SirFozzie
03-15-2006, 05:45 PM
Especially since it would bring back the double header, a lost art in today's game..
By Dick Friedman, SI.com
In its first 12 days, the World Baseball Classic has defied the naysayers and become a hit. If not a grand slam, the WBC is at least a ringing double, complete with passionately played games, upsets (such as Canada's win against the U.S.), controversy (did that Japanese runner really leave third base early?) and a breakout performer in Cuba wunderkind Yuliesky Gourriel.
However, luster was lost before the tournament when many big names, including Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez, opted out. Either they weren't physically ready or they feared injury. Moreover, most of the pitchers are on pitch counts that put a crimp in the action. Such flaws point to the one major drawback in the Classic's conception: its timing. Spring training simply is not the optimal moment for staging a baseball showcase.
Does baseball want a real Classic? If it does, here's a radical suggestion: Replace one Classic with another. In other words, ditch the All-Star Game (a.k.a. "The Midsummer Classic"), which has become an increasingly ho-hum and ignored exhibition (as evidenced by the steadily plummeting TV ratings), and replace it with an annual WBC.
Playing the tournament in July would allow major leaguers literally to be in midseason form. There'd be no more fear of injury than there is during a garden-variety regular-season game. Starting pitchers would be unshackled by pitch counts. The action would not only promise to be tight but also top-notch. Moreover, the system of fan voting now used to determine the All-Star starters could be applied to help select WBC rosters.
Of course, placing the WBC in the middle of the season would entail a major adjustment in the regular-season schedule. There probably would need to be a 10-day hiatus in July to accommodate the international tournament. (The current All-Star break is a mere three days; the NBA's, in February, lasts four.)
The format might need to be tweaked, possibly into a double-elimination tourney similar to that of the College World Series. But it's not as though the game would be taking a vacation. Rather, almost all the big stars would be on display on a very big stage, heightening the interest in a sport during what often is a doldrum time. And baseball could make the event into a huge festival, complete with home-run derbies and concerts.
How would baseball wedge in the WBC without extending further a season that already encroaches on Halloween? Simple: the renaissance of the vanishing species known as the doubleheader.
In the past few decades, the scheduled doubleheader has become extinct as teams have sought to maximize revenue. Its return would be a fan-friendly gesture -- and the lost gate receipts presumably would be partly recouped by the international revenue realized from the Classic, its ancillary activities and its worldwide marketing benefits.
No doubt there are other kinks that need to be worked out, but at least you'd have players who wouldn't beg off because they're working out kinks of their own. After all these years of unquenching All-Star Games, having a meaningful Midsummer Classic would be as refreshing as an ice-cream soda.
By Dick Friedman, SI.com
In its first 12 days, the World Baseball Classic has defied the naysayers and become a hit. If not a grand slam, the WBC is at least a ringing double, complete with passionately played games, upsets (such as Canada's win against the U.S.), controversy (did that Japanese runner really leave third base early?) and a breakout performer in Cuba wunderkind Yuliesky Gourriel.
However, luster was lost before the tournament when many big names, including Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez, opted out. Either they weren't physically ready or they feared injury. Moreover, most of the pitchers are on pitch counts that put a crimp in the action. Such flaws point to the one major drawback in the Classic's conception: its timing. Spring training simply is not the optimal moment for staging a baseball showcase.
Does baseball want a real Classic? If it does, here's a radical suggestion: Replace one Classic with another. In other words, ditch the All-Star Game (a.k.a. "The Midsummer Classic"), which has become an increasingly ho-hum and ignored exhibition (as evidenced by the steadily plummeting TV ratings), and replace it with an annual WBC.
Playing the tournament in July would allow major leaguers literally to be in midseason form. There'd be no more fear of injury than there is during a garden-variety regular-season game. Starting pitchers would be unshackled by pitch counts. The action would not only promise to be tight but also top-notch. Moreover, the system of fan voting now used to determine the All-Star starters could be applied to help select WBC rosters.
Of course, placing the WBC in the middle of the season would entail a major adjustment in the regular-season schedule. There probably would need to be a 10-day hiatus in July to accommodate the international tournament. (The current All-Star break is a mere three days; the NBA's, in February, lasts four.)
The format might need to be tweaked, possibly into a double-elimination tourney similar to that of the College World Series. But it's not as though the game would be taking a vacation. Rather, almost all the big stars would be on display on a very big stage, heightening the interest in a sport during what often is a doldrum time. And baseball could make the event into a huge festival, complete with home-run derbies and concerts.
How would baseball wedge in the WBC without extending further a season that already encroaches on Halloween? Simple: the renaissance of the vanishing species known as the doubleheader.
In the past few decades, the scheduled doubleheader has become extinct as teams have sought to maximize revenue. Its return would be a fan-friendly gesture -- and the lost gate receipts presumably would be partly recouped by the international revenue realized from the Classic, its ancillary activities and its worldwide marketing benefits.
No doubt there are other kinks that need to be worked out, but at least you'd have players who wouldn't beg off because they're working out kinks of their own. After all these years of unquenching All-Star Games, having a meaningful Midsummer Classic would be as refreshing as an ice-cream soda.