Baseball general managers have recommended extending the first round of the playoffs from the current five-game format to seven games.
They also voted to base first-round playoff matchups strictly on records, with the No. 1 team playing No. 4, and No. 2 meeting No. 3.
The general managers, meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., gave their recommendation to Major League Baseball President Paul Beeston, who will present it to the owners’ executive council Monday.
“We believe that with a seven-game series, you have a better chance of the best team advancing,” said Cincinnati Reds GM Jim Bowden. “There was very strong support for this.”
Under the general managers’ proposal to base postseason matchups on teams’ records, a division champion could play a wild-card team from the same division in the first round. Under the current setup, wild-card teams can’t face opponents from their division in the first round.
The general managers also voted for a 2-3-2 setup in which the home-field advantage would go to the club with the higher regular-season winning percentage.
Sheffield deal? The Red Sox are interested in Marlins outfielder Gary Sheffield, according to the Boston Globe.
Boston General Manager Dan Duquette, who drafted Sheffield while working for the Milwaukee Brewers, will talk to the Marlins about Sheffield and pitcher Kevin Brown, the paper said. With owner Wayne Huizenga trying to sell the team, the Marlins are attempting to cut their payroll.
Not so fast: With Minnesota lawmakers balking at a plan to finance a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins, Don Beaver cautioned that his bid to move the team to North Carolina could meet a similar fate.
Beaver has a deal with Twins owner Carl Pohlad to buy the team if the Minnesota Legislature fails to approve a stadium funding package by Nov. 30. Beaver would ask major-league owners for permission to move the franchise to the Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem region for the 1999 season.
The Minnesota House of Representatives rejected a stadium-funding plan Thursday night and the Senate adjourned Friday, apparently clearing a major hurdle for the Twins to come to North Carolina. But Beaver said Friday he won’t move the team if voters in the area reject a plan to use public funds to finance the bulk of the cost of a new stadium.
History in making: The legacy of Nisei baseball is getting a chance to bat in the major leagues.
Beginning in January, pictures of baseball icons like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig standing alongside Japanese-American players will be displayed at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., said Kerry Yo Nakagawa, project director of the Nisei Baseball Research Project.
Nakagawa has been spearheading a traveling Nisei baseball exhibit that has toured in Fresno, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area. The display is scheduled to make stops in Phoenix, Seattle and Los Angeles.
But nothing compares with getting a chance to showcase photos, models of baseball stadiums and memorabilia in Cooperstown, Nakagawa said.
“We’ve come a long way in 18 months. When we got the call, I was just jumping around all over the place,” he said. “Then I sat back to reflect; my uncle has personally played with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Lefty O’Doul. . . . I have other uncles who played with Jackie Robinson.”
In order to keep the current schedule of tour stops for the exhibit, Nakagawa said he’ll build a new display for the Hall of Fame.
