A Note to Bud Selig: Baseball Is Boring. Don't Make It Worse.

A long time ago, I used to be a baseball player.  I was convinced that I was going to be the greatest catcher ever.  I told anyone who would listen that I planned on playing well into my 80's because they would allow me to sit in a wheelchair to catch.  I was convinced that, despite my old age, I would still crank out home runs at a prolific rate.

I was pretty good when I was younger.  I consumed every bit of baseball knowledge I could, checking ESPN and Sportscenter at an unhealthy rate for an 8-year old.  But this was my destiny.  The baseball world wasn't ready for me; but I knew I could handle it.

In third grade, I began to play in a 3rd, 4th and 5th graders' league.  In my pea brain, this just showed how close to the big leagues I truly was.  But moving to a higher division meant a couple of things: longer and more frequent practices, more games, and crazy-ass coaches.  As the season dragged on, baseball started to become less fun.  Fielding fly balls at practice or practicing turning double plays just lost the appeal.  The more distance I put between playing baseball, the less interested I was in watching the MLB.  Baseball gradually turned into basketball and the MLB turned into the NBA.

Baseball became...boring.

The game was too slow, the season too long and the pace pedestrian.  Just like that, my dream of being the Ironman of catchers was done.

Flash forward to 2010.  I keep a lukewarm interest in baseball mostly because if I didn't, my summer would consist of an absence of sports, which just won't fly.  I, most unfortunately, am a Seattle Mariners fan, making it twice as hard to follow baseball because, well, they suck.  But I would still watch games with my Dad after work and check box scores the next day.

But would I watch every game?  Hell no I wouldn't.  Want to know why?  Because the season is still too long.  Honestly, Bud, do you realize that 162 games is nearly twice as long as the NBA and NHL seasons...and even I think that THOSE seasons should cut games.  Sure, diehard fans will watch all 162.  But the even slightly-more-than-casual fan, like myself, will focus on the first and last 30 games of the season (unless you root for the Mariners, then you watch the first five and your season is basically done after that).

So what do you propose to do?  Cut down the regular season a little bit?  Wow, you know, for the first time in your reign as commissioner you are doing the right thing!  Well done!

..........

Wait, what do you mean you are going to lengthen the playoffs? You want to add more time to the season?  I think you misunderstood me.  The season is TOO LONG.  TOO MANY GAMES. TAKES TOO MUCH TIME.  Am I making more sense now?

Want to know the chief complaint of baseball amongst people who are casual sports fans?  Yep, you guessed it: the games are too slow and the season is too long.  "Hey guys, I've got a great idea, let's add more time to the season.  Fans will love that, right?!"

Maybe you were too busy planning a playoff expansion so you might've missed this: but nobody watched the World Series.  The WORLD. SERIES.  The culmination of the entire season.  MNF had a higher rating than game five did.  And before you point your finger at market sizes, San Francisco and Dallas are pretty damn big markets.  God I love the internet to point out facts like that.

Somewhere, another 3rd grader, just like myself, with dreams of the big leagues, is replacing that baseball bat with a basketball hoop, or football pads, or a soccer ball.  They just won't maintain the interest anymore.

And somewhere Bud Selig attempts to count how much money he thinks the league will make.  Perhaps he should try to count how many more disinterested fans there will be after this playoff expansion.

Sorry, I forgot we were talking about Bud Selig here.  That's far too logical for him.