The Problems With Baseball
Written by Brian Ber, Thursday June 11 2009
I love baseball and always will. However, that doesn't mean America's Pastime can't be improved. Here are my suggestions. Some obvious and some not so much.
1. Institute a salary cap. But at the same time, install a minimum slary cap. Prospective baseball owners should not get into the business because they think it's a great money making venture. Yes, it could be anti-competitive when teams such as the Yankees throw out $250 for C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Texeira in one offseason. But even worse, several teams refuse to spend any money on talent, even if they have money. That's a disservice to fans.
2. Promote ballparks more. In the era of free agency, which started eons ago, players leave teams so often that some can't be fans of individual athletes. MLB has done a good job of promoting teams. But how about the ballparks? Baseball is the one sport that has truly unique stadiums. I could care less about different football, basketball, and hocket arenas, as much as I love those sports. I make a point to visit every baseball stadium when I'm in a city. I've been to 19 big league parks and counting.
3. Make interleague games right after the All-Star break. Interleague play has become completely ho-hum except for big matchups like Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox, Dodgers-Angels, and a couple of others. If baseball insists on continuing interleague games, make them right after the All-Star Game. That would make the Midsummer Classic better because barring trades, the hitters and batters have not faced one another that year. Also, the All-Star Game gives me a hunger to see more AL-NL baseball. There stll will be plenty of time for divisional matchups in August and September.
4. Starting some postseason games earlier is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough. Why do games need to end after midnight Eastern time? Why can't a Sunday World Series game begin at 6 p.m. like the Super Bowl? People will watch on the east coast and west coast. Children, the future of the sport, can watch.
5. Keep ticket prices the same or lower them for the forseeable future. Some say the economy has improved. I tend to think the economy has bottomed. But it's not much better. Unemployment could soon reach 10 percent. MLB will really alienate fans if its teams decide to raise ticket prices next year.
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2 comments
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I'd love if they promoted ballparks. The dimensions of each ballpark are different and unique, something that makes baseball different from all other major sport in america. Imagine if the lakers had a smaller court than the Pistons or something like the red wings rink was 2x bigger than the penguins, it wouldn't work. Baseball has that wiggle room and its beautiful. I mean the hill in centerfield of the astro's ballpark is one of my favorite little quirks by far.
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Great job, you make some very good points. I started some comments, then had so many, I just created my own article addressing your points...