MLB: Opening Day or 開幕日

You will have the National League, the American League, the Pacific League, and the Central League. In theory, what you would see is a throwback to pre-Selig days of non- inter-league games.

National League and American League teams might play each other exactly the same way they do now, all the way up to a World Series.

At the same time, Pacific League and Central League teams would be battling it out in Japan.

Then the true "World Series" would face the winner of the U.S. bracket against the winner of the Japanese bracket.

Of course, this idea has problems. Right now there are troubles with inter-league play (a whole mess of them), but inter-league play continues.

This idea could eventually lead to more leagues being incorporated. Why shouldn't the Lacey Tigers get to play against the Detroit Tigers if they are the two best teams?

No professional sport has ever undertaken such an expansion. There are hurdles miles high.  Taxes, visas, foreign relations, and currency exchange are all issues that need to be considered.

Baseball in Canada suffered for years, and one of the reasons was because the Canadian dollar was so weak compared to the American dollar. (But oh how I wish I would have saved all of that colorful money now.)

There are other problems as well. How can the less than one million people who live in Chiba and work at the shipping docks fund a team that has to compete with the 10 million Yankees fans around the world?

How do you convince the Alex Rodriguezes of the world that Nagoya is a good place to raise a family and a good team to play for when his whole family lives in the Caribbean?

The downside, of course, would be if all of the Japanese-born players come to America, leaving the Japanese fans with few identifiable players on the field.

Japan would become the Tampa Bay of the East, the Hanshin Tigers and Yamiyuri Giants would have to change their names, and the game would be changed forever in Japan.

But I think this sort of expansion is inevitable.

Just imagine a Serenity-esque world where everyone speaks Japanese and English when referring to baseball.

"A long hikyu to sayoku! Ramirez looks up...Honruida!  The Dragons win, the Dragons win...the-uh-uh-uh-Dragons win!"

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