Baseball is, in my humble opinion, the best professional sport and the quintessential American game. However, modern baseball can be improved significantly - the following opinions are my nine suggestions for improving the game.
1). Allow the game to police itself. One thing I am very tired of is having suits in the front offices decide what constitutes an offense in the game. While the pendulum inevitably swings between favoring offense and favoring pitching, depending on what era one is in, the pendulum has recently swung far beyond what should be acceptable in professional baseball. For example, pitchers today are rarely allowed to throw inside effectively without umpires jumping the gun and issuing unnecessary warnings, which effectively handcuffs pitchers. To be clear, I'm not advocating headhunting. However, effective pitchers need to control the inside part of the plate and instill a healthy sense of fear in the batter. Today, if pitchers go inside they are often warned at the umpire's discretion . That is a key phrase: at the umpire's discretion. In recent years, umpires have issued warnings that make absolutely no sense. A couple of years ago in Atlanta, a player hit three HRs off Atlanta pitching. In the first inning of the next game, the player was knocked down by an inside fastball. The very next inning, the opposing starter immediately knocked down the first batter he faced and was promptly ejected. Um, WHAT? These are the kinds of things that make no sense in baseball today. Allow pitchers to protect their teammates, ensure that any player who is disrespecting the game or showing up another player has to face the consequences, and the game will become much more exciting and equitable. If you stand and admire a HR, just know that the next pitch will be right in the middle of your back. That's how baseball was, and that's how it should be. Players know what is acceptable and what isn't, and let them decide what needs to be punished, when, and how.
2). Eliminate the DH. This goes along, in some aspects, with my first point about policing the game. American League pitchers can go inside as much as they want knowing that they will never have to face retribution by not having to bat. The DH came about as a gimmick to increase attendance in an era where pitching dominated (if I remember correctly, the DH came about the year after Carl Yastrzemski won the batting title with a .302 average). Bring back the strategy involved with pitchers hitting - bunting, hitting the ball to the correct field, and so on.
3). Eliminate the All-Star Game deciding home-field advantage in the World Series. This is ridiculous. Having an exhibition game determine something as important as home-field advantage is an affront to the regular season. This was also a gimmick brought about by the fact that Bud Selig allowed the All-Star Game to end in a tie a few years ago. As Selig usually does, he completely overreacted and now a game