Baseball season is now underway. Watching a number of different games over the past few days got me thinking about what would happen if I were in charge (and of course if there were no Players’ Union, owners, or TV Networks to stop me).
Here is a list, in no particular order, of 20 things I would change about the sport.
1. I read the story about how the Yankees have three players who make almost as much money, if not more, than the entire Florida Marlins team. This is where I would start.
A few years back, MLB put in a salary cap of sorts with penalties for teams that go over it, however this has not slowed down spending at all. I would increase the penalty for going over the cap, although keep it reasonable.
I believe in competitive balance, but also think that if teams want to invest their money in major league players, they should not be completely restricted from doing so.
2. I also acknowledge that it isn’t fair for the big market teams to basically pay for teams that are not even trying to spend money. I would therefore put in a minimum amount teams need to spend. If teams wanted to spend less, that is fine, but the difference would come out of the money that teams receive in revenue sharing.
For example, if the minimum was $40 million and the Marlins decided to only spend $35 million on salary, and revenue sharing was $10 million per team, then the Marlins would only receive $5 million in revenue sharing.
3. It drives me crazy when I watch a National League game, and I see a team string together a few hits, only to see the other team pitch around the eighth batter, get to the pitcher, and then end the rally.
Sorry to the so-called purists who hate the DH, but I would have the DH in both leagues.
4. I don’t hate inter-league play, but there is way too much of it. Right now teams play six inter-league series per season. I would cut that down to four (for a total of 12 instead of 18 games).
I understand Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Angels-Dodgers, Giants-A’s are all natural rivalries, but we would stop calling series such as Rockies-Twins natural rivalries.
5. I know this time it counts, but I have a crazy idea for how to determine home field in the World Series: best record.
6. I would ban the hockey-style catcher mask. For no other reason than I hate hockey.
7. Watching last night's Red Sox-A’s game, Jason Varitek hit a ball that appeared to be a home run, but none of the umpires saw where the ball hit the wall. Instead of guessing on home run calls, I would institute replay (and thinking about last year’s Rockies-Padres playoff game, for plays at the plate).
I hate the argument that this will slow down the game—it can’t take any more time than a manager arguing, umpires huddling and explaining to one manager what they are doing, then walking across the field and explaining to the other manager what happened.
21 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Marty Andrade about 1 year ago
"DH in the National League"
Here! Here!
When a pitcher comes to hit it basically mean offensive play has been suspended. It's not baseball purity, it's not baseball at all, it's a position in the lineup that is half the time pathetic and half the time improvised.
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Divya Parmar about 1 year ago
World Series home field advantage to the team with the best record?
How genius.......
I wonder why Bud Selig has not thought of such a simple solution yet....
Oh wait...The All Star Game......This Time It Counts!!!!!!!
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Mike Schoeffel about 1 year ago
I agree with you on all points except for 2, 6, 7, 17, and 18. Just a few comments here:
3. DH is definitely the way to go. Until pitchers can narrow the gap between their hitting skills and the skills of regular position players (which, by the way, I predict will eventually happen), get these guys out of the batter’s box. It’s a buzz kill when my Cubbies have the bases jacked with one out and up walks Ted Lilly, who promptly grounds into a 4-6-3 inning ending double play.
5. The All-Star Break is more about the festivities than the actual game anyway. Why put the fate of one team’s future in the hands of players whom won’t be playing in the World Series anyway? The MLB’s answer would be to increase the viewing audience and bring in the bucks, but the best-record idea is much more practical.
6. Way off. Hockey-style mask are way more comfortable and cool-looking. Plus hockey kicks ass.
8. Joe Buck ranks right up there with Joe Morgan on my list of least-favorite announcers. Plus, he’s a Cardinals fan.
9. The MLB and the Arena Football League are the only two sports I know of that conduct in-game interviews. I can see why the AFL would want these (to possibly increase TV audience), but why does the MLB need it? Enough people watch the games already. Plus, as you said, I’m sure it annoys the hell out of the managers.
20. I couldn’t agree with you more.
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Stew Winkel about 1 year ago
in regards to #9 - ESPN has started doing interviews with NBA coaches between quarters, and it is miserable to watch. last night, avery johnson was clearly not listening to the question and looking back at his bench. early in the season, phil jackson was being interviewed between the 3rd and 4th quarter, and said very sarcastically "thanks for interviewing me, i can't think of anything else i'd rather be doing right now than answering your questions." it is an awful trend and needs to be stopped.
