Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Win, Sometimes It Rains

For my last post for WBER sports I decided to tackle a situation outside the box a bit. Should Major League Baseball shorten the season by a couple weeks on each end of the season? This spring has been colder than I can remember any other spring being and it has affected the schedule of the baseball season dramatically. There have been more postponements through the month of April than any other season since 1986. With snow two weeks ago to rain the weather seems relentless but it is not just the precipitation, it the tempatures. With baseball spread all over the country there are professional teams that have to deal with say a Minnesota spring or a Detroit one. The weather is very cold and that brings many issues to a game that is widely considered a summer sport.

An issue that I think is very relevant to the issue of moving back the season starting and finishing is that people find it hard to watch baseball in the cold. The fans are the main reason that so many games are played, baseball expanded in the early 60’s and so to reach more fans the schedule had to be increased from 154 games to 162 games. But baseball has gotten slower as the years have moved on, with more pitching changes and the increase of T.V. broadcasting of different teams. This means that the fans have to spend 3-plus hours outside in the freezing cold temperatures watching their favorite teams. It is not the ideal conditions to have enjoy a game of baseball with a cold beer and a bratwurst. But even the bigger issue for me would be the players themselves. The players are the product that people come to see, and as the temperatures are colder it becomes more dangerous for the players. The colder it becomes the harder it is for these athletes to get and stay loose which increases their chances for injury. Pitchers are throwing harder than they have ever and it becomes dangerous for relievers who have to speedily get loose to help their respective clubs.

Players like Anthony Rizzo have spoken out openly about this issue as they feel that they play “too much baseball”. And Ted Williams was also a big supporter for cutting weeks off both ends of the season. Although Williams’ issue was due to his respiratory system never catching up to the cold of Boston spring or fall. In my opinion these players are doing something that millions of people wish they could do. They can come to the ball park every day and get paid to do it. The love of the game brings the rest of us to the park. I would gladly trade places with Rizzo and play the current schedule. I could figure out a way to play first base for the money he’s making and just maybe I could even hit like he currently is, which for a player of his category is subpar at the plate (.157 average, 1 home run, and 8 RBIs). These players seem to forget what they play for and why they play it. It’s a kid’s game and they get paid to do it. Sometimes it’s cold and sometimes it rains it’s just how baseball can be at times.