The baseball playoffs are a sham.

The MLB postseason doesn't determine which is the best team. It doesn't come close.

All it determines is what team is the hottest during an absurdly small sample size.

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. That's a saying that's almost as old as the sport itself.

Then why are the playoffs structured like a 100-yard dash?

Just look at what is happening this October.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, owners of the best record in the National League. Gone.

Division-winner Atlanta with 97 wins. Gone.

Minnesota, winners of 101 games. Gone.

Houston, owner of the best record in the American League, was on the verge of elimination against the Wild Card Tampa Bay Rays.

The playoffs are too short for a sport like baseball. While other pro leagues like the NBA and the NHL have a postseason that is far too long, baseball's is far too abbreviated.

And the math proves it.

Here's an example:

The NFL playoffs are widely considered the standard for a fair playoff system. Well, as fair as a system can get.

Sure. There are upsets in the NFL playoffs. Wild Card teams get hot and make it to the Super Bowl from time to time. On most occasions, though, it's hard to argue the best teams don't reach the conference title games or the Super Bowl.

NFL teams play a 16-game schedule before the playoffs begin. A playoff game counts as 1/16th of the schedule.

Now let's move on to baseball.

MLB teams play a 162-game schedule. The unlucky Wild Card teams have their postseason fate decided by one game, or roughly 1/162 of their schedule.

By comparison sake, it would be like determining the winner of a NFL playoff game by who has the lead after the first five minutes.

A five-game series isn't much better.

It's like determining the winner of an NFL playoff game at the two-minute warning of the first half.

A seven-game series? The team that is ahead with three minutes left in the third quarter moves on.

Seven-game series in the NBA and NHL are actually a larger sample size than the season would dictate.

It would be like determining and NFL playoff winner by playing almost six quarters.

Those playoffs should be shorter.

So, what's the proper length for a baseball postseason series?

Easy, a best-of-11.

A long time ago, that was the length of the championship series.

Now, it would be impossible to have 11-game series, unless the season was shortened or if only the team with the best record in the American League and National League made the playoffs.

Like it once was.

That, of course, will never happen. Instead, we have a flawed system that doesn't reward superior teams for being superior for six months.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.