why cant baseball be like hockey and basketball where they have more teams in the playoffs?

Besides an established 162 game season which the owners will not want to decrease and the weather factor in November, it comes down to Major League Baseball restricting its playoff teams to those which are worthy of going on to the championship series.

Yes, the NHL and NBA play shorter seasons than MLB, but they market the playoffs with many teams that have no possibility of getting to the championship round. Making a big deal of the NHL and NBA playoffs and spending a month going through them to get to the almost predictable "final four" is a waste of time.

Why can't hockey and basaketball be like baseball?

Because baseball prefers to reward GOOD teams with a playoff spot as opposed to rewarding mediocrity, which is what you get when half the league makes the playoffs.

I actually question why the NBA and NHL even bother HAVING a regular season. Might as well just throw all the teams into a playoff format from the start.

adding more teams to the playoff it wont be possible with the current 162 regar season schedule. having more teams mean more playing time, that would extend the season well into november. remember unlike hockey, 98% of baseball teams play on open stadiums, playing while snowing is not an option.

Basketball: Lakers (certainly, Im a Kobe fan lol) soccer: DAAA BEEAAARRRSS! Baseball: Yankees Hockey: Colorado Avalanche college soccer: Cal Golden Bears (even in spite of the incontrovertible fact that i bypass to college with their rival lol) i myself artwork at a Nascar save at usual Citywalk, and its no longer as uninteresting because it variety of feels...

Because baseball is smarter than basketball and hockey. They don't let mediocre teams advance.

Because that would be slumming, and that is not something to which many aspire.