Major League Baseball

Ok, since baseball is winding down... I figure that it's time for me to share a few things that bother me about the current state of Major League Baseball.

1. The All Star Game

This is ridiculous... that the commissioner of baseball would allow an EXHIBITION game to possibly decide the fate of teams that have fought all year to make it to the World Series. Why don't we just say that which ever league wins the most inter-league spring training games gets home field advantage? Or better yet… why don’t we base it on something even more ridiculous… If the NFC wins the superbowl in the NFL… then the National League gets home field advantage in the World Series… and same thing with the AFC and the American League.

Think about this… most teams that make the World Series only have up to five or six players that are actually on the All-Star Team. And most players on the All Star Team only play for three or four innings. That means that, at most, only 20% of the players of any World Series team had even the slightest bit to do with whether they got home field advantage or not and most of those players only played a third of the exhibition game. What a stupid rule.

This may be going out on a limb… but it seems that the best way to award home field advantage is to give it to the team that had the best regular season record in either league. Just my opinion.

2. The Wild Card

Mind you, the wild card makes the game more interesting for a greater number of fan bases for a longer time during the season. It’s exciting to be in a race for the last playoff spot even if you have long since lost the opportunity to represent your division as the champions.

And this is exactly why I hate the wild card. Last year, the Cardinals had to play the Astros for the opportunity to play in the World Series. They almost lost. If they would have lost… the Astros would have been the National League Champions without even being the Central Division champions. Worse yet. The Cardinals eventually lost to the Boston Red Sox… the American League wild card. So the Boston Red Sox were named the American League champions and Major League Baseball Champions… but they could not call themselves the American League Eastern Division Champions. I think it is a shame that we allow these losers into the playoffs. If you can’t win your own division, you have no right to play for the world series championship.

3. Minute Maid Ballpark

At the risk of offending some really good friends of mine who live close to Houston, work for Minute Maid, and have starting liking the Astros… let me start by saying this: I have a lot of respect for the Houston Astros. I like the way they play ball. Biggio and Bagwell are legends… not just for being good, but for being good on the same team for years and years. So this post is not a rant against the team. It’s a rant against the retarded stadium.

First of all… I’m sure it’s a beautiful park. It looks like it would be a fun atmosphere to be a fan in. But the field configurations are incredibly dumb. It’s like the architect sat down one day after getting blasted and stoned all at the same time and decided to design the playing field.

What is with the stupid hill in center field? No other ballpark has a hill in center field… and for good reason. Baseball was meant to be played on a level playing field. Not only does it take away from the game, but I believe it to be very dangerous. Centerfielders can get hurt.

What is with the stupid pole sticking out right in the middle of the stupid hill in center field? So lets say that somebody hits a shot to dead center field and the centerfielder runs back to get it… he gets to the warning track… running at full speed and stumbles on the incline of the stupid hill… he falls forward and smacks his head against the stupid pole sticking out in centerfield and cracks his head open. Mark my words, if the Houston Astros don’t change this field configuration… a serious injury will happen in centerfield someday… and I just hope that it happens to one of their players… and not a visiting team.



The field configurations are terrible as well. 315 down the left field line? That short porch is the reason why the Astros even won yesterday. Berkman hit a line drive homerun that barely cleared the wall. In any other stadium… it would have been a double or an out. Not a grand slam homerun. Center field is 430 something feet. That is one of the long centerfields I’ve ever seen. The dimensions are so dumb.

Want to know the biggest reason why I wanted to play the Braves rather than the Astros? (Other than the fact that the Braves actually won their division) No, it’s not the Astros pitching that I’m scared of… it’s their terrible ballpark where inferior teams can dink their way to wins out of nowhere. Thankfully, the Cards have several lefties that can ‘dink’ the ball over the wall in left field as well.

Well… that’s a start to several things that annoy me in Major League Baseball. Sorry, no serious post this week. Just wanted to get my opinion out there about a few things that have been bothering me.