There's an Elephant in the Room

We're not supposed to talk about this. No one in the media is supposed to talk about this at all, even though it's unbelievably obvious. Everyone's talking about why the postseason has been so strange this year - games called on account of snow, 30 degree weather, pounding rain, inconsistent pitching, fielding gaffs, windstorms, incredulous bad plays from solid major league players... What could possibly be the reason for all this?!?

No one else will say it, so we'll say it: THE WORLD SERIES WAS NOT MEANT TO BE PLAYED IN NOVEMBER!!! THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONS SHOULD NOT BE DETERMINED IN LATE OCTOBER!!! Everyone sees the elephant, yet no one mentions it.

Whether you like it or not, it's a fact: Weather becomes a factor from late October onward. It's just not right to see players playing important baseball games (games that decide major championships) playing with scarfs, earmuffs, wool face protectors, and 3 layers of clothing. This is baseball! To borrow a quote from Tom Hanks: "There's no shivering in baseball!" You shouldn't see the air when baseball players are breathing - leave that for football, where it belongs.

So what's the solution? It's simple: either shorten the regular season or (even more obvious) SCHEDULE MORE DOUBLEHEADERS! Remember doubleheaders? That's what used to happen when organizations and MLB in general really cared about their fans. If every team scheduled 3 doubleheaders, you could play an entire 162 game schedule, finish the regular season in late September, then play all rounds of playoffs and shockingly have a World Series Champion crowned on October 19th - today. Instead we're not even half-way through the League Championship Series and we have the whole World Series to "look forward to"... In even worse weather most likely.

Let's stop wondering why the baseball postseason gets less and less interesting every year (as it gets scheduled further and further into November). Winter weather and baseball don't mix. There!... I said it. That's the elephant. It's right in front of the entire media, but no one will mention it because it would be way too controversial to schedule doubleheaders because they effect the bottom line profits of a team. Shortening a season would be even worse for team owners since they'd lose all the revenues for the games that wouldn't be played.

And baseball wonders why it's no longer the "American Pastime". Nothing about the game is fan-friendly any more. The players know it, the announcers know it, the media knows it, the fans definitely know it... everyone's just afraid to come out and say it for fear of losing their cushy well-paying gigs.

Perhaps I'm just a disgruntled Met fan jealous of the teams playing in the postseason... Or perhaps I'm just a football fan waiting patiently for the baseball season to end - hopefully before Thanksgiving. Either way, when I watch a baseball game being decided because a player's hand is too cold to grip a ball in a game delayed by snow, I'm calling that a tainted victory indeed!