MLB Season to start earlier in 2011

[HedleyLamarr]

Typical ESPN game with Miller and Morgan

This is Jon Miller Hall of Fame announcer with Joe Morgan Hall of Famer and the greatest second baseman who ever lived.

There's a ground ball to Cano who scoops and throws out Ellsburry, that was smooth Joe but not as smooth as you.

Joe Cano is good but he would have not been a bat boy on the Big Red Machine, I remember the season we went 162-0 Jon nobody could beat us, and no team compares to us.

I know Joe that is because you were on the team, just your presence makes anything better.

Mets Centerfielder Carlos Beltron

Who's Joe Cano?

[oakland ehs]

There should really be six 5 team divisions, so that all division opponents see the same schedule.

There would be interleague play all season long if this were the case. Or off days all over the place. And entirely random schedules. Playing a series would no longer be possible.

You have to have an even number of teams in each league. Plain and simple.

[crashcarson15]

Typical ESPN game with Miller and Morgan

This is Jon Miller Hall of Fame announcer with Joe Morgan Hall of Famer and the greatest second baseman who ever lived.

There's a ground ball to Cano who scoops and throws out Ellsburry, that was smooth Joe but not as smooth as you.

Joe Cano is good but he would have not been a bat boy on the Big Red Machine, I remember the season we went 162-0 Jon nobody could beat us, and no team compares to us.

I know Joe that is because you were on the team, just your presence makes anything better.

Mets Centerfielder Carlos Beltron

Who's Joe Cano?

I think he means it as

Joe: "Cano is good..."

That was my interpretation of it at least.

[WSU151]

I don't mind unions necessarily, but the MLBPA is way too powerful.

I agree, today I think most unions screw things up more than make things better.

Anyway, this seems to be a step in the right direction. I'd like to see the season end even earlier, by shorten the postseason series. However I don't think it will ever happen. I'd also like to see the schedule more balanced. There should really be six 5 team divisions, so that all division opponents see the same schedule.

15-team "conferences" in MLB wouldn't really work. Baseball loves it's American League teams playing each other, and it's National League teams playing each other...until Interleague play rolls around. If the American League had 15 teams, one team is off every night in non-interleague play; ditto for National League.

[PurpleRush]

Good move.

Baseball should not be played in November.

Hockey shouldn't be played in June either.

Chopping the NHL schedule back to 74 games,

and eliminating 4 days off in a row would shave a month off the schedule and get the Cup hoisted in early / mid May.

[HedleyLamarr]

There should really be six 5 team divisions, so that all division opponents see the same schedule.

There would be interleague play all season long if this were the case. Or off days all over the place. And entirely random schedules. Playing a series would no longer be possible.

You have to have an even number of teams in each league. Plain and simple.

Does an Interleague game played in September count more in the standings than it does in June or April?

[BBTV]

Double headers put an incredible burdon on the Event Staff - the ushers, vendors, venue managers, etc. As fans, we'd all like the occasional double header, but with the staffing requirements of today's stadiums, it's not very practical. Also, some teams can only have day-night double headers, as they sell too many tickets and can't afford the lost gate. That's even harder on the staff.

I had never thought of the event staff portion of the equation. Thanks for pointing that out. But the lost gate argument is outdated, I think. Teams now have 3, 4, or 5 pricing schedules based on who's in town and what day of the week it is. Make a doubleheader pricing schedule that's about 150-175% of the regular game price, and there you go. I can understand the necessity of day-nights for make-up games, but if you know going into the season that these five days are going to be doubleheaders, there's no reason a team can't plan and price accordingly.

You simply wouldn't sell out those double headers. Very few people are going to sit through two games, and pay a premium to go to the one that they want to see. With the price of concessions, it becomes an extremely expensive day. Plus, you have the social aspect of going to a game - let's face it - people aren't packing stadiums because of their "love of the game". It's a night out. A date. A party. While there are some people who would jump at the opportunity to spend their entire day watching baseball, my bet is that the majority would not.

[Sodboy13]

What if, say, the scheduled doubleheaders always fell on Saturday, Sundays, and/or the three in-season holidays - Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day? Market it for families as a big day out at the ballpark, or some such thing.

