Is the Wild Card round fair? Game 1 LDS winner least likely to move on

MLB's do-or-die Wild Card round is exciting television drama. But is it fair for the participants? After all, teams play 162 games a season, plus spring training, and then the season comes down to one game.

I decided to look at the history behind the Division Series round to see if teams actually come back from 1-0 deficits.  If teams frequently mount comebacks, then there's evidence in favor of lengthening the Wild Card round. Here are the stats for the LDS round, which was reinstated following the 1994 player strike:

Up 1-0: 71.1% of teams win series
Up 2-0: 88.8%
Up 2-1: 75.5%

Winner of Game X moves on Y% of the time

1: (see 1-0 lead)
2: 75% ... Teams that won Game 1 win 59.2% of Game 2s.
3: 73.7% ... In 1-1 series, the Game 3 winner moves on 77.4% of the time.
4: 77.6% ... Team with 2-1 lead finishes the series 53.1% of the time in Game 4.
5: 100% (obviously) ... Teams that trailed 2-1 in series and forced a deciding game Game 5 win 52.2% of the time... Teams have forced 8 Game 5s after trailing 2-0 in the series, winning 5 of them.

What's interesting is the Game 1 winner is the least likely of any game in the series to decide the overall winner, though it's still a heavy favorite.

Just for kicks and giggles, I included each team's overall series record in the LDS round (post-strike).

Angels: 3-3
A's: 1-6
Astros: 2-4
Blue Jays: 0-0
Braves: 6-7
Brewers: 1-1
Cardinals: 9-2
Cubs: 1-3
D-backs: 2-3
Dodgers: 3-4
Giants: 3-3
Indians: 4-2
Mariners: 3-1
Marlins: 2-0
Mets: 3-0
Nationals: 0-1
Orioles: 2-1
Padres: 1-3
Phillies: 3-2
Pirates: 0-1
Rangers: 2-4
Rays: 1-3
Red Sox: 6-4
Reds: 1-2
Rockies: 1-2
Royals: 0-0
Tigers: 4-0
Twins: 1-5
White Sox: 1-2
Yankees: 10-7