What if they made you Commissioner?

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Why would you ban Selig BEFORE Jeff Loria?

He is responsible the steroids embarrassment, the strike of '94 that ruined competitive imbalance, the unfair media revenues that cripple small markets, and propping up bad owners who don't even try to compete.

 

He is also responsible for me being able to watch or listen to every single Brewer 9and every other team too) game from Seattle on multiple platforms for a reasonable cost. Try that with the NFL. If his legacy is ONLY MLB.com and not hounding Baseball-Reference into the ground (like the NFL woul have) that's enough for me.

[Nottso]

 

If you don't want give and take and criticism, then why did you post it publicly?

Because it was asked publicly. And honestly, if the question had been "What would you do if you were commissioner, but be prepared to take relentless flack if someone doesn't agree with your answer" I wouldn't have answered at all. I would have stuck to my usual M.O. of watching the usual stat guy vs non stat guy bickering while alternatingly staring off into space or at random shiny objects.

 

You want to rethink that plan or do you want to shoot the messenger?

 

I don't need to rethink it. I've given it a lot of thought, for a number of years, and it's what I would do. In fact, I think it may very well be something that comes to pass in the future all on its own. Not the near future by any stretch, but somewhere down the line and most likely not by rule, but by "stadium evolution" for lack of a better term. There are reasons that more and more teams are going with retractable roofs. Every place that has added a roof seems to have benefitted quite a bit. Not one of them, to my knowledge, has ever regretted adding a retractable roof.

 

Heck, Chase Field and The University Of Phoenix Stadium both have retractable roofs and it probably rains less there than it does in any of the California MLB cities. They surely didn't build those roofs on a whim. They knew they'd be beneficial before they ever broke ground and I would think that Oakland and every other California MLB city would see similar benefits and/or other benefits. And, as technology and construction methods evolve, costs come down. Way down.

 

But, I think those criticisms above are real problems with your proposal and why I think it needs to go back to the drawing board for revision.

 

There's always room for revision. 2050 was just a number I plucked from thin air. The general idea is that there would have to be a cut off date. It could also perhaps read something like "All new stadiums built after the year ____ will have retractable roofs, and all stadiums must have them by the year____."

 

To pick the exact year(s) would take some pretty serious studies I would think, factoring in projected life spans of existing stadiums among who knows what all other things. As expensive as the proposition would be, I'd want it to be as cost effective as possible for any teams adding a roof by mandate.

 

I also think it's possible, just possible, that if (random number) 26 MLB teams decide to build stadiums with retractable roofs in the future, as soon as there are even a few rainouts/rain delays in the remaining cities, those 26 owners with the roofs would pressure MLB and/or the remaining owners to add roofs to those other stadiums in the (then) future.

 

Heck, I'd suggest bringing a meteorologist on board in preparing teams schedules might accomplish more in the short term at a fraction of the cost.

 

Having a brother that was a meteorologist, I can assure you that there's no way that this could possibly work, although it's an intriguing idea. There are just way too many variables at play. There are also times when it rains across most of the lower 48 for 2 or 3 days at a time.

 

I get it. You wouldn't do it. I would do it. It really doesn't need to be anymore difficult than that unless you continue to insist on making it so. I also said I wouldn't let Rose into the HOF even though he was one of my favorite players. Others have said that they would let him in. You don't see me arguing with them incessantly over it, nor will you. I'm perfectly content to let each and every one of them play their own respective versions of the "What would you do if they made you commissioner" game. I wish you'd show me the same courtesy.

[TooLiveBrew]

Why would you ban Selig BEFORE Jeff Loria?

He is responsible the steroids embarrassment, the strike of '94 that ruined competitive imbalance, the unfair media revenues that cripple small markets, and propping up bad owners who don't even try to compete.

 

He is also responsible for me being able to watch or listen to every single Brewer 9and every other team too) game from Seattle on multiple platforms for a reasonable cost. Try that with the NFL. If his legacy is ONLY MLB.com and not hounding Baseball-Reference into the ground (like the NFL woul have) that's enough for me.

