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RSS FeedShould MLB change the pro baseball league structure?
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| Yes | 36% | 42 votes | Total: 116 votes | |
| No | 64% | 74 votes |
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Add to FavoritesMajor league baseball seems a victim of its own success. True, attendance is up, new state of the art stadiums open every year and the money just keeps rolling in. Yet something is missing. With the addition in the last several years of inter-league play and a third round of playoffs, baseball could conceivably fall into the morass that pro basketball has. Imagine a world series being played in November, in frigid weather in an open air park. Somehow the mystique of Fenway or Wrigley or Yankee Stadium won't mean quite as much when most of all the fans have to sit on their hands to stay warm instead of rooting for the home team. Let's realign baseball, bring back meaningful pennant races and ensure that the October classic stays in October. Instead of two leagues and six divisions we would have four leagues of eight teams, based on geographical logic and longstanding rivalries. (To do so, we will need to add two more teams). The four prospective leagues would look something like this:
Northeast
Toronto, Boston, NY Yankees, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington
South
Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Florida, Texas, Houston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Expansion #1
Midwest
Chi Cubs, Chi White Sox, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Colorado
Pacific
Arizona, LA, Anaheim, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Expansion
Expansion #2 would most logically be Portland. For number, the leaders would include Charlotte, Memphis, San Antonio, and my personal dark horse, Havana.
We have kept existing rivalries, while creating cross-state and cross-town ones. The Pacific league is near re-creation of the old Pacific Coast League of the 1940s that was considered by some to be a third major league. Teams will play a host of games against teams within their league and one home and home series against teams from one of the three remaining leagues. (The Northeast would play the South and the Midwest would play the Pacific). The amount of travel would be reduced. More importantly, teams from the east wouldn't have to start night games at 10:30 PM their time and teams from the west coast wouldn't have to start day games at 10:00 am Pacific team. If nothing else, TV ratings would improve. More importantly, the World Series would be guaranteed to be a match-up of two teams that had not faced each other during the regular season. To make it to the series, to make to the playoffs, a team would actually have to win something, namely their league. No more teams aspiring to the wild card, in the hopes of drawing a more favorable first round match-up. (Is it just me or does the spectacle of teams not only celebrating "clinching" the wild card, but actually selling team gear commemorating that great accomplishment, just a tad silly.) With only two rounds in the post season, there will be no November games. And lastly, a decision will be made on the designated hitter rule. Up or down, yea or nay, every team, both in the regular season and the post season will play every game by the same set of rules. Let the best team win.
Learn more about this author, Robert Mccauley.
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No
Baseball is a funny game in that it is probably the most competitive of all professional sports. A powerhouse team is one that wins a little over sixty per-cent of the time, and a look at some other pro sports further exemplifies just how truly unique baseball is. If the St. Louis Rams rolled into Foxboro and beat the Patriots 49-0 with Gus Frerotte as the starting QB, it's a 9.4 on football's Richter Scale. However, if the D-Rays bring up a AA pitcher to start against the Yanks and win 11-0, it barely makes a ripple. That's what I like about baseball.
You may argue that this doesn't happen over the course of a LONG season, but may I present you with the 2003 Florida Marlins, the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals AND Detroit Tigers, and this year's Colorado Rockies. From a competitive standpoint, there isn't a whole lot wrong with baseball. In fact, if Cleveland stays on course and beats Boston in the ALCS, the myth that money buys championships will be tossed out of the window once again!
When the wild card format was created, there were a lot of naysayers, but wild card teams have went on to win the World Series four times since the inception of the rule. This is healthy for the game. It's as wide open as it possibly can be, at least without creating a division consisting of the Pirates, Devil Rays, Royals, Reds, and Nationals. Really, if one were to propose a swapping of teams between the leagues to improve the competitive balance, the end result would be the termination of natural rivalries.
But what about the Yanks and Sox, the evil empires of baseball? Shouldn't there be a big money team in EACH league? That's it! Let's split the Yankees and Red Sox up. That'll make things fair! Wrong. Baseball officially lasts from March through October, but it's really a year-round game. Ever heard of the "Hot Stove League"? In recent years, it has been a two team show (Yep, the Yanks and Sawks)that involves off-season bickering and spending between these two baseball powers. Last year, the Red Sox won by signing Dice-K. It's a rivalry thing. Don't mess with it.
Here's the thing: when an 83-79 team (2006 Cards) wins, people are going to compalain; BUT if the Yankees buy the championship the next three years...people are still going to complain! In spite of the steroid issue, this has been one of the most enjoyable baseball seasons in recent memory. The NL division races were phenomenal, and the Rockies are pumping mega-enthusiasm into an already thriving game. I cannot remember a time when I haven't tuned baseball out by now (ahem, I'm a Pirates fan), but this year is different. Football is on the back burner because baseball has never been better.
Learn more about this author, T.C Leonard.
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