Today is the first day of the MLB season...at least technically speaking. There are only 2 games on tap for today, the Dodgers at the Giants (a game the Giants won 3-1, I might add), and the Braves at the Phillies. And so we again get to see a start to the MLB season that does not feature a full slate of games. This is something I don't really understand. I know that baseball figures they'll get higher ratings in those one or two games that start the season by themselves, and I'm sure the ratings are good. But really, it doesn't seem to me that it's as effective a strategy as a full slate of games. If you're an Indians fan, do you really care that the Giants beat the Dodgers for the first win of the 2009 season? Or if you follow the Rockies, will you really be enthralled by a game pitting the Braves against the Phillies? It just seems, to me, that a full slate of games would make a lot more sense to start the MLB season. In fact, since inter-league play is apparently here to stay, why not use it to start the season? Make opening day games that will really get some people's attention. Pit the Yankees versus the Mets, the Cubs and the White Sox, the Giants and the A's. We've got to be able to do better than two games in which two of the teams didn't even make the playoffs last years. Hell, if you're going to make opening day an event of such exclusiveness, why not have just one game, let the two teams from the previous year's World Series go at it. Anything has got to be better than putting four teams out there in which one is guaranteed not to make the playoffs. I'm sure baseball thought this was a good idea at the time, but at the time, I'm sure a lot of things seem like a good idea.
There's a reason baseball is not as popular as it once was, and while the steroid era is seen as the main reason, the truth is that management is the really cause. Management has allowed the hollowed grounds of one of America's great games to become tarnished, be it through steroids or salary inflation or just the cost of going to games. I look at it this way, anything that will cost a family of four over $75 dollars to do, and that's with some of the worst seats in almost any ballpark, is a bad business model. Here's a good example, the Mets, like the Yankees, are opening a brand new stadium this season. The cheapest available season tickets for the Mets this season run at a cost of $2025 for one ticket, $4050 for two, plus a $25 delivery fee. Guessing that most people don't want to go to a game alone, this means that it will cost $4075 for season tickets in the upper deck. That doesn't include tax and already you're right at $50 a game for 2 people. No food, no drink, no transportation, $50 dollars a game. That's outrageous! And it's a wonder why baseball is having such a money crisis right now. I'm not even going to touch player salaries or team payrolls or bringing in a salary cap. That's an issue that many people have discussed before and I have no real reason to hash into the same tired old debate.
Baseball isn't a bad game, it's a good game. No, it's a great game. It's the people running it that are bringing in all the problems right now. At least, that's how I see it.
