I love sports. I watch a ton of MLB, NFL, NBA, college football, college basketball, tennis and some of the NHL, MLS, PGA and college baseball. And though I love these sports, there’s always things I think could make these games I love better. This is the first of (potentially) a series, starting with baseball because: 1) The season is about to start, so it’s timely; 2) Baseball is my favorite sport.
The No-Brainer: Make games shorter
MLB games are too long. Late season games between patient hitting teams like the Red Sox and Yankees seem to last 12 hours. So can we cut it down? Here are some solutions:
· Call the strike zone correctly. According the MLB rulebook, the strike zone is defined as: “The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball.” Though this has improved, the ‘high strike’ should be called more often.
· Create a shot clock. Pitchers should only have so long to deliver the ball. If they don’t, the pitch should be called a ball. The only way to stop this: a catcher or coach visit to the mound.
· Keep the batter’s in the box. No more dancing outside of the box. Keeping in mind the suggestion above the shot clock; once the clock starts, the batter should be in the box. He could call one timeout per plate appearance. If he steps out, it’s a strike.
These should help shave 15-20 minutes off a each game (according to my brief calculations.
Not Likely to Happen: Shorten the regular season, and expand the playoffs
The impetus is to lengthen the wild card round of the playoffs. A 5-game series is kind of ridiculous. But if we added more playoff games, it would extend the season into December, so that doesn’t work.
The first potential solution to that is reducing the season to 154 games. But no team owner is going to agree to that without an extra round of playoffs, therefore increasing the big TV package revenue.
The other option is playing more double headers. I love this idea; double headers are great, and would mean more day games, which to me is a good thing. But I think the players union and the owners would balk at this one. So I don’t think this one is going to happen.
Revolutionary Thought: Solve the Revenue Gap
There are three classes in baseball in my mind, defined below. The 2009 team salary data is taken from CBSSports.com.
· The Yankees. It’s a very exclusive club, with a payroll north of $200 million. No one else comes close.
· The Big Boys ($113-135 million). Mets, Cubs, Boston, Detroit, Angels, Philadelphia. These teams may not be the Yankees, but they will spend big bucks.
· The Wanna-Bees ($88-102 million). Houston, Dodgers, Seattle, Atlanta, White Sox, St. Louis. Big markets, and will spend to win.
· The Mid-Tear ($67-82 million). San Francisco, Cleveland, Toronto, Milwaukee, Colorado, Arizona, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Texas, Baltimore, Minnesota. This group, due to market conditions, revenue streams, or ownership dynamics, spends a lot let less the above group. That being said, several of them put competitive teams on the field (Minnesota, Milwaukee, Colorado and Arizona).
· The Bottom of the Barrel ($36-65 million). Tampa Bay, Oakland, Washington, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Florida. Interesting mix of teams. Some pretty good markets (Washington, Oakland, Miami), but lots of financial restrictions for each team.
One way to solve this payroll disparity is to do it through a salary cap and revenue sharing. That has been successful in the NFL, not as much in the NBA. I think relocation of existing franchises could have a similar effect. So which markets could absorb more teams? Here’s a list:
· New York. I think this area could absorb two more teams, one in Brooklyn and one in New Jersey.
· Boston.
· Los Angeles. Seems crazy, but I think you could have three teams there.
So imagine the following:
· AL East. Yankees, Boston, Baltimore, Brooklyn (Tampa Bay), Toronto
· AL Central. Same
· AL West. Same
· NL East. Mets, Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey (Florida), Boston (Pittsburgh)
· NL Central. Atlanta, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cubs, Houston
· NL West. Dodgers, Seattle, San Francisco, Colorado, Arizona, LA 3 (San Diego).
That would eliminate some of the revenue disparity problems, splitting up big markets even further.
Let’s try this again. What if you re-did each league each year based on salaries, first the AL.
· AL Big Boys. Yankees, Boston, Detroit, Angels
· AL Mid-Tier. Seattle, White Sox, Cleveland, Toronto, Kansas City
· AL Budget. Texas, Baltimore, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Oakland
Some thoughts on the AL: Detroit and the Angels would get killed in the Big Boys division. Tampa Bay would have a much better shot. The Mid-Tear division would be a blast to watch. And Tampa would runaway with the Budget division.
Now, for the NL.
· NL Big Budgets. Mets, Cubs, Philadelphia, Dodgers, Houston.
· NL Mid-Tier. Atlanta, St. Louis, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Colorado, Arizona,
· NL Budget. Cincinnati, Washington, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Florida
I like the Phillies in the Big Budget division. St. Louis would be the favorite in the Mid-Tier. And I like Florida in the Budget.
Now I realize that both of these proposals are far-fetched and difficult to implement, but if a salary cap isn’t going to happen, then something more revolutionary could be in order.
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