Major League Baseball Needs A Shorter Season

The length of a Major League Baseball season is just ridiculous.  Wednesday games in Detroit and Pittsburgh once again proved this point.  Both games were played under winter-like weather conditions.  As with anything in this life, I’m guessing it all comes down to money.  You gotta cram as many games into the year as possible to maximize profits!  The baseball season typically runs from early April to late October.  That’s seven months of baseball featuring 162 regular season games and multiple playoff rounds.  It’s too damn much.

Baseball has had the 162-game regular season since 1962.  Before this, they had a 154-game season.  Even if you went back to that and sprinkled in a few double-headers during the year, you could shorten the season by two weeks.  Start a week later, end a week sooner and you minimize the chances of playing in freezing temperatures.  In addition, you could lay out the schedule in a way that the teams from the south host the teams from the north in the first and last week of the season.  There you go, my common sense approach.  Who’s with me?

Several newer ballparks have been built with retractable domes, turning weather into a non-issue.  I guess that’s ok, but for me, baseball is a great outdoor game.  I’ve been to Milwaukee’s Miller Park when the roof is closed.  It feels sterile, lifeless, and bland.  At least they keep it open when the weather allows.  The retractable domes like Miller Park, Rogers Centre (Toronto), Chase Field (Arizona), Safeco Field (Seattle), Minute Maid Park (Houston) and Marlins Park (Miami) are far superior to the hideous eye sore that is Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.