The Purity of Baseball

Let me say at the outset that I am a Cardinals fan and have been for years.  Baseball once occupied more time and interest in my life than it does now but I still follow the sport.  I am excited the Cards are in the playoffs and I am rooting for them to win the World Championship.

That said, though, I want to be honest about the game today:  it has lost the purity it once held.  Among major sports, baseball was unique.  It has never been governed by the clock but by outs and innings.  It is a team sport yet highlights both offensive and defensive skills of individuals.  Every player in the game must pick up the bat as well as put on the glove.  It is a game where the winners must prove themselves over a LONG season (not 16 or 18 games, not 80 games, but over 150 games).  It is a sport where the teams playing for the championship do not meet during the season until the championship series.  Well, that's the way it used to be.

In all honesty, the Cardinals do not deserve to be playing for the title this year any more than they did last year.  The Baltimore Orioles should be home watching games on television rather than trying to upset the Yankees.  These teams are "wild card" teams, which you might find in other major sports but would never have found in baseball in years gone by.

When I was young, pitchers always batted.  But, baseball decided years ago to implement the "designated hitter" rule which takes the bat out of pitchers' hands (praise the National League for not caving on this issue!).

When I was young, players did not use performance enhancing drugs as best we know.  If betting for or against teams in baseball is enough to get you banned for life, so should using drugs which enhance your abilities. 

When I was young, doubleheaders were somewhat common.  Often Sundays featured 2 games.  Sometimes there would be "twi-night" games where teams would play an afternoon game and then play again in the evening.  The only doubleheaders scheduled these days are for making up rain outs.

When I was young, teams played a 154 game (then a 162 game) season among the teams IN ITS LEAGUE.  There were no games between opposing league teams except an occasional exhibition game.  Teams played a consistent schedule with their rivals (154 game season:  play each league opponent 22 times, 11 in each park; 162 game season:  play each league opponent 18 times, 9 in each park).  Check out the schedules today. 

When I was young, the only way your team played for the championship was to WIN the long season and the league championship.  But no longer.  Now, if you have the first or second best record of any team NOT winning the division title, you get to play for the championship?!  This is like giving a trophy to ever kid who plays on a team even if your team did not win a game and the kid really wasn't very good.

Next season will feature at least one game a DAY between opposing league teams.  The 16 team National League is surrendering the lowly Houston Astros to the 14 team American League giving each league 15 teams.  That forces inter-league play on a daily basis.  Schedule inconsistency gets even worse.

I really wish the major leagues went back to the purity it had when I was young.  Ditch the designated hitter and make that pitcher play both sides "of the ball."  Award only the winning teams in the game and not the runners-up.  Separate the leagues as they were originally designed.  Of course, none of this will happen primarily because of financial reasons.

IF I WERE THE DICTATOR OF BASEBALL, I would:

1.  End the designated hitter.
2.  Divide major league baseball into 4, 8 team leagues (that requires adding 2 teams).  Each league plays only the teams within its league in a 154 game schedule, 22 against their opponents, 11 at each park.  You can always watch the other teams on television.
3.  To play for the championship, a team MUST win its league.  No wild cards are permitted.
4.  Allow the 4 winning teams to play either a playoff system like we have today (4 out of 7 to get to the Series, then 4 out of 7 to win the Series).  Or, perhaps some sort of round robin system could be employed.
5.  Ban from the game for life any user of performance enhancing drugs.  NO WARNINGS.  And there are none who are "too big to fail."

I suspect there are many out there who are glad I am not the dictator of baseball!  :)

Go Cards!