Since 1924, Major League Baseball has used a 2-3-2 format in the World Series. It has also been used in the American and National League Championship Series.
In a best-of-seven series, the first two games are played at the stadium of the team that holds homefield advantage. The next three games are played in the ball park of the team that does not have home field advantage. If the series reaches a game six or a game seven, both games are played in the park of the team that has home field advantage.
The Houston Astros won 106 games in 2022. The Philadelphia Phillies won 87. The Astros were nearly 20 games better than the Phillies were in the regular season.
The two teams are currently battling for the World Series. Houston hosted the first two games of the series at Minute Maid Park. The teams split in Houston, 1-1. The series’ next three games will all be played in Philadelphia.
The Phillies stole a game on the road, and now can finish the Astros off at home.
It seems odd to me, however, that a team — in this case, the Astros — will only truly have homefield advantage if the series goes the distance.
43 of 117 best-of-seven World Series have gone to seven games. In other words, only 36.75% of World Series’ go all the way to seven games.
If a series goes to six games, each team played the same number of home games in the series.
If a series goes to five games, the ‘visiting team’ really had home field advantage.
The 2-3-2 was created to limit travel. Instead of playing a series 2-2-1-1-1, why not just knock out all three games for the visiting team at once?
Well, because after five games, the team that should be rewarded for their regular season excellence, isn’t.
Hypothetically, if the home team were to win each game, the Astros would go up 2-0, then the Phillies would take a 3-2 lead. The Astros would be at a disadvantage, having to play from behind. Even if the visiting team doesn’t close out their opponent in five games, the team that should be rewarded, in this example, isn’t.
In addition to that, playing three straight home games in the postseason can heavily swing momentum.
Entering play Tuesday night, the Phillies were a perfect 5-0 at Citizens Bank Park this postseason. They split two games in Atlanta with the Braves in the National League Division Series, then took both home games to end the Braves’ season.
The next week, the Phillies split both games in San Diego against the Padres in the NLCS, then swept all three home games to go to the World Series.
The Phillies could do the same in the World Series after splitting the first two games in Houston. The series may never come back to Houston.
The Astros won nearly 20 more games than the Phillies did in the regular season. By expanding its postseason field in 2022, Major League Baseball decreased the importance of regular season performance, and now a third-place team will have home field over the American League’s best team.
Don’t we want the regular season to mean something?
In 2014, the National Basketball Association did away with the 2-3-2 format in the playoffs, something it had used since 1985.
You won’t hear me saying this very often, but I believe that Major League Baseball should follow in the NBA’s footsteps, in this regard.
If a series needs to run longer, and more days off are needed to accommodate travel, so be it. But as it is right now, the high-seed is not receiving a true, homefield advantage.
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