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andy miller about 1 year ago
good commetns all. i watched a lot of Tampa bay-balt last night. there was a terrible crowd, the people who were there were all under blankets...why not just play that series in a warm place, like I don't know, Tampa Bay (they also have that big roof thing). save the TB-Balt series for later in the year. it is just common sense.
the all star thing is a joke. we all know fox pushed MLB into that one, and my guess it has backfired. i doubt anyone watches the all star game because "this time, it counts". i am a red sox fan, but at the all star break, i cannot root for the AL to win the all star game. what if the yankees get to the world series? if i am guaranteed the sox will be in the series, then i will watch and pull for the AL. but since that can never be guaranteed, it is a stupid idea.
the varitek HR was terrible...how did the umps miss this? and you are right, the ensuing huddles and disussions took way longer than a simple replay would have. plus, it happens all the time and it always seems to pop up at important times (last year in the ALCS with a possible manny HR, 2004 Game 6 of the ALCS on the bellhorh HR).
one other thing.....i woukld just ban david eckstein from playing in the MLB. simple problem, simple solution. i know he is gritty, gutty, all that crap. but i hate him, so he should go.
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Rob P about 1 year ago
Good ideas here and some I disagree with. There are enough blogs slamming traditionalists like myself who sometimes have the notion that sabermetricians don't have all the answers. I think Fire Joe Morgan is a hateful unfunny little place myself. Not everyone wants to be bombarded with OPS and VORP while watching a ball game. There's a relaxing rhythm to it as well, so if some old tales get told I don't mind at all. I grew up on Joe Garagiola who sprinkled Yogi and Musial into nearly every inning, but he was all over the action when things started to happen.
Keep real baseball in the NL (no DH!). I will agree with you on the FOX coverage. In Canada we can also get the international feed with Rick Sutcliffe and the play by play guy whose name I forget. I really like the TBS playoff coverage too, and I was never a big Chip Caray fan before, but next to Buck/McCarver he was golden.
A lot of us hate the hotdogging, especially from Manny Ramirez. Give me some Gibson, Newcombe and Drysdale-style retribution thank you.
The umps need to be thicker-skinned, although Bowa probably would have stepped over the line anyway. No sideline reporters or anyone in the dugout.
I believe in rotating home advantage in the World Series. I think interleague play does need to be cut back to just a few games. Also there are too many games inside the division, 18 times is a lot.
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ECQ about 1 year ago
You're missing the drama that the non-DH game brings. If a critical rally is in progress, and the pitcher's spot is due up, the manager has to make a decision: pinch hit, or keep him in? The manager must weight the inning, the score, the the quality of that pitcher's performance on that day, the odds that a pinch hitter will be able to get that key hit (or walk), the anticipated quality of the relief pitcher who will then be needed in the next inning, the anticipated offensive ability of the other team to take or keep or regain the lead still later in the game... with a DH, where is the strategery? Send up your next basher, over and over.
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JJ Stankevitz about 1 year ago
oh, to be in a perfect world where these all were implemented...
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Timothy Davis about 1 year ago
Well I'll be the odd man out and say that I don't agree with most of these. I'm not going to explain why I don't agree with most of these, just a couple.
I'm sorry that most of you guys don't get why the game is much, much better when you have a pitcher hit.
I sometimes don't care what the coaches have to say, but if I'm watching my favorite team then I sometimes want to know what the coach is thinking.
19 by far is the one that I disagree with the most. I'm sorry but there's no need for the posing at the plate, look at Manny playing over seas. He posed at the plate, instead of running it out, and barely got a double. Hell even with Manny's speed he probably could have gotten a triple. Also, what can a pitcher do if he strikes out a really great hitter in a bases loaded situation? Pump his fist and jump around...yippy!!!! Not even on the same page as posing, in my opinion.
1, 2, 13, 14, 17, and 20 are the ones I absolutely agree with, so don't hate me too much.
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Rich Tandler about 1 year ago
I used to be an NL DH advocate back when I watched mostly AL ball, but after watching NL games every day for the past three years after the Nationals came to town I've changed my mind. The level of strategy involved is fascinating, as another commenter noted. Only once or twice a game does the pitcher actually come to the plate and hack away; the rest of the time he's bunting or a pinch hitter is sent up.
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Brandon Heikoop about 1 year ago
How this made article of the day is beyond me.
Why would you change a league that made the second most revenues in all of professional sports and is poised to become the first in coming years once their TV station is unveiled.
MLB has done the best job in all of professional sports at selling itself all over the globe and has made MLB Multimedia a money grabbing giant.
I recognize you have some 'issues', but none of your little jabs or quirky fixes are going to net the league more revenue, nor are they going to improve the game.
Let me count backwards through your ideas:
20. What about in the NFL? NBA? NHL? MLS? NLL? AFL? Cell phones are a part of modern technology, people are still getting used to that fact.
