I love Bud Selig
It's too easy to bash Bud Selig. And, honestly, I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Mocking him is too easy. We could note his rumpled appearance. He doesn't look right in a suit, but I can't picture him wearing anything else. As long as he has clothes on, it's safely a win for society.
I want to tell you he's gotten a bad rap. That tied All-Star Game? Could have happened to anybody in the big chair. It was an impossible situation. I'm not going to second guess the guy by suggesting a home run derby could have ended the game or that any bit of foresight at all would have led somebody to realize that an All-Star game, eventually, would end in a tie. Hindsight is 20/20, they tell me.
Let's not pin the blame for at least a decade's worth of rampant steroid use in MLB on The Commish. He's not a king, he was fond of telling us at the time, and he can't simply decree drug testing to be the law of the land. God forbid he make it a key issue in bargaining agreements. That the league has a reasonably strong policy now isn't totally luck — credit somebody on The Commish's side for sneaking in a strong policy knowing or suspecting that enough players would fail announced, "anonymous" drug tests.
Now, the middling commissioner and former owner of a middling franchise wants to add a pair of teams to the playoffs. The world demands a wild-card round, apparently. Or advertisers do. There's money to be made and fans to be exploit ... nope, nope. Gotta keep my cool here. Too easy to hate, too hard to love My Bud.
Selig, in a conversation with Associated Press sports editors on Thursday, said expanded playoffs for 2012 are all but a certainty. The move would add a paltry one team as a wild card in both leagues. That's not so bad, right? The two wild card teams would meet for a series — presumably a best of five, but who knows? — while the division champions sip boat drinks and take extra BP.
You'll hear columnists and bloggers complain about the longer season. And there's a point to that. God forbid Minnesota or Detroit (or even Boston) are playing playoff games in November. But that doesn't really matter. Fans will still show up or watch the games on TV.
You'll hear others say that it creates an odd break between the regular season and the "real" playoffs. It puts the wild card teams, who have won their fair share of World Series titles in recent years (the Red Sox, Angels, Marlins and Diamondbacks have all won as wild cards). But awkward moments are a hobby of sorts for Selig, so that's not a compelling enough reason. Here's what Mike Scioscia said following a postseason break his team had: “Ridiculous. I don’t know. Can I say it any clearer than that? We should have never had a day off last Wednesday. We should never have three days off after the season. You shouldn’t even have two days off after the season."
The real reason you should be at least a little opposed to this plan is simple: With 162 games, the MLB season is really long. I know you're shocked by that information. The one thing that makes that number bearable is that only the best teams make the playoffs.
So what, you ask. What's the big deal about one more team from each league making the playoffs? I'll answer that with another question: Do you really think it will stop there? MLB has the sports version of penis envy. The NBA and NHL playoffs are 16 teams large and last two months. They are also a cash cow and MLB wants in.
Do you know who the 2010 add-on playoff teams would have been? The Red Sox and the Padres. I love the AL East, but does the league need three AL East teams in the playoffs? It could happen every other year. Teams in the East play each other 18 times during the regular season. What is the regular season if not a playoff in the East?
Creeping expansion of the playoffs is Selig's plan. He's a wonderful man from a wonderful city. I'm sure he goes to church on a regular basis. He has a nice head of hair for an old guy. But his playoff expansion, like many of his plans, is half-assed and sure to be unpopular. Until it's implemented, and then improved upon.
But maybe not. November of 2012 is a key time. Forget the presidential election. That's when Selig's term as commissioner runs out.
I want to tell you he's gotten a bad rap. That tied All-Star Game? Could have happened to anybody in the big chair. It was an impossible situation. I'm not going to second guess the guy by suggesting a home run derby could have ended the game or that any bit of foresight at all would have led somebody to realize that an All-Star game, eventually, would end in a tie. Hindsight is 20/20, they tell me.
Let's not pin the blame for at least a decade's worth of rampant steroid use in MLB on The Commish. He's not a king, he was fond of telling us at the time, and he can't simply decree drug testing to be the law of the land. God forbid he make it a key issue in bargaining agreements. That the league has a reasonably strong policy now isn't totally luck — credit somebody on The Commish's side for sneaking in a strong policy knowing or suspecting that enough players would fail announced, "anonymous" drug tests.
Now, the middling commissioner and former owner of a middling franchise wants to add a pair of teams to the playoffs. The world demands a wild-card round, apparently. Or advertisers do. There's money to be made and fans to be exploit ... nope, nope. Gotta keep my cool here. Too easy to hate, too hard to love My Bud.
Selig, in a conversation with Associated Press sports editors on Thursday, said expanded playoffs for 2012 are all but a certainty. The move would add a paltry one team as a wild card in both leagues. That's not so bad, right? The two wild card teams would meet for a series — presumably a best of five, but who knows? — while the division champions sip boat drinks and take extra BP.
You'll hear columnists and bloggers complain about the longer season. And there's a point to that. God forbid Minnesota or Detroit (or even Boston) are playing playoff games in November. But that doesn't really matter. Fans will still show up or watch the games on TV.
You'll hear others say that it creates an odd break between the regular season and the "real" playoffs. It puts the wild card teams, who have won their fair share of World Series titles in recent years (the Red Sox, Angels, Marlins and Diamondbacks have all won as wild cards). But awkward moments are a hobby of sorts for Selig, so that's not a compelling enough reason. Here's what Mike Scioscia said following a postseason break his team had: “Ridiculous. I don’t know. Can I say it any clearer than that? We should have never had a day off last Wednesday. We should never have three days off after the season. You shouldn’t even have two days off after the season."
The real reason you should be at least a little opposed to this plan is simple: With 162 games, the MLB season is really long. I know you're shocked by that information. The one thing that makes that number bearable is that only the best teams make the playoffs.
So what, you ask. What's the big deal about one more team from each league making the playoffs? I'll answer that with another question: Do you really think it will stop there? MLB has the sports version of penis envy. The NBA and NHL playoffs are 16 teams large and last two months. They are also a cash cow and MLB wants in.
Do you know who the 2010 add-on playoff teams would have been? The Red Sox and the Padres. I love the AL East, but does the league need three AL East teams in the playoffs? It could happen every other year. Teams in the East play each other 18 times during the regular season. What is the regular season if not a playoff in the East?
Creeping expansion of the playoffs is Selig's plan. He's a wonderful man from a wonderful city. I'm sure he goes to church on a regular basis. He has a nice head of hair for an old guy. But his playoff expansion, like many of his plans, is half-assed and sure to be unpopular. Until it's implemented, and then improved upon.
But maybe not. November of 2012 is a key time. Forget the presidential election. That's when Selig's term as commissioner runs out.
Baseball. :| 31-5-3.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. All of it. +a lot of points for mentioning Sosh.
ReplyDelete