I’ve told you before that Rob Manfred will ruin baseball.
It’s not a question of if but when.
Next year the San Diego Padres will place advertising on their uniforms.
They plan to advertise for Motorola.
I can’t think of a worse idea.
I view a baseball stadium as a church, a temple.
To me it is a sacrosanct refuge in a horrible world.
It is a quiet place where I can relax my mind, refresh my spirit.
The less noise there is, the happier I am.
I don’t need waving towels, dancing mascots, or blaring rock music.
Don’t we get plenty of the latter in our cars and houses?
If I want crass advertising, I’ll go to a NASCAR event.
Not only would I ban advertising on player uniforms, I would ban advertising on the field itself.
Advertising sends a destructive message to the baseball players, the owners, and to ourselves.
It tells us that all that counts is a buck.
Life must be more than that.
Young children must learn that honor comes before wealth.
I find it difficult to state that truth in another way that would be more meaningful.
We used to name our stadiums after veterans or people who did honorable things. Now we name them after soft drinks and cell phone companies.
I’m waiting for Oreo Cookie Yards.
What will happen if Rob Manfred prevails?
He will get a bump in the viewership, for sure.
ESPN media toadies will proclaim Manfred a genius.
After a short spate the hip crowd that is there for the glitz and the glamour will become bored and begin to move away.
Manfred will panic and institute new stunts to keep the Kardashian crowd from leaving.
Perhaps there will me a home run derby In the middle of 7th inning?
Baseball’s hard-core base will gradually drift away.
In time Manfred or his successor will run out of tricks. The Kardashian crowd will move onto the next vapid and fatuous stunt that tickles their fancy.
By that time the hard-core base will have left completely.
When that day comes baseball will die.
This future is certain if Rob Manfred is permitted to rule baseball.
It can be no other way.
This is what Harvard University has done to the world. This is why Harvard University must be shut down.
It is a university devoid of and antithetical to Christianity.
It focuses itself only on pagan wealth and power.
That is all it and its graduates care about.
It is a cult of money, power and almighty market share.
Sadly, this vision will fail, and baseball will fail with it.
What must be done?
Baseball must stick to its roots. Rather than move forward, it must move backward.
Remove the designated hitter.
Ban interleague play.
Strengthen division rivalries by increasing the number of intra-divisional games.
Ban all appeals. If the umpire says that the player is out, the player is out. What the umpire says goes. The umpire may not resort to electronic replay.
If the replay shows that the umpire is wrong, the umpire is right and the video is wrong. In this manner imperfection and humanity can be reinstituted into the game.
No rules must be passed to speed up the game. No measures must be instituted to appease the impetuous. If the crowd grows weary, they don’t belong there in the first place.
Fewer, not more, teams must be permitted to pass to the playoffs. The regular season must mean something. What’s the point of playing the seasonal games if everyone makes the playoffs? If you don’t win your division, you don’t make the playoffs.
Currently there are 30 teams in Major League Baseball allocated amongst 6 divisions.
Return to two divisions in each of the two leagues.
The top team in each division will play for the league championship. The league champions will play for the World Series championship.
Decrease the size of the stadium and its capacity to accommodate the shrinking fan base. Give more seat room and leg room to the fans, and bring them closer to the game. Improve the amenities. Get rid of the upper decks. Create more standing-sitting areas with big screen televisions.
Improve the television experience by allowing viewers to select which view they want to watch the game with. Currently fans are given the same old tiresome view from centerfield. Why not watch the game from the third base side or the first base side, or any other type of view?
Reduce the ticket prices to levels manageable to the working class. Pay the players what is affordable. Create a tighter three-tiered system of pay based upon value added to the team with uniform league-wide min and max limits imposed upon each level.
The goal is to prevent city hopping and excessive player reimbursement. High salaries with extended contracts decrease player incentive and therefore performance.
Fan loyalty and attendance will be higher if better players are retained.
That’s how you make baseball relevant again.
Naturally, Rob Manfred will do the opposite.
Sincerely,
Archer Crosley
Copyright 2022 Archer Crosley All Rights Reserved
Cowboy Archer 