Discussion Topic: Should the World Series be played in a neutral site?

[Tentomushi5150]

I think the easiest option is simply give it to the team with the best record.

If the all-star game was actually an all-star game then it could conceivably be used to determine home field advantage, but until they knock off the "every team must have a player on the team" practice it can't be used. And no, the ASG still means nothing considering the way it's managed.

[Epiphanic]

The benefit of having homefield advantage being decided by the All-Star Game is that there can not be a tie. It started as a big media gimmick (I suppose it still is), but I'd make one slight change. I think that alternating homefield between AL and NL is an admirable goal and if it's so important, the rules of each year's ASG are taken from the league that lost the previous ASG, regardless of where it's played.

As far as the playoffs is concerned, the current format can be played in 27 days. No "off days" when no travel is requred and only one off day for travel (between cities or for a new series). It can be done in 28 days if you want to stagger the two leagues so there's baseball everyday (assuming each series goes the distance).

With respect to the poster that said they should give it to the best team in the league like they did pre-1969, 1969 was the first time the leagues were split into divisions. Unless you're proposing that we eliminate divisions and have a massive league table with balanced scheduling, I must protest and argue that the current system is fine.

[BBTV]

IMO having the All*Star game determine home field is ridiculous. It is still an exhibition, and is managed as such. Also, in baseball more so than any other sport, a single game shouldn't decide anything of importance IMO. Also2, a good number of the players have no shot of playing in the WS, so I'm not sure that they really care about the game. I don't know what a fair way of assigning home field would be, since record isn't really a good comparison between teams in different leagues.

As for the neutral site thing - it works in football because it is one game with a lot of lead-in time. It would be horrible for everyone involved if baseball moved to this format. IMO they should either shorten the season to 154 games, or eliminate the All*Star game / break.

[Korkie]

It's pretty amazing that in 100 years they never had a situation like this. With all the NYY and other northeast hosted Series you would think it would have happened. As far as a neutral site goes, no way, but I am still on the fence with the All Star Game thing, it does give the game purpose, but at the same time it would seem unfair for a team with the better record to not have home field advantage.

[scooter13]

World Series at a neutral site is an awful idea. The Super Bowl is just one game its fine, but you cant ask a group of fans get together for a seven game series in a neutral city.

It happens every March in Basketball. That seems to work out OK. Just saying...

Well those are practice games, and have zero intensity.

You read that wrong Tank. He was talking about March Madness. Basketball, not baseball.

[-kj]

The March logic falls flat, given that it's not a series of games between the same two teams.

[Jer15]

here a theory:

First let me state that this one is not my own, but rather from the great (at least in my opinion) mind of Mr. Bob McCown of prime time sports. I completely agree with this idea.

Cut the season down some games. He said something like 50 off of a team's schedual, I won't be as extreme I think 10 to 20 is plenty enough.

That brings us back a week or two and then he get a better possibility of nice warm weather, which really is the issue here, not the fact that it happened to rain this time around.

Truth is, as Bob stated, the people who say "hey, i'm gonna check out 3 baseball games this year" aren't going to go to any less games because they have less games to choose from, they'll just deal with it and choose from what they have to choose from.

[BaltimoreFan]

It's pretty amazing that in 100 years they never had a situation like this. With all the NYY and other northeast hosted Series you would think it would have happened. As far as a neutral site goes, no way, but I am still on the fence with the All Star Game thing, it does give the game purpose, but at the same time it would seem unfair for a team with the better record to not have home field advantage.

Well the Series has been pushed back over the years. The World Series was orginally played in the first half of October. But as more playoffs were added, they've been forced to push the series back later into October. I'm not sure what the weather is like farther north, but here in Maryland the weather is nice at the begining of October, but gets bad by the end. So really the extra couple of weeks make all the difference.

Really I think MLB needs to find a way to condense the playoffs. Either switch back to 2 divisions and eliminate the Division series. Or shorten the current series (3 games for Divisional, 5 games for LCS). I that should help with the weather, but also make the playoffs better to watch. I felt these playoffs were very long and I lost alot of interest by the time the World Series started.

[CC97]

Split the first 6 games, Game 7 goes to a neutral site.

No home field advantage.

[Cola]

World Series at a neutral site is an awful idea. The Super Bowl is just one game its fine, but you cant ask a group of fans get together for a seven game series in a neutral city.

It happens every March in Basketball. That seems to work out OK. Just saying...

Well those are practice games, and have zero intensity.

Huh? Those games have more intensity in one round than any World Series will ever have. To be honest, I could care less where they play baseball at anymore because of how boring and superficial it all has become...BUT I say leave it as it is because it won't be long before Northerners complain that the South is taking away all the championship games.

