Combating winter weather

The biggest story during the opening two weeks of the 2007 MLB season was not Barry Bonds’ assault on Hank Aaron’s all time home run record, the on-going steroids probe, Dice-K (Daisuke Matsuzaka) mania, Sammy Sosa or the $300 million made-over Cubs, but rather, the cold and stormy weather that has caused several games to be postponed, most notably, an entire four game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Indians.

Last week, a snowstorm in the Cleveland area dumped about a foot of snow. They were one strike away from an official game in the Friday opener when the umpires called it because the field was deemed unplayable. Ultimately, they were unable to play any games.

The one problem with these postponements is when games are postponed because it’s “too cold.” Cold should not be a reason. These guys have Under Armor gear to keep them warm-they even have jackets, winter hats, ski masks, hoodies, heated benches and clubhouses. As long as the field is playable, the games should be played.

While there is nothing MLB can do about the weather, they should have been more proactive on this issue, and upon seeing that snow was in the forecast in the Cleveland area, they should have moved the series to Seattle, where Safeco Field has retractable roof.

There are several alternatives to avoid the bad weather in April and May, but all have drawbacks. The first option is to play the games in warm weather places and stadiums with domes or retractable roofs. It is more likely the games will get played and will not create scheduling and travel havoc later in the season. Unfortunately, this gives an unfair advantage to teams in cold weather cities, as they would get more home games in August and September.

Another option is pushing back the start of the season two weeks. It is unlikely that the owners or players would want to do this, as it would just mean bad weather in October and then all throughout the playoffs, which would end in early to mid-November.

Starting in mid-April and scheduling doubleheaders wouldn’t work either, as the owners would lose too much money, and the players would be burnt out earlier. Even if the doubleheaders were split doubleheaders (day to night) allowing the owners to get their money, it will still burn out players early in the season. Shortening the schedule is not viable either, as the owners will lose too much money.

What MLB should do is take advantage of the schedule’s structure.

MLB has an unbalanced schedule, in which division teams play each other 18 to 20 times a year. They should open up the season with more intra-division games. The benefits of this are multi-fold.

First of all, in the event Mother Nature does not cooperate, rescheduling games would not be as much of a hassle, as teams usually make two or three trips to the cities of their division rivals. Postponed games can be made up when they come again, without creating schedule and travel issues that will burn players out more easily.

One or two doubleheaders will not hurt owner’s wallets or tire players, and split doubleheaders can be done as well.

While no solution is perfect, opening with more intra-division games is the best solution, as this reduces the potential for travel and schedule havoc later in the season, and keeps everyone satisfied.