SCOTT JACOBS

So here’s a suggestion I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard, from a man who is hardly ever heard from.

Lew Wolff, owner of the Oakland Athletics (you know the Moneyball team) recently suggested aloud that baseball change their post-season format in the division series from best of five– to get this– a one game series.  Winner take all.  Step up to the plate, throw your ace out there, and let the chips fly.  Winner moves on, loser wonders how they played 162 games to watch it slip away that fast– before looking at their wallets and realizing how ridiculously overpaid they are.

Yup, this is not a joke.  Oakland’s owner, who probably ranks in the bottom five of cheap-skate owners in baseball wants to do away with first round series’ and make the first round one big free for all.

Now it makes sense from his standpoint.  Shortening the playoffs to one game would give the underdog a great chance to pull through, and steal one game.  Like anything, the longer the series the lesser the odds that the underdog can win.  Well, that’s usually the case at least.  Apparently though the idea also stems from the concept of shortening the playoffs.  Next year’s World Series is slated to end November 5, 2009– if it gets to a game seven, something we all know that it won’t– but still don’t you think it’s getting a little out of hand?  I do, but at the same time, find a one game playoff laughable.  More interesting?  Yes!  More appealing to the extremely casual fan?  Without a doubt!  Real baseball the way it’s been done for generations?  Uh, not quite.

I’ve always been fascinated that baseball has by far the longest season, yet the shortest playoffs (football doesn’t count).  They play 162 games, and then one quick division series and a pair of seven game series later a World Series champion is crowned and everyone shifts their attention to the putrid ratings, the overdue regular season awards, and the NFL playoff chase.  It really does baffle me why baseball doesn’t shorten their season and extend their post-season.  Call me crazy, but when you play 162 games and end up as one of eight teams (out of 30) that make it to the playoffs, you should get a seven game series to start out.  Not one!  What is this, the WNBA in its first few years?  What, are we going to turn the World Series into a best of three while we’re at it?

If the idea is fixing ratings, I have this to say: it’s the sport.

Sure, you may get higher ratings with a one game playoff, and even a — dare I say it — three game World Series (they’re practically that short nowadays anyways), but you’d be in essence sacrificing the good of the game, for the good of Nielsen ratings.  Baseball, more then any sport, lives off of its numbers and history.  We always want to compare.  Shortening the first round to one game just seems out of line.

Baseball’s problem in my opinion hinges on a few things:

1. It’s baseball, and the new generation of sports fans seek sports that are harder hitting, faster, and more exciting.  Don’t believe me?  Look at the sports that have risen to huge popularity in the last two decades or so: NASCAR, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), etc..  We’d throw in the NFL and college football, but those have been ratings stalwarts for years!  Fact it: the newer generation wants different things then the baby boomers.  People have more choices now, and they’re no longer choosing baseball like they once did.

2. The season is too long.  Baseball’s season is so long that you begin to zone out halfway through the year.  ‘Wake me up in September when the pennant races heat up,’  is a common battlecry.  When you play a game practically every day, games lose their value.  It’s not until the last couple months of the year where your casual fan really starts tuning in.

3.  Baseball’s post-season is played during the first month of football season!  Once upon a time this wasn’t a big deal, but now, well it is.  Football is head and shoulders above baseball now in this country, and featuring your showcase series during the start of football season is just no longer a good idea.  Of course, it’s not like baseball could play their post-season in another month, but I’m just saying– the first weeks of the NFL and college football season do not do baseball any favors.

4.  The game is too long.  I know it is what it is, but if you want the honest truth it’s that shortening games would do wonders for ratings.  Football games are actually much longer (generally three hours, usually more) but they often feel much shorter.  When the Phillies and Rays played their final 2 1/2 innings or whatever it was of game five of the World Series the ratings were quite decent.  Unfortunatley for the ‘we want what we want, and we want it no’ generation, baseball won’t be shortening its games to three innings.

And hopefully, they won’t be shortening their first round to one game either.

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SCOTT JACOBS

That took a long time.

