Good news and bad news.
The good news first: Acting Commissioner Bud Selig said Wednesday he is in favor of reducing the major-league schedule from 162 to 154 games.
The bad news: Even with all his power and influence, it is highly unlikely Selig will convince enough owners a shortened schedule would be beneficial.
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The shorter slate would push back the openers at least a week and, presumably, allow the season to open in better weather. Presumably is appropriate.
“Sometimes it’s colder the second week of the season than the first,” observed Cubs media information coordinator Chuck Wasserstrom, who charts the atmosphere, including wind velocity.
There is no way to harness Mother Nature. Samuel Johnson tried but failed in his classic book, “Rasselas.” The great 19th-Century lexicographer presented a scheme increasing the rainfall in the desert, reducing the frigid climes in Alaska, etc., to enable the entire world to enjoy an ideal environment. The result was global chaos.
This is mentioned now because in little more than a week there have been 10 postponements. Tuesday in New York, the Yankees and Royals played nine innings in a snowstorm. Last Friday, when the Dodgers were in town, snow and an icy rain descended on Wrigley Field. It’s still snowing in Boston.
Brrr! There never has been anything like it.
Wrong!
In 1982, during the first five days of the season, there were 21 postponements. Two years ago, the last time the season began on schedule, seven games were called in the first week. As has been said, there is nothing new under the sun, though it would be nice if we saw more of it.
Selig, the man at the top, revealed the March 31 opening, earliest in baseball history, has had him concerned since the schedule was drawn.
“We had to start early because of the extra week of playoffs,” he said. “No question we started too early. And now my fears have been realized. We need to sit down and review the situation.”
He also said he has been against the 162-game schedule since it went into effect in 1961 with the first wave of expansion. But he realizes his is a minority view. Every club would have to give up eight games, four home dates.
The loss of eight games would diminish each club’s income, especially the big-market franchises that usually have the largest gate. Even some of the middle-market clubs, such as Baltimore and Cleveland, both sold out for the season, would be affected.
“I hope more owners are thinking about it and may be more receptive,” Selig said.
More than likely, some owners are giving a curtailed schedule thought. But they are also thinking, “If we play eight fewer games, would the players accept a corresponding salary reduction?”
Forget it! Rain or shine, the players expect more money, not less.
But the players’ top gun, Don Fehr, said during a telephone interview Wednesday from his New York headquarters that adjustments are always possible.
“It would depend on the entire package,” he said.
Fehr also revealed his office has been monitoring the situation and is concerned about the field conditions.
“(The owners) don’t want the players injured any more than we do,” he said.
Fehr, of course, has control over the players but, like Rasselas, has no influence over the weather.
“We’ve run into some bad luck,” he said. “Hopefully, it will peter out and we’ll be back to normal.”
The Cubs’ Andy MacPhail, the thinking man’s executive, offered an identical view.
“We’re just having an unusually cold April,” MacPhail said. “The temperature has been 20 degrees below normal. Couple that with the earlier opening, and some people think we’ve been playing in Iceland.”
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Still, changes could be made. The warm-weather franchises and those with domed stadiums should be opening at home. The schedule-makers are aware of this but insist there are other balancing factors in the equation such as avoiding overlapping dates in Chicago, New York and California, which basically has two two-team cities.
MacPhail believes if the Cubs and Sox are home at the same time, the effect is minimal. If they agreed to conflicting dates, he noted, “It would be an intelligent tradeoff to play in warm-weather sites early in the season.”
Texas manager Johnny Oates, whose undefeated Rangers are here for a series with the White Sox, said the length of the season, whether 154 or 162 games, doesn’t make any difference to him.
“Either way, I have no problem,” Oates said. “But, of course, I have no financial responsibility. I don’t write the checks. I’m on the receiving end.”