Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Major League Baseball’s big October problem
Here it is, the end of the regular MLB season, finally. Please note the date of last night’s regular season Sox finale: October 2.
Here it is, the end of the regular MLB season, finally. Please note the date of last night’s regular season Sox finale: October 2.
Now notice the following start dates for past World Series:
Oct. 4, 1967, Sox versus Cardinals; Oct. 11, 1975, Sox versus Reds; Oct. 18,
1986, Sox versus Mets; Oct. 23, 2004, Sox versus Cardinals; Oct. 24, 2007, Sox
versus Rockies.
See the pattern? Sure, the introduction of divisional
playoffs has lengthened MLB’s post-season play. But it’s just gotten
ridiculous. Baseball shouldn’t be a late Oct./early Nov. game. The NFL is going
full blast at that point. Fans are into football, not baseball, unless your
home-town team makes it into the World Series. It’s simply not baseball weather and baseball's time.
A couple of friends and I last night talked about how MLB
could rein in the season’s end, so that World Series could at least start
somewhere around mid-October: Start the regular season a week earlier; schedule more
early season games in sunny cities or cities with domes; two or three more
double-headers per team during the year. Yes, we also talked about lopping maybe a few
games off the regular season in general, but we all know Bud Selig et gang
would never do that.
MLB ought to do something. The game is already in
decline compared to football and other sports. The World Series are basically a
big yawn right now.
Update -- The Sox season actually ended last night, Oct. 3, not Oct. 2. But the point still holds up.
Update -- The Sox season actually ended last night, Oct. 3, not Oct. 2. But the point still holds up.
