Sports: America's Well-Kept Socialist Secret

Decades before the Major League Baseball playoffs became a monthlong postseason tournament, the World Series pitted the champions of the American League and the National League, determined by their season record, against each other. But today the contest looks quite different: Starting Oct. 3, the winners of the three divisions in each league, plus the two remaining teams with the best records from each, will compete in as many as 43 playoff games. This playoff system creates a lucrative "second season," where with a good run, an also-ran can claim the crown — a type of sports socialism that is at odds with postseason play in much of the rest of the world. As the baseball playoffs draw near, we revisit this look at the differences in the way global and U.S. sports leagues approach their postseasons.