[BBTV]

I don't know. Around here, everybody goes down the shore during Memorial day and Labor day, so those are sometimes tough sells even for single games.

We're talking about 7 hours of baseball. That's 7 hours of being out in potentially 90+ degree heat, and 7 hours of kids asking you to buy them $4 hot dogs and $3.75 sodas, and you buying $7.25 beers. Baseball in big markets is priced high enough s it is for families, I just think this would be worse. Also, if the team does routinely sell out every game, then there's just no incentive for them to implement your reduced-price admission plan. I guess maybe it could work in some places, but I think that in most, it wouldn't.

[BaltimoreFan]

There should really be six 5 team divisions, so that all division opponents see the same schedule.

There would be interleague play all season long if this were the case. Or off days all over the place. And entirely random schedules. Playing a series would no longer be possible.

You have to have an even number of teams in each league. Plain and simple.

Does an Interleague game played in September count more in the standings than it does in June or April?

Exactly, they should just spread the current interleague across the entire season. These uneven schedules create too many differences in the schedules of teams in the same divisions. Each team in a division should have an identical schedule to the other teams. That better team can truely be determined. Its not fair if one team has to face the Cardinals for a 3 game series, while the other gets the Pirates, just because the divisions are uneven.

[Bronxmet]

There should really be six 5 team divisions, so that all division opponents see the same schedule.

There would be interleague play all season long if this were the case. Or off days all over the place. And entirely random schedules. Playing a series would no longer be possible.

You have to have an even number of teams in each league. Plain and simple.

Does an Interleague game played in September count more in the standings than it does in June or April?

Exactly, they should just spread the current interleague across the entire season. These uneven schedules create too many differences in the schedules of teams in the same divisions. Each team in a division should have an identical schedule to the other teams. That better team can truely be determined. Its not fair if one team has to face the Cardinals for a 3 game series, while the other gets the Pirates, just because the divisions are uneven.

It is a big deal because it lessens the impact of the September Stretch Drives. Having division teams play each other in September plays a bigger role in determining pennant races as opposed to interleague games.

[BaltimoreFan]

There should really be six 5 team divisions, so that all division opponents see the same schedule.

There would be interleague play all season long if this were the case. Or off days all over the place. And entirely random schedules. Playing a series would no longer be possible.

You have to have an even number of teams in each league. Plain and simple.

Does an Interleague game played in September count more in the standings than it does in June or April?

Exactly, they should just spread the current interleague across the entire season. These uneven schedules create too many differences in the schedules of teams in the same divisions. Each team in a division should have an identical schedule to the other teams. That better team can truely be determined. Its not fair if one team has to face the Cardinals for a 3 game series, while the other gets the Pirates, just because the divisions are uneven.

It is a big deal because it lessens the impact of the September Stretch Drives. Having division teams play each other in September plays a bigger role in determining pennant races as opposed to interleague games.

2 of Tampa Bay's last 3 series are against the Mariners and Royals (the other is against the already elminated Orioles)

2 of the White Sox last 3 series are against the Angels and Red Sox (the other is against the Indians)

The Reds have 11 September games against the NL West

3 of San Diego's last 5 series are against the NL Central

How is any of this different than a random interleague series? I've heard this September argument before and its pretty weak IMO. Why does it matter when the games are played as long as they are played. It sucks alot more if when one team has to face a contender and another has to face a loser. Especially if the divison comes down to a couple games.

If it really bothers people that much, just schedule the bad teams from the year before to have interleague series at the end of September. They are less likely to turn it around, and it may give their fans something to look forward to in September.

[Sport]

I really wouldn't care if there was always an interleague series going on. Every other league seems to handle it okay. I think it's ridiculous that one division only has 4 teams while another has 6. Move the Brewers back to the AL Central and put Kansas City in the AL west. 6 divisions of 5 with a balanced schedule and things would be nice and then finally I, along with the rest of the NL Central fans could stop complaining.

[WJMorris3]

Or we could go with a single table, expand the season 12 games to 174, play everyone 6 times (3 home and 3 away), and the top team at the end of the year gets the title.

[Sport]

Or we could go with a single table, expand the season 12 games to 174, play everyone 6 times (3 home and 3 away), and the top team at the end of the year gets the title.

