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May 22, 2010 Several months ago I wrote an article that suggested the National Basketball Association could cut its losses and make its sport even better by reducing the number of teams, which would strengthen rosters and make each game more exciting for fans. Baseball could do the same and might even have to. The only stable sports league for now is the NFL. Even the NHL has some stability, but there problem is having teams in cities where hockey has no history— Phoenix , Tam;a and Columbus are two examples. Like the NBA, in Major League Baseball several teams are losing money and in the case of the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates—both more than twenty years removed from their glory years—have stopped trying to be competitive. This does not bode well for the survival of the game and changes need to be made. The best way to shape up the finances of any corporation is to eliminate the waste. Even with newer ballparks, inter-league play and the addition of a wild card scenario, baseball attendance in some cities is shrinking. Oakland and Florida come to mind. The problem is, the season is too long and when a city’s team falls out of contention for a playoff spot, attendance dwindles. As a serious baseball fan, I would hate to see the league fall apart because of economics and fan disinterest. Hence, I offer these changes in Major League Baseball. 1. Reduce the number of days it takes to play the season. This could be accomplished by starting spring training a week earlier and by eliminating the final week of the exhibition season. This would mean that the first week of the season would begin in late March, upsetting purist, but it would be made up to them at season’s end. (More on this later) As for getting a team ready for Opening Day, that would pose no problem, not with some players opting to participate in winter ball, and during the exhibition season teams could play more intrasquad and split-squad games. Teams would also be scheduled to play three doubleheaders a year. This might affect a club’s bottom line, but in the end the effects would be negligible, considering the increase in fan attendance. The fact of the matter is, teams end up playing several DHs a year anyway due to rainouts, especially late in the season when such games have an impact on divisional races. Plus, these two-fers =would almost always be sell-out no matter how bad the team. The season would not have to be reduced, but it would mean each team would play the team outside their division 12 times—four three-game home and away series. (This would reduce travel expenses.) They would play each divisional opponent 18 times—9 home and 9 away. So already under my plan the season is reduced by 2-1/2 weeks, meaning the World Series would be played in Early October (as per tradition, satisfying the purists) and not late October, where the chances of having a game snowed out exists. 2. Nest we have to decide which teams to eliminate. This would be rather easy. I’d eliminate Oakland and Kansas City in the American league and realign the divisions as follows: (WEST) Texas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota. (EAST) New York, Baltimore, Toronto, Boston, Tampa and Cleveland. In the National League I would subtract Florida, Pittsburgh, Colorado and Washington . This would free 0[ noire fans for the longer-established and moribund Orioles franchise. Hence, my divisional realignment would go as follows: (WEST) San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona, Houston and Cincinnati. (EAST) New York, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Philadekphia and Atlanta. The teams from the disenfranchised teams would go into a draft and the remaining teams would select players in reverse order of finish. This would make each team stronger and improve the product put on the field. As for cutting Washington , Congress might fight that tooth and nail, so Arizona might have to get bounced, which would keep Washington in the East and move St. Louis to the West. 3. Changing the playoff system to enhance fan interest. The teams making the playoffs would be the division winners and the team with the next best record. Additional wild card teams would be added, consisting of the non-division winning teams with the second and third best records. These latter two teams would engage in a one-game play-in. This would mean almost half of the leagues teams would make the playoffs and leave more teams in contention late in the season. The one-game 0kay-in is brutal, but that would only heighten fan interest, especially if both teams had to pitch their aces. 4. To further strengthen the game, there would be a team salary cap and a pay scale similar to the one used by the NBA. Second, no player would be allowed to become a free agent for the first five years of their contract, and I would eliminate arbitration. The owners would not simply roll in the dough, but when profits reach a certain threshold, the team would be mandated to cut ticket prices by a similar percentage, keeping games affordable. Finally, owners of displaced franchises would be allowed to buy into other clubs adding a bit more stability to remaining franchises. Or perhaps some other arrangement could be set up, where the former team owners own a small percentage of each team and serve as a league Executive Board. Not a perfect plan to be sure, but better than what’s going on now. And as a fan, one can dream, eh? As for any other sport in trouble, I’m not big on soccer or even hockey. ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly is a poet, essayist, novelist and screenwriter from northern California. His novel, HUMAN TRIAL, is the first part of a sci-fi trilogy and is available from Amazon.com, allthingsthatmatterpress.com and in e-book format at mobipocket.com. HUMAN TRIAL II: ADAM'S WAR is now available. Stelly also has a short story included in the AIDS-themed anthology, THE SHATTERED GLASS EFFECT, due out in February 2010. His story, SNAKES IN THE GRASS, Is a tale of love, betrayal and its deadly consequences. Reviews of HUMAN TRIAL can be read at amazon.com Visit me at: http://www.myspace.com/pittwit website: http://www.stellyhumantrial.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com 
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