Here’s a scenario for you. The Boston Red Sox could play the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. This is very possible. Imagine the series goes to seven games. If that’s the case, the Rox and Sox would be at Fenway Park on November 5th with a game time of around 8:30PM. I know as a kid growing up, when I thought of November, I thought the summer game—sarcasm intended.

Last season, we witnessed the Phillies play against the Tampa Bay Rays in cold rainy conditions at Citizen’s Bank Park. After the series I wrote a scathing article on how Major League Baseball needed to do something about playing in these awful weather conditions. Well, they did. They pushed the schedule even further into the fall.

Of course if it turns out to be a Freeway series with the Angels facing the Dodgers, the point will be moot. In that case we’ll all be “California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day”.

If Detroit holds on and wins the American League Central, there will be five teams with a shot at being in the World Series in less than desirable weather conditions. Here are the average low/high and record temperatures for the five cities with a shot at hosting the World Series ending on November 5th

City                  low/high            rec low/rec high

Boston             41-55               17/79

New York        41-56               29/73

Philadelphia      43-58               26/80

Detroit              39-53               18/72

Denver, Co      23/54               0/84

This data only includes temperature. It says nothing of possible precipitation which is fairly common in early November.

You have to scratch your head at times. When will Major League Baseball do something to improve the conditions for its most import season? Is there anything baseball can do? The answer is yes and no.

Baseball could shorten the regular season, have less off days during the playoffs, and play during the day when temperatures are warmer. All of these ideas make sense for the good of the game. However, they are all bad for the good of the MLB wallet. And that’s the problem.

MLB is caught between a rock and a hard place. They want to make baseball as good as it can be but the almighty buck is most important. The networks call the shots as to when these games will be played because they are footing the bill. They need these games in prime time to charge as much as they can to their advertisers. We fans are the ones who suffer. We will continue to endure less than perfect baseball while the players are forced to play in such terrible conditions.

A neutral site has been suggested but that is unfair to the home crowds who have supported their team all season long. Baseball is not football. Baseball is a regional game. It’s one thing for fans to pay for a weekend at the Super Bowl, but very few have the time and money to spend a week at a neutral World Series site.

While all the solutions fly in the face of revenue, nothing will ever change. We  will just have to get used to baseball being played in the cold. Well at least the players will.