The holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday is upon us. The one day out of the year even non-football fans tune in to watch the game, or advertisements as the case may be.
This got me wondering what baseball could do to create a similar frenzy around the world and build a similar media circus.
The Plan
My grand idea will be hated by baseball purists around the world, so it probably is a good idea.
The first thing I would do to create a media frenzy is shorten the length of time the World Series takes. No I am not saying shorten the series, shorten the number of days.
Shorten The Series
How do I shorten the duration? Lets bring an old staple of baseball into the World Series...Day-Night Double Headers. My plan would have one game played on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturday and Sunday the Day-Night Double-Headers are played.
By playing three games before the weekend, a buildup to the last game is happening. It puts more emphasis on the first 3 games and increased emphasis on the remaining games by having double-headers for the last four games.
Saturday would become the most anticipated day, a champion could be crowned. People would watch anticipating the champion with the possibility of that anticipation lasting through to Sunday. A weekend long party could take place, especially IF the team down going into the Saturday double-header wins the first game.
Double-headers bring management and the five-man rotation back into the series. The best overall team has the advantage, not the team with the best three starters.
Logistics
Now comes the logistics problem. How can you play 7 games in 5 days and travel? Easy, neutral site. This allows the host city to plan and build events around the World Series. It allows fans to plan months in advance to attend the festivities and get tickets.
- The media has a field day with the week leading to the series.
- Advertisers jump at the chance to push their products on another world stage.
- The fans can plan on watching or attending the games on the weekend.
- The host cities will line up for a chance to host the event.
I know it will never happen, Selig does not have the vision nor creativity to make baseball nor the World Series the events they were in years gone by.
Links
CBS Sportsline breaks out the hate by featuring Jack and Jose.
The Post Gazette has a Hot Stove report that covers Altoona and the bumper crop of prospects that will be there this season. The list includes McCutchen, Walker and Lincoln. I found it odd, with all the prospects named, Bixler was not included? Maybe it was an oversight by everyone involved in the article?
The Hot Stove report also touches base on Jose Castillo in the Caribbean World Series, LaRoches interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Torres as closer and 24 players on the 40-man roster signed their first professional contract with the Pirates (most in the majors).
The Tribune Review gets around to reporting on Sanchez and Kolb. The most satisfying part of the article is the proclamation by Littlefield that Torres is the closer. Isn't that Tracy's job to make that decision?
1 comment:
I'm pretty sure Bixler is slated to be at Indy.
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