That's :censored:ing stupid. There's a reason MLB added the postseason and divisions. It was because by this time of the season all but three or sometimes four teams had a legitimate shot at the pennant. If 26 of the 30 teams have no shot then there's little incentive for the fans of the teams already out of it to even go to the ballpark. Also, a team could conceiveably clinch the championship weeks before the season is set to end. Then you lose your highest rated games of the season when you don't play the postseason (ie, a big moneymaker) You also lose the best competition of the season.

Dumb dumb idea. Not a surprise coming from you though.

[njmeadowlanders]

I really wouldn't care if there was always an interleague series going on. Every other league seems to handle it okay. I think it's ridiculous that one division only has 4 teams while another has 6. Move the Brewers back to the AL Central and put Kansas City in the AL west. 6 divisions of 5 with a balanced schedule and things would be nice and then finally I, along with the rest of the NL Central fans could stop complaining.

Not to turn this into Reel Line Mint but wouldn't moving Houston to the AL West be the way to go? That way they have a same time-zone partner w/ the Rangers at least so all their division road games don't start at 9:00 local time? Or Arizona to the AL West and Houston to the NL West, but that would create the "Ranger Problem" too...

[BBTV]

At the end of the year, you're either in a race against a division foe for that title, or against the rest of your league for the wild card. It's more fun as a fan to watch games that have direct two-way impact on the races. The games still count as much, but the intensity would likely be higher if team A is playing against a team that it is fighting with for that spot.

[WJMorris3]

Or we could go with a single table, expand the season 12 games to 174, play everyone 6 times (3 home and 3 away), and the top team at the end of the year gets the title.

That's :censored:ing stupid. There's a reason MLB added the postseason and divisions. It was because by this time of the season all but three or sometimes four teams had a legitimate shot at the pennant. If 26 of the 30 teams have no shot then there's little incentive for the fans of the teams already out of it to even go to the ballpark. Also, a team could conceiveably clinch the championship weeks before the season is set to end. Then you lose your highest rated games of the season when you don't play the postseason (ie, a big moneymaker) You also lose the best competition of the season.

Dumb dumb idea. Not a surprise coming from you though.

Hey, it works for the EPL et al. The world actually got this one right.

[cameroncrazie07]

Thank You MLB nobody wants to see this again

[Sport]

Or we could go with a single table, expand the season 12 games to 174, play everyone 6 times (3 home and 3 away), and the top team at the end of the year gets the title.

That's :censored:ing stupid. There's a reason MLB added the postseason and divisions. It was because by this time of the season all but three or sometimes four teams had a legitimate shot at the pennant. If 26 of the 30 teams have no shot then there's little incentive for the fans of the teams already out of it to even go to the ballpark. Also, a team could conceiveably clinch the championship weeks before the season is set to end. Then you lose your highest rated games of the season when you don't play the postseason (ie, a big moneymaker) You also lose the best competition of the season.

Dumb dumb idea. Not a surprise coming from you though.

Hey, it works for the EPL et al. The world actually got this one right.

ugh, I hate you.

It's a stupid comparison. The EPL throws its top 4 teams into the UEFA champions league tournament. It doesn't really matter if you win the league or not as long as you're in the top 4. It's basically a pennant race in itself. Then they have a slew of lower playoffs and and leagues and tournaments for the teams outside the top 4. With the threat of relegation and the smaller leagues that teams outside the top 4 enter into there is an incentive for all 20 teams to fight hard until the end of the season. It's comparing apples and oranges because baseball has only the world championship, no relegation, no lower tier playoffs, and nothing but "pride" to keep teams at the bottom playing their hardest until the last game of the year.

Here's where your missing the point. The point of a league is not simply to determine a champion, it's to provide entertaining and exciting action throughout the course of an entire season that ultimately determines a championship, or in baseball's case, a division title/wildcard. Your system would take any interest out of the season. Your system would eliminate half the teams immediately and by August there would 4 teams (at the most) out of 30 still in the running. That's not exciting or enthralling. That doesn't keep fanbases interested. At the worst, baseball always has at least 8 teams with a shot at the world championship. Your proposal for baseball is still :censored:ing stupid.