A day after the Brewers pulled off the “please get us in the playoffs, it’s been 25 years, and we want to pee our pants” trade for CC Sabathia, the Chicago Cubs sat on their heels did nothing for 24 hours, and then completed their own mega-trade, landing Athletics’ pitcher Rich Harden.

In unrelated news, the NBA’s Western Conference wants their story-lines back. What’s next? The Cardinals bringing Roger Clemens out of retirement? The Pirates signing Barry Bonds to get them over the .500 mark?

We haven’t even hit the All Star break, yet the two biggest names to switch jerseys have probably already been etched in leather.

Sabathia. Harden. Cubs. Brewers.

If nothing else, this ought to be fun.

The Brewers went for broke dealing for Sabathia, the 2007 CY Young award winner. They dealt some very good prospects to Cleveland for the right to rent the massive pitcher for a few months. Milwaukee was so desperate that they traded for Sabathia weeks before the trading deadline, just so they could shove a pair of starts in before the All Star break for their newest star. After all, when he leaves at the end of the year the Brewers get a couple draft picks in return. Hopefully by then, the Brewers will still be celebrating some kind of playoff success.

Now onto the Cubs. With their trade for the very talented, but oft-injured Harden, the Cubs have positioned themselves to not only make the playoffs, but to make a deep run. Chicago is already 17 games above .500, and their 475 runs scored are second only to the Rangers.

Clearly they can hit. Now, there’s little doubt they can pitch.

Adding Harden (5-1, 2.34 ERA in 13 starts) to the mix gives Chicago so many quality arms that they now just might have the best overall rotation in the league.

You decide:

Carlos Zambrano: 9-3, 2.96 ERA
Ryan Dempster: 9-3, 3.24 ERA
Ted Lilly: 9-5, 4.47 ERA
Jason Marquis: 6-5, 4.78 ERA

The two trades look great on paper. Then again, so did the Mets.

The NL Central was a mediocre fight in 2007 between two very underwhelming teams: the Cubs and the Brewers. In 2008, barring a St. Louis fade, the Central figures to be an exciting three team race. Think of the NL Central as last year’s NL West, and think of the NL West as last year’s Central. Basically, the divisions have swapped places.

And nowhere are they happier then in Wisconsin and the Windy City.

Ya know what, I think I like that title. Sorta catchy, no?

Wisconsin and the Windy City: Part 1, with many more to come.

At least for this year at least. Because while the Brewers take their rental for a spin this week, Harden is under contract for 2009 and is making a paltry $4.75 million this year. Sabathia is most likely one and done, expected to command Johan Santana money, and some team (ignoring Santana’s over bloated contract) will pay it to him. It just won’t be the Brewers.

And with Ben Sheets a free agent too, this is Milwaukee’s window to end 25 years of no playoffs: a half a season.

The Cubs are staring up at a bigger number: 100. As in, if they don’t win a World Series this year they hit the grand ol’ century mark for infamy. The Brewers… well, they’ve never even won a title. Though, they did get to the Fall Classic in 1982, incidentally they last time they made the playoffs at all.

Back to the Cubs. Again, it should be pointed out that Harden is no sure thing. The A’s loved him when he came up, and he was great– when healthy. Which isn’t often. Harden’s made six trips to the DL in six years in the bigs. Not exactly cute numbers.

But for what Chicago gave up, a disappointing Matt Murton who isn’t exactly tearing the cover off the baseball in Triple A hitting .250, and a few other prospects, they can afford to take a chance on the talented ace.

So it’s clear that long term the Cubs are in better shape. They can re-ink Harden if they so choose after this year or during the 2009 season. Though this does have a familiar tune to it.

After all, the Cubs used to rely on an oft-injured pitcher for years to keep alive their title hopes. His name was Mark Prior. And how’d that one work out?

So before you run out and buy World Series hotel reservations Cubs and Brewers fans, know this: this looks great on paper, but it only matters what happens on the field. Disappointment is possible. Anything can happen.

Then again, who am I kidding. Cubs and Brewers fans know that better then anybody!

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