As I was on my way to drop off lunch to my beautiful and wonderful fiance last week, I heard an interesting topic of discussion on the local ESPN Radio station. The airwaves in my car were locked to Colin Cowherd's "The Herd" radio show in which he was commenting on colleague Peter Gammons' idea for holding baseball's future World Series games at neutral sites in America.
Apparently Gammons flew off the handle and checked himself into a mental institute the night the Phillies and Rays had to cancel a portion of one game of the World Series due to inclement weather only to be played the next night. Get a grip Peter! Major League Baseball has much bigger fish to fry such as solving the problem with the designated hitter position, reducing the 162 game regular season format and, last but not least, trying to rebuild a fan base that was lost due to two strikes over the past twenty years!
Of course Colin Cowherd had this issue nailed to the wall and we both agreed that there is no way baseball can afford to have the World Series played at comfortable weather sites. Gammons argued that venues in Florida, Arizona and Houston were perfect strongholds for a championship playoff series. Are you kidding me?! If baseball is truly all about tradition then this ludacris idea is coming from left field (no pun intended, golf clap desired).
Stay with me here. In fact, do me a favor. Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine you are attending your first ever World Series matchup between your beloved New York Mets as they take on the Seattle Mariners in a best of seven matchup that will crown the winner as world champions of baseball. The national anthem has just finished and the umpires have signaled "play ball" as the television cameras zoom in on the Johan Santana. A pitcher you never thought you'd see in person let alone a World Series ticket with your name on it. The moment doesn't get anymore priceless than this. Until Ichiro steps into the batters box and you open your eyes to a half filled stadium of a mixed crowd at Minute Maid Park in HOUSTON, TEXAS?!?!?!?! All of a sudden your ticket drops in value, you scratch your head and have a feeling of wanting to go home and watch the game on tv so as not to be seen by your friends and family sitting in the stands of one of the lowest attended World Series games of all time.
Neutral site-based championship events are meant for a one game showdown between two teams. Hence the Super Bowl: a game that lasts three hours and then everyone goes home after the glitz and glamor has evaporated from the stadium. Playoff series, no matter whether they are the five game or seven game variety deserve a home and away format. Believe it or not, home field advantage actually MATTERS in the World Series just as much as it does in the NBA Finals or the Stanley Cup Playoffs in hockey. Someone needs to look Gammons straight in the eye and ask "How is baseball going to make money in the post season from your grand idea?" The answer is simple. It's not going to make money. If anything, this idea would help Major League Baseball lose millions and millions of dollars and actually send it into another recession, if you will, and cause one if not more strikes amongst the players and owners. Folks, I've heard some crazy things in my life from the world of sports, but Peter Gammons was totally out of line with this comment and Colin Cowherd had every right to call him out on it. With baseball tickets being amongst the lowest priced sporting event we as Americans can attend these days, its that much more important to our country's economy to not allow a neutral site World Series anytime in the near future.