The same group that runs Baseball-Reference also runs Pro-Football-Reference.com. Was there an instance of the NFL going after a fan-run stat site?

[RobertR]

 

I get it. You wouldn't do it. I would do it. It really doesn't need to be anymore difficult than that unless you continue to insist on making it so. I also said I wouldn't let Rose into the HOF even though he was one of my favorite players. Others have said that they would let him in. You don't see me arguing with them incessantly over it, nor will you. I'm perfectly content to let each and every one of them play their own respective versions of the "What would you do if they made you commissioner" game. I wish you'd show me the same courtesy.

 

Since this is all fantasy, I hope we're not getting worked up about this. That's not my intention.

 

But, since it's posted to a discussion board, I felt it worth chiming in on. I think cutting down on rain delays and rainouts is a noble goal. I just think you could approach it in a better way, with a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer. And I offered what I thought were constructive criticisms. I mean, really, you got worked up because I suggested that putting roofs up in places where it doesn't rain is a waste of money and that your proposed rule could be modified to take into account climate?

 

The effect of putting Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame is debatable, but we can pretty much say how much it would cost and how many rainouts/delays would be prevented by putting a roof in California. The last rainout in Oakland was May 5, 1998, for instance. You can't measure "integrity", but you can measure delays, cost, and rainouts.

 

This is a discussion board, after all. I get that this is all a game, but I don't see what's hard about taking feedback on an idea and modifying it either. We might as well close the topic after everyone has posted once, then. Instead of retrenching, you could have easily said "Good point. Teams which average less than 1 rainout a decade excluded." and moved on. First drafts aren't necessarily set in stone.

 

But, hey, we'll agree to disagree on this topic and move on. I wish no hard feelings.

[Nottso]

You start with telling me how I fail this and fail that and that the whole idea is just stupid. I practically BEG you to just go away and leave me and my stupid ideas alone then, and you clearly weren't able to do so and still aren't. You're STILL trying to tell me how I should want it. I don't want it like that. I want it exactly how I said I wanted it. Deal with it. Or don't. I really can't care.

 

And now you want to get all noble and play the "open discussion" and "constructive criticism" cards? Dear God, that's right out of "Trolling 101." Bravo. Wonderfully played. Hooray for you.

[splitterpfj]

Guys, please just move on so I don't have to lock this thread.

[Ennder]

Steroids weren't even a major reason for the HR records, they were part of the issue but it wasn't the driving force. Expansion and the goofy balls have more to do with it than steroids which just added on to the rest.

[joepepsi]

Why would you ban Selig BEFORE Jeff Loria?

He is responsible the steroids embarrassment, the strike of '94 that ruined competitive imbalance, the unfair media revenues that cripple small markets, and propping up bad owners who don't even try to compete.

 

He is also responsible for me being able to watch or listen to every single Brewer 9and every other team too) game from Seattle on multiple platforms for a reasonable cost. Try that with the NFL. If his legacy is ONLY MLB.com and not hounding Baseball-Reference into the ground (like the NFL woul have) that's enough for me.

Except, his rules prevent Brewer fans living in WI from actually watching Brewer games even though they pay for MLB.tv. In Spring training , when the Brewer are on MLB network, it is blacked out in Wisconsin because apparently, if we could get it on TV we wouldn't be inclined to drive drive from New Glarus to Arizona for an afternoon game. Before Bud stepped in, you could listen to radio broadcasts on the internet for free. Now Butt Selig wants you to pay $24.99 a month to watch baseball on the internet and your tv, but you can't watch your local team play ever. Even in you live in Wisconsin and the Brewers are playing in LA, you can't watch the game. How does this develop fans? How does this promote the game?

 

Selig is a puppet of corporate TV and cable/satellite industry. Nothing he has done is for the fans. It's for the money these broadcast outlets pay and for the owners, most of whom don't give a ratsass about you or me, the diehard fan.