Pace of Game

I had to share this quote with you. Detroit Tigers Manager Jim Leyland on the pace of game memo handed down from the Commissioner's Office, "I'm not looking for trouble, I honor whatever the Commissioner does. If he wants me to do jumping jacks on the way to the mound, I'll do it. I'll do a cartwheel. I'll be glad to do it. I might look like a fool, but I'll do it.

Crafting a Winner

I’ve just won the lottery, $300 million. Enough to purchase the lowly Florida Marlins perhaps.

If I were to buy a Major League franchise, here’s what I would do. First off, I would be the owner/general manager ala Jerry Jones with the Dallas Cowboys.

We’ll use the Marlins for this example since they have the lowest payroll at the moment and have just agreed upon a new deal with the city of Miami for a new stadium.

I’d make sure I had a say in the ballpark development. The recent post-steroid era power outage in baseball has drastically changed the way the game is played. No longer is the best logic to sit around and wait for the 3-run homer to give you the lead. Instead, small ball and manufacturing runs have come back into style.

The new ballpark would be enormous in terms of field size. The fence in center would be at least 440 ft. Down the line in right field would be 350 ft and the left field line would be close to 375 ft. The gaps in left and right center would be a minimum of 400 ft.

It sounds insane but let’s not forget that the original dimensions of Yankee Stadium before its renovation in the ‘70s was 457 to left center, 461 to dead center and 407 to right center. These were the dimensions of the yard that Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Lou Gehrig and all the great Yankees hitters launched balls out of.

I would grow the infield grass high and slope the dirt toward the grass so all bunted balls remained fair.

My first goal to compiling my roster would be to get the two best catchers money could buy. Do you think it’s a coincidence that virtually every big league manager is an ex-catcher? Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, Mike Scioscia, Eric Wedge, and Jim Leyland were all backstops during their playing careers.

I firmly believe that a team is only as strong as it’s back-up catcher. The position is so brutal that you need to give your starter plenty of days off in order to keep him healthy and sane. So get the best two you can and teach them both to play first base. That way when one’s behind the dish you can DH the other or put him at first to spell him but still keep his bat in the line-up.

The rest of my positional players will all be guys who can handle the bat and hustle hard through every play. My dream line-up would consist of nothing but No. 2 hitters. In a ballpark as big as the one I’m proposing, concede the fact that you won’t be a home run hitting team and instead sign guys who can go the other way with two strikes, beat out infield singles, and sacrifice runners to the next base.

Derek Jeter and Placido Polanco are two guys who come to mind when it comes to doing whatever it takes to get on base or drive in a runner. They may not be the most gifted athletes, but they maximize what God gave them and have turned it into exceptional careers.

I want speed in the outfield as they will need to cover much more ground than your typical outfielder. Adam Dunn isn’t going to cut it in this ballpark; I don’t care if he can hit the ball a mile. Ideally, I would put three center fielders in my outfield and rotate them weekly at each position.

The size of the field wouldn’t limit my pitching staff to one specific type of pitcher. I would love to have a handful of sinker-ball pitchers as they tend to induce more ground balls and double plays. Another favorable aspect about sinker ball pitchers is they tend to work quickly. They don’t waste much time between pitches. They develop a rhythm that the infielders are fond of.

It’s a new era in Major League Baseball and General Managers across the league should take note of the changes. It’s my prediction that pure home run hitters will not receive as lucrative contracts as the players who can hit for average. Hanley Ramirez is arguably the best player in baseball and he hasn’t even peeked yet. On the open market it was predicted he would command around $200 million. Instead, he extended his contract with Florida for only $70 million and Hanley isn’t just a home run hitter.

You wait and see, the World Series champion this year will be a team that does the little things and it will change the course of baseball for the next decade.

Do you ever get down on your knees and thank God you know me and have access to my dementia?

I haven't been sleeping lately. Maybe it's the change in climate, or the fact that my workload just doubled, but I've found it increasingly difficult to recharge my batteries at night. As a result, I've utilized my insomnia and focused my attention on the only love in my life, the Cleveland Indians.

After last night's shutout of the Oakland Athletics, the Tribe's starters have recorded 34 consecutive scoreless innings. Nine innings each from Carmona and Lee, 7 and a third from Byrdie, and seven each from Sabathia and Laffey. As thrilled as I am with the recent performances, I must say it worries me horribly as well.

Last year Cleveland rode their two 19-game winners (C.C. and Fausto) into the ALCS. Only problem was, they had each fired so many innings that they ran out of bullets when it counted. Cleveland blew a 3-1 lead. In the off season Cleveland didn't make any substantial moves.

So here's my proposal. Currently Jake Westbrook is on the DL with a right rib cage muscle strain. He's scheduled to return in about three weeks. When he returns, it appears Cleveland will send Aaron Laffey back to Triple-A Buffalo. Let's keep him and utilize the dreaded 6-man rotation.

Sabathia, Carmona, Lee, Westbrook, Byrd and Laffey would not only get the job done, but with an extra day of rest over the course of the season they will make less starts and therefore be more apt to pitch well in September. This strategy could also keep Sabathia's stats down, possibly making it easier to re-sign him at season's end.

The pitchers will adjust after only a few starts and with scheduled off days and rain outs, pitching on an extra days rest is nothing new. If someone were to succumb to an injury, just plug in Jeremy Sowers who will make a spot start Friday against Cincinnati after the rain-out on Mother's Day.

We have the resources, why not use them in an effort to maximize our potential when we need it most? The playoffs.

Inter-League Play

I've spent many a work day bored out of my mind in my office and pondering ways to make Major League Baseball better. I do this so when I finally become commissioner I won't have to waste any time. This idea may need some convincing, but I like it and if you look at it with an open mind, you may as well.

I absolutely hate inter-league play. It has completely taken out the sanctity of the World Series. Nothing is worse than a World Series that includes two teams that played a home and home series in June. We'll get rid of that and instead, replace it with a divisional positioning series that begins on the last Monday of each month.

The site for each contest will be predetermined at the beginning of the year. The southern most team geographically will host the April series and the site will move north as the season progresses and temperature increases.

For this series alone, rosters will be allowed to expand to 32 players. Teams will compete in double-headers beginning on Monday and play each of the other teams in their division. The teams with the best records will then play a weekend series with 7:05 local start times. The third and fourth place teams will also play each other with 1:05 local start times. In the National League Central the fifth and sixth place teams will also play each other.

This leaves one odd team for the AL East and Central as well as the NL East and West. The fifth place teams in the mini-tournament will play each other at a neutral site predetermined based on geographical closeness.

This new format will accomplish two things. First, it will add excitement to the divisional races and help build rivalries, which in turn will help increase ticket sales. Second, it will help the weaker teams in the division catch up by directly playing those above them in the standings. The NFL has thrived on parity over the last decade (aside from the Patriots mini-signal stealing dynasty).

Of course the logistics of this idea will have to be hammered out but to compensate for the double-headers each team will have the following Monday off to rest and travel to their next destination.

It may sound whacky but I think it can work. No one loves the game of baseball more than myself, that's a bold statement but I stand behind it. I've thought about all the negative aspects of this but I think ultimately it can work.