Willie, Mickey and The Duke

There is talk of expanding the play-off format in Major League Baseball. Yikes.

As it stands now, the World Series will end early November. Is the idea to make some 12 year old's Christmas wish come true- that his team might win the series Christmas day? That's sweet but some other kid is gonna have to settle for the lump of coal that is his team losing.

They would like to add more wild-card teams and short series to justify these additions. Maybe one game play-offs or even best two-of-three match-ups. That's not entirely horrible. Yes, some teams would have a shot at the championship that didn't really deserve it but, more often than not, they would be quickly eliminated because they are not that good. And if a tenth seed did go all the way- that would be great. The Twins just went out in three games to the Yankees. I like the Twins, they are a good team (and I can say that because I'm a Cub fan and a Jim Thome fan) but, paper and regular season success means nothing if you can't beat the Yankees in the first round. That's baseball.

If they are going to make an addition like this, how about beginning with a subtraction? Take away eight regular season games and go back to the 154 game season that ended in the 50's. Let the play-offs begin in late September when most of the country is still enjoying decent weather. Yes, those last eight games can be very exciting for teams in a pennant race. They can be equally exciting as the last eight of 154. Any team that's out of it by August isn't going to fill those stands at the end of the year no matter what. I don't see it as a loss of revenue. The teams in it or that have a serious chance, will still draw as game 154 approaches. With 10 (or more?) teams contending, they'll be a couple more sell outs than before as other cities live the dream.

One fifty four was baseball up until the late 50's, I think. When Maris broke Ruth's single season home run in '61, they deemed his *record* would have an asterisk as Ruth had hit 60 in 154 games, Maris 61 in 162. Really, any record broken since then should have an asterisk. Level that playing field too while we're at it.

Jeez- why not? Minnesota had beautiful weather last week as they lost to the Yankees in their brand new, outdoor stadium. What if they had won? They might be shoveling snow in Minnesota in two- three weeks. That's not baseball.