An interesting idea appeared in today’s New Jersey Star Ledger.  A couple of the Detroit Tiger players during the rain delay in St. Louis last evening were discussing the possibility of moving the World Series to Florida.  Their thoughts revolved around playing the series at spring training sites where the games could be broadcast for the entire country to watch. In this way the games could be played in warm weather with a much smaller chance of cancellation.  Certainly this idea has flaws but the basic principle has merit.  After all, baseball is the summer game, not the winter game.  A major problem this year has been the foul weather the games have been played in.

First off, you will never see the World Series played in a spring training facility.  Although spring ballparks are a far cry than what they used to be, they cannot compare to the size and stature of a Major League facility.  The idea of playing the World Series in a neutral site has come up before and like the SuperBowl, a warm weather city or stadium with a roof would be chosen.  It makes sense until you begin to look at all the intangibles. 

There are two major differences between post season baseball when comparing today to yesteryear.  The post season is now played later into the year then ever and most games including all World Series games are played at night.  Years ago, the season ended the last week of September.  The World Series followed and the latest it ended was in the first week of October.  The games were all played in the day time where temperatures that time of year are warm and in some years even hot, certainly conducive to playing baseball.  Divisional play was introduced in 1969 and with it came another level of post season play, playoffs between east and west.  Now the World Series conclusion was delayed about a week.  The Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles on October 16, 1969, the latest a World Championship was ever crowned and that series only went 5 games.  In 1972, another feature was added to post season play, night baseball. That year only 1 night game was played more or less as an experiment.  In 73’ all three Mets home games in the series against Oakland where played under Shea’s lights.  With the advent of the division series due to the wild card, the World Series now ends right around Halloween if it goes the full 7 games.  I’ll never forget game 6 of the 86’ World Series not just because of the incredible ending but also because I was at a Halloween party in full costume. Today because of TV revenue, all World Series games are played at night. 

So there you have it, the post season of baseball which use to take about a week now lasts a month and is played at night when the weather in the north is generally cold and often rainy as it has been this year.  Baseball is a finesse game designed to play in nice weather.  Players with the skill level of today’s athletes have difficulty hitting and throwing as a result of the cold and wet weather.  The game suffers because of the conditions which the game is played under when the weather is bad.  The problem is obviously more pronounced when northern teams who play in open air stadiums are involved.  Do you realize that the Twins will build a new stadium without a roof?  I hope they have put money in the budget for snow plows.

Moving the series to a neutral site is one solution. However, unlike the SuperBowl, the World Series can last a full 9 days if goes the full 7 games.  The SuperBowl by contrast is a one weekend event, it’s only one game.  It’s a lot easier for fans to commit to one weekend of travel and hotel arrangements as opposed to an entire week.  For instance how do you get 10,000 Mets fans to travel to Anaheim for a week?  It’s really not doable.  Also unlike football, baseball is really a regional game.  The season is long and fans are intimately involved in the team and the digs where their team plays.  To play such a long campaign (81 home game) plus playoffs then play the most important series of all at a neutral site seems somewhat blasphemes.  And what owner is going to give up the revenue they earn from hosting World Series games.  There is a better idea that will help solve the bad weather problem during the post season.

A neutral site will never happen in baseball so moving the series to warm weather cities or stadiums with roofs is not going to happen.  The best solution is to move the season up in the schedule.  The Series needs to end in the first half of October, not the end, no later than October 15 or 16.  In most cases the weather is not as bad in the first couple of weeks of October compared to the last couple.  Also, some of the games should be played during the day where temperatures are warmer.  Look, the World Series ratings stink anyway, why not experiment one year and see what the ratings are with a couple of day World Series games.  Remember, baseball is a kid’s game played by adults, a lot of those kids coming home from school will watch the World Series at a time when it is accessible to them.  There can be some flexibility here, start the games at 3:00 or 4:00PM EDT when it’s still pretty warm.

To move the playoffs up on the schedule would require starting the regular season earlier.  Instead of beginning the season the first week in April the schedule would need to start in the third week of March.  As I have discussed, you are not going to move the post season to warm weather sites but you can start the season at cities in the south and ones that have stadiums with roofs.  The season should start in California where all 5 Major League cities have nice weather in March.  Florida, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Minnesota (for the time being), Milwaukee, and Texas are all in warm weather climates or play under a roof.  True, the cold weather open air cities would be starting on the road every year and would begin the season with a long road trip but ultimately the quality of the game would improve because the game throughout the entire season would be played under optimal weather conditions.  Also, those teams in the north would get long home stands later during the season. 

The concept could be tweaked by starting the season in the last week of March and by scheduling a few double headers throughout the year.  Remember those?  In this way the 162 games could be compacted by playing the same number of games in fewer days.  Of course there are other things the powers that be could do to make sure the post season ends by the middle of October.  The players and owners could agree to shorten the season to 154 games the way it was before expansion in 1961 but that of course will never happen.  The owners will never agree to fewer games because that’s how they generate revenue.  That’s why you will never see double headers either except when a rained out game is made up.  The only hope that we as fans have to insure that the game we love is played under the utmost positive weather conditions is for the people that run the game, including the players, to come to their senses and do some of the things I and others have outlined.  Improving the quality under which the game is played improves the game itself.  And consumers have never had a problem with enjoying, appreciating, and most importantly paying for a product that is the best that it can be.