The realistic thing is that the Northern US is just a nasty and undesirable place to have championship games in any sport except hockey. You have to take the fans into consideration as well because that is really all the league cares about...the gate. They want to bring as much money as possible in and if it takes having the series in Miami one year, Houston the next, and then San Diego...I'm sure it could work.

I think they have bigger issues to work on though...like why in the hell does a game start so late at night and last until after midnight? Kids can't stay up and watch that...they are losing a large part of their fan base and alienating the ones who will carry the love of the game. It just doesn't make sense to me from that perspective...BUT, again, they care about the gate. Primetime television spot and plenty of time for paying customers to cram into the gate with enough time between work and game time. I'd like to see 5 and 6pm games for these playoffs and championships.

Starting the season a few weeks earlier would help...as well as possibly playing 3 to 4 doubleheaders throughout the year, but again...that hurts the gate. Baseball has just sold out to money and big business and money owns it...more so than other sports, IMO. All decisions will be primarily financially based...and it is hard to blame the organizations when they are paying one human being 300 million dollars to play a sport for 7 years.

[DEAD!]

Split the first 6 games, Game 7 goes to a neutral site.

No home field advantage.

Milwaukee it is!

[oddball]

MLB is so stupid. The longer the season goes into the NFL season, the more they kill themselves, and going to a neutral site would be dumb. I do think they need to award the team with the best record home field advantage. What they need to do say the season goes from the beginning of April to the end of August and then have September for the playoff.

[ProvidenceRI]

Flip a coin, let winner decide if they want games 1, 2 and 5 at their stadium, or 3, 4 and 6.

Game 7 should absolutely be played on a neutral site.

There is no fair statistical way to say that team A from League Y is better than team B from League X, so you have to be fair about home field advantage. League X could be a much better league, but team A might be better than every team in League X. You can't punish a team for being in a crappy league.

To those of you who are saying it's worked for a 100 years, it hasn't! The whole point of this thing is to determine who is the best team.

[rams80]

Game 7 should absolutely be played on a neutral site.

Sure, what's another travel day or two?

[DDR]

Flip a coin, let winner decide if they want games 1, 2 and 5 at their stadium, or 3, 4 and 6.

Game 7 should absolutely be played on a neutral site.

There is no fair statistical way to say that team A from League Y is better than team B from League X, so you have to be fair about home field advantage. League X could be a much better league, but team A might be better than every team in League X. You can't punish a team for being in a crappy league.

To those of you who are saying it's worked for a 100 years, it hasn't! The whole point of this thing is to determine who is the best team.

I may disagree with what you said, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

[BBTV]

Split the first 6 games, Game 7 goes to a neutral site.

No home field advantage.

I think whoever opens the series with two games at home still has the home field advantage. Also, it'd be nearly impossible for fans to make any travel plans with only a day or at most two notice to attend this neutral site. It's just one of those things where there is no good solution to the problem.

[Viper]

Here's my somewhat radical proposal: Keep the regular season as it is (with the provision that it end no later than the last Sunday in September), and keep the divisions as they are, but drop the wild-card teams. Both LCS would change format to an eight-game quadruple round-robin among the three division winners. Each team would play the other two four times each (two at home, two away). The team with the best record in those eight games would win the pennant and advance to the World Series.

[BBTV]

Here's my somewhat radical proposal: Keep the regular season as it is (with the provision that it end no later than the last Sunday in September), and keep the divisions as they are, but drop the wild-card teams. Both LCS would change format to an eight-game quadruple round-robin among the three division winners. Each team would play the other two four times each (two at home, two away). The team with the best record in those eight games would win the pennant and advance to the World Series.

Interesting... except that one of the teams in the round robin could be eliminated, but facing a team that needs the win, causing possible concerns about the integrity of the games.

[infrared41]

MLB is so stupid. The longer the season goes into the NFL season, the more they kill themselves, and going to a neutral site would be dumb. I do think they need to award the team with the best record home field advantage. What they need to do say the season goes from the beginning of April to the end of August and then have September for the playoff.

And that folks is the biggest problem of them all. I am a huge baseball fan but even I have to admit that by Halloween I am pretty much in football mode. If next year's World Series goes 7 we're looking at November 5 before the season is over. I shouldn't be thinking about baseball at the same time I am thinking about Ohio State-Michigan and the Big 10 race.

Here's the easy solution. Shorten the season back to 154 games. Get rid of unnecessary off days between playoff games. Have the northern teams play the first 7 to 10 games of the season in the west and south. They can make it up to these teams later in the season. Oh and tell FOX to shove their 8:40 start times. We do all of that and it should be wrapped up by mid-October and people outside fans of the two teams involved may actually care again.

[Gothamite]

Here's my somewhat radical proposal: Keep the regular season as it is (with the provision that it end no later than the last Sunday in September), and keep the divisions as they are, but drop the wild-card teams.

No way.

Wild Card is the best thing to happen to baseball in a long time. The past two seasons ought to be proof enough of that.