19. I love seeing a hitter boast after a moonshot. I also love how a pitcher hates seeing that and throws at the hitter the next time by. Lets compare this in the NFL. Think of the WRers that DBs want to lay out the most? Are they the ones that showboat the most?
18. The Gold Glove award should stay. The voters or voting process should be removed. Utilize the statistics.
17. Ticket brokerage, despite my disdain, is good for making money. The relationship with StubHub is genius. People are going to scalp tickets anyways, this way, MLB and its teams are essentially selling the ticket twice.
16. Human nature. Someone gets in your face, you are going to get right back at them. You don't know what was said in the situation you are quoting. Chances are, the ump truly wanted to hurt Bowa. Good for him!
15. Unfortunately, the majority of people still think 'grit' and 'clutch' are apart of a players 'makeup'. If I write for a newspaper and they tell me to write about that scrappy 'kid-looking' Blue Jay, I'm not going to quit my job, I'll write the piece and put my spin on it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
14. Tell your biggest markets, your biggest money makers, 'Yea, this is probably the biggest celebration of the year for baseball. The day when people take off work to watch an afternoon game. And Yea, you make us a BOAT load of money. But we're sorry, you can't partake in our major celebration'. This would be like telling Bill Gates that he is allowed to come to your fancy restaurant for New Years Eve, but can't show up until 2am when he will get a separate countdown.
13. What team doesn't have a shot at signing an international player? The Pro's from Japan are an exception, but the Royals aren't going to give them $12-15M to play in their rookie season. So why make the players suffer?
12. You made your only good point. But again, its about a teams personal decision to NOT spend. There is enough money in the revenue sharing pool for the teams to set aside $8-10M for the draft.
11. Would you also tell Fenway to get rid of that massive wall in LF because its too big? Or Chicago to cut down its ivy because its prickly? Or...Having unique features in ballparks is what makes them incredible. When was the last time you heard of someone going on an NFL Stadium road trip? Or checking out NBA Arenas?
10. Who cares. The off days are in place more for weather then other TV related reasons. Why schedule 3 straight days of baseball in Boston in October yet tell the Orioles they can't play baseball until the middle of April?
9. I love hearing from the Managers. They often give outstanding insights to what is going on with their players. How often do you hear, "I told XYZ to slow down his swing and let his hips catch up with his hands?"
8. MLB of FOX is not the worst thing. Ever heard of FSN OHIO? FSN WEST? The Fox Corporation has done more for broadcasting baseball then any other network. They dish out a crazy amount of cash and people look forward to these games. CBS, ABC, NBC, etc would rather show infomercials on Saturday afternoons and will only give their sister stations time for showing games on Sunday afternoons instead of on weeknights.
7. It happens. The problem with instant replay, is how long before EVERY call is disputed? Umm, that wasn't a ball, it was a strike! Let's look at it! Unless every single play is under review NO plays should be under review.
6. I hate patent leather and the color green. Lets get rid of shiny shoes and grass!
5. How about the team that has 4 losers in its division? Since you are suggesting we hack 6 games from interleague series, they would have to be made up somewhere. What if the Cubs get an extra 6 games against the Pirates and the Yanks have an extra 6 games against the Red Sox? Players know what they are playing for.
4. 18 is perfect. It allows divisions to go head to head (except the Central) and for their to be a rivalry series, perfect in my books!
3. I would also get rid of night time games and walk off home runs. Also, I would get rid of pitchers altogether and put a robot on the mound. I would introduce corked bats and make hit and runs illegal. Thats your logic at least.
2. Decent idea, there needs to be a minimum. But really, who cares. If an owner doesnt want to spend, then so be it. It is their business.
1. There was a study done by the Hardball Times over the winter which provided evidence that MLB was the most competitive league in all of sports. There are very few dynasties and with a few exceptions, each team has a legitimate chance at winning it all.
Here are changes that would ACTUALLY make a difference to me:
1. Move the Astros to the AL West thus having even divisions all around. I would give them an extra $8M in revenue sharing to help remodel their team, not their ballpark.
2. Allow teams to auction their tickets off online rather then a lottery system to people who are going to put the tickets on ebay anyways.
3. Introduce 'trophies' for certain series. Obviously the rivalry series', but also, be creative. It could add a nice amount of money to the leagues revenue as these series would undoubtedly be sponsored, but giving a trophy to the Indians for beating up on the Reds would be an awesome way to end interleague play.
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Brandon's Dad Heikoop about 1 year ago
Hey Brandon, eat a fuckin' bowl full of aardvark shit and anteater semen, you fruity fuckin' asshole-eater-outer. You're the biggest fuckin' douchebag on this goddamn website - all you ever fuckin' do is put other people's shit down. Does that shit make you feel good? You feel smart? No wait don't answer that because I don't give a fuckin' shit, cumbag. Go to fuckin' hell, salad tosser.
