When in doubt, dilute.
That seems to be the current mind-set of baseball, a perfect game threatened by the mindless.
Meeting recently in Grapevine, Texas, owners pooled their brain cells and came up with the notion of enlarging postseason playoffs. The idea is not original, as football, basketball and hockey saw fit to bloat their tournaments long ago. When our national pastime coalesces, that will make it a nice, neat foursome.
Interestingly, baseball happened to be meeting simultaneously and in the immediate vicinity of those great educators from the NCAA, whose leading conscience, executive director Dick Schultz, again floated the possibility of that championship football game we need to settle the unrest on college campuses. Also, by the way, his pie-in-the-sky forecast included a payday of perhaps $60 million. What would happen to the Blockbuster Bowl is your guess, not mine.
At its conclave in the Dallas area, baseball was surrounded by Cowboy fever, too. So we can fairly assume there was some peer pressure to fall in line with two industries, pro and semipro football, that have forced dynasties such as the Seattle Mariners to “surrender September,” as White Sox vice chairman Eddie Einhorn put it. That’s the motive nourishing this inflationary movement: More teams in contention for more playoff berths equals more interest.
Unfortunately, baseball seems willing to “surrender” more months than September. Judging by TV ratings from the 1992 World Series, millions of Americans remembered to forget baseball in October, too, if they were indeed awake for those ninth innings at midnight. With all those strikes and lockouts in recent years, baseball can’t be very worried about “surrendering” March and April, either, when fans might be vulnerable to spring fever and the urge to buy tickets.
Whether baseball can energize by doubling the number of playoff franchises from four to eight is debatable. The sport stands alone for having the only pure postseason format. To enter the National and American League Championship Series, teams really must earn the privilege, by finishing in first place of their divisions, usually well above the .500 mark. The NFL, with 12 of 28 teams admitted, can’t make that statement. In the NBA and NHL, with 51 teams total, 32 get to graduate, though a bunch of them fail regular-season exams.
Nobody is apologizing, though, not even the Hartford Whalers, who can skate in front of 10,000 empty seats yet claim they need Stanley Cup playoffs to avert financial disaster. However, customers in most cities do appear to get swept up in excitement by a “contender,” so the charade continues. Witness the buzz throughout South Florida last April, at least until the Bulls brushed off the Miami Heat with a minimum amount of difficulty.
Baseball isn’t bashful about watering down the product, the latest proof being the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins. But the immediate issue is whether almighty TV wants to jump into the pool. Networks, already cold to the sport, have expressed no desire whatsoever to compound their problems by adding another tier of playoffs. Maybe cable will come to the rescue. Maybe. ESPN just pulled the parachute, too.
What baseball should try, before doubling the postseason dilution, is revamping the product and the way it’s packaged. Standardize that strike zone to what it should be, larger than a keyhole, and speed up the action. Make pitchers pitch and batters bat, and if they have to scratch themselves, do it on their time, not ours. And by all means, rethink, realign and redistribute. Tradition is nice, but geographical rivalries will create electricity and save money.
Cubs vs. White Sox. Yankees vs. Mets. Blue Jays vs. Expos. Angels vs. Dodgers. Rangers vs. Astros. The time has come for those games to be played. If the American and National leagues must remain sacred, then institute interleague play. Other sports cross over, without “surrendering” the sanctity of championship events. If the Cubs and White Sox play three regular-season series plus a World Series, pinch yourself, then ask, why not?
Baseball is stagnant. When in doubt, diversify.
