the champs plus the bets two other teams. Everybody would have a better chance of making it, (12 spots instread of 8). and then skip the Triple A championship idea altogether.

if you aren't going to do it right, why do it at all?

 

[PoppyHart]

Probably worried about injuries. And some of the guys that helped them get to the playoffs are having a cup of coffee in the show.

 

[SWC75]

Probably worried about injuries. And some of the guys that helped them get to the playoffs are having a cup of coffee in the show.

Why would eliminating a level of playoffs increase injuries?

 

[PoppyHart]

Why would eliminating a level of playoffs increase injuries?

B/c the current school of thought is that pitchers especially are more prone to injury with increased workloads.

 

[SWC75]

B/c the current school of thought is that pitchers especially are more prone to injury with increased workloads.

Then I guess they'd better not pitch them in the major leagues, either. We wouldn't want them to get injured.

 

[PoppyHart]

Then I guess they'd better not pitch them in the major leagues, either. We wouldn't want them to get injured.

They pretty much don't. See Strasburg, Stephen.

 

[SWC75]

They pretty much don't. See Strasburg, Stephen.

We're talking about having four more minor league teams in the playoffs while eliminating the final level of playoffs. The guys on those teams are guys the major league team didn't want in September. Tonight the Chiefs used a kid making his Triple A debut.

So no, I don't think the major league teams would oppose a reorganization to protect the next Stephen Strasburg.

 

[PoppyHart]

Ok, let me know when you've found the answer then.

 

[BlazeOrange]

I'd guess that the answer is to follow the money. Can games at 10,000 seat stadiums make enough cash on short notice to cover a cross-country series? Instead, they can name the location ahead of time and sell tickets before anyone knows who will be playing in it. They can market it as the best of the upcoming prospects facing off (even though the best will have been called up) and people will attend regardless of rooting interests.

I assume that by this point in the season that all players who could be called up to the majors will be. But if that isn't the case, it would become counter-productive for the big league teams to have their potential supporting players playing more games than their competition and possibly be in the middle of long trips when they get the call.

In any event, a 2 out of 3 series between the IL and PCL champs (one home game for each with the 3rd game, if necessary, at a neutral site) would be an improvement.