Choke on the next cock you suck, which I'm sure will be in the next few hours.
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JJ Stankevitz about 1 year ago
Brandon, your first point is really hard to get a grasp on. If you're so concerned with MLB maximizing revenue, don't you realize that having an odd number of teams in each league would mean that every day of the season (minus interleague play), there would be two teams not playing at all? Think how much lost revenue that would be for weekend games. Unless you want interleague play happening throughout the season, your point there falls completely apart.
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Brandon Heikoop about 1 year ago
JJ,
You're right, I didn't even notice that. I had always wondered why they had the divisions aligned like that, but I never gave it much of a 'big picture' look.
Maybe that can be an excuse for a team in Las Vegas and San Antonio? Portland? Oklahoma City?
Either way, thanks for the correction, my mistake.
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Bryan Goldberg about 1 year ago
This is superb. Honestly, I only disagree with one of these rules, which is the International Players. I think it's unlikely that a lot of Japanese players would make the jump if their fates were so unknown. I'd have a special relationship with the Japanese League specifically, and apply your rule to anyone else from a foreign country.
Is that too extreme?
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Nino Colla about 1 year ago
That and the posting process has nothing to do with the MLB. Someone has to pay the Japanese team that is basically getting rid of it's player. Since you can't trade players with Japanese teams, this is the only effective solution.
I like most of your ideas. Of course some of them I disagree with. But good job all around, a lot of thought went into this.
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Brandon Heikoop about 1 year ago
Nino,
Not every player needs to be posted. Only those still under contract.
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Thomas Barbee about 1 year ago
I agree with just about every point you make except for two:
Call me a purist but I'd never want the NL to have a DH, as a couple others have said, the strategy involved far outweighs the downside of having to make a pitcher hit-- besides, the NL has a number of pitchers that can actually hit.
Also, as smart as it would be to have a bare minimum team salary, I could see the Marlins just signing some random veteran to barely put them over whatever that minimum amount is. If anything, it would just be smart if the MLB officials got on the case of owners who clearly have no interest in putting a competitive team on the field.
I think the Gold Glove award has become the most overrated award in baseball now though, with most players winning based on reputation. It would also make a lot of sense for baseball to implement a set salary for draft picks-- because as you said, it's outrageous to have teams continuously skip over a player because of money. Last but not least, I'll do my happy dance if we should ever reach a point that the cell phone fans behind home plate are banned from going to games.
I absolutely loved this piece though, great work and good ideas... maybe you should take over for Selig.
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Devlan Sheahan about 1 year ago
Love the article, and I love the points made...I disagree on the DH but I wouldn't be crying over it if it were changed...also I couldn't agree more on the whole replay issue, first off you shoot down the argument that it would slow down the game, but I would also like to point out that the game of baseball is already not a fast paced game so why would you care if it DID slow it down a little, I'd rather see the game drawn out and have the right call made than miss a stupid call...also I'd like to point out that I think in football instant replay is exciting as opposed to slowing down the game.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Per #17, why in the world would you stop this? If fans didn't want to buy and sell tickets there would be no market here. If you are going to institute some type of communist price control on tickets and tell people how to spend their money, why stop there? Put price controls on the resale of houses and cars and really make lives better. MLB has the highest no-show rate of any major sport because of all the games played. Fans who skip a game don't buy food, drinks, merchandise, or pay for parking. Making it for them to resell fills the seat and makes another fan happy who otherwise would be shut out. Why do you think essentially every team and now league is getting in the game? This is a no-brainer.
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Stew Winkel about 1 year ago
maybe a complete ban goes too far -but i think MLB should do something to control the prices for what these tickets sell for. buying/selling tickets to a major league baseball game is not the same as buying a house or really almost anything else you might spend money on - that is because MLB has a monopoly on the sport. the red sox have a monopoly on major league baseball in the new england area, the twins on MLB in the minnesota area, and so on. that is why the federal government has granted MLB (and the NFL, NBA) an anti-trust exemption (which allows the federal government to get involved in baseball when they want to, see steroids). the issue with the price of tickets isnt simply a supply and demand issue because of the control the teams and the league have on both the supply and demand. do you think fans enjoy paying double and sometimes far more for a ticket to a sporting event? absolutely not - but they do it because if you want to go see a team or a game, in most parks, you have no choice. the choice is either go see a sport and a team you love, pay all that money for the ticket, or don't go at all. if you want to buy a home, and you don't like the price of the first house you look at, you can keep looking. your choices aren't either pay what the seller is asking for or don't buy a home at all.
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