So today is July 11th, The day after the All Star "Game". I put that in quotes because calling that a game is ludicrous. Using that to determine home field advantage is a joke. So, say an 86 game-winning NL team makes it through to the Series. Because Verlander decided that he wanted to hit 101 MPH in the first inning to "give the fans a show", a hypothetical AL team with 15 more wins will have to play on the road. Idiotic. Unfortunately, whenever Bud Selig is involved, I expect the dumbest decision to be made. Selig gives David Stern a run for his money as the worst major sports commissioner going. On top of the All Star Crapfest, throw in the extra wild card team, Pete Rose, and the fact that the baseball season runs until Christmas now, and you have scratched the surface of the running joke that is Selig's tenure over the last decade or so.
The extra wild card spot for a one game playoff is beyond stupid. Now, as opposed to being able to start their ace in the first game of the Division Sereis, the wild cards will have to trot him out for a one game playoff. It's either that, or else the manager pitches someone else to save the ace, and gets crushed for running out another pitcher if they lose. Selig said that this "allows two additional markets to experience playoff baseball each year." Not really. This allows two markets to play a 163 game season. If you can't earn the wild card in 162 games, why should you get a one game shot at it? So if you are five games back, but in second in the wild card standings, you deserve to advance on the basis of one game? Come on.
As has been mentioned before, I am not a Reds fan. I do, however, recognize those who are the lifeblood of baseball. Pete Rose is as much a part of baseball history as peanuts, Cracker Jack, and chewing tobacco. Charlie Hustle was everything that baseball is supposed to be. I defy anyone to name me another player who embodies all that is best about baseball the way he did. Yes, he bet on baseball. Yes, he lied about that. He never bet against his own team. I believe him. Someone as competitive as he was could not do that. Athletes like that (Jordan was one of those guys) cannot stand losing. There is no way he would lose even one game purposefully. Yet Selig has continued to keep Pete away from the game. Am I saying he should be allowed to manage again, like he said he wants to? Not necessarily. But how is this man not in the Hall of Fame? How is Mark McGwire allowed to be a hitting coach, but you can't so much as mention the name Pete Rose in a major league park without Selig's goons whisking you off 'V for Vendetta' style? I saw it happen. My buddy Josh was calling our friend, whose name happened to be Pete Roush. As soon as he got "Pete R..." out of his mouth, four guys wearing MLB blazers popped up, slipped a black bag over his head, and beat the dickens out of him with billy clubs. Never saw him again. OK, so maybe I made that up. Seriously, though, put him in the damn Hall of Fame.
Remember what Reggie Jackson's nickname was? Mr. October. Now postseason performers are being called Mr. November. It's only a matter of time before the playoffs run so long that clutch performers are referred to as Mr. Claus. The season runs long enough as it is. Scarcity builds demand. Anyone who has taken any economics course understands the relationship because supply and demand. When you flood the market with something, the demand for it declines. When your season/playoffs run for 11 months out of the year, it is hard to drive up the demand for it. This is what the NFL has perfected. Even when the NFL has nothing going on, it drives the sports world. The draft is huge. Training camp is huge. Free agency is huge. That is a model to follow. Not the old "cram as many games as we can in, and people will show up" strategy.
On top of terrible decision-making, Selig appears more and more confused every time he appears in public. Is this the man we want representing the league we love? I don't think so. Retire, Bud.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Hate this guy. Perfect picture too. When will he finally just go away? We need to round up some people, put Selig on a camel, make him ride backwards in the saddle, blindfolded with a bucket on his head, and send him off into a desert somewhere. We all sound off with conkshell horns as he rides off to his certain death.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you laughing at? Cause I called your friend a fat pig? Why don't you get a horse, move up the mountains, don't bother anybody. You have a personality like a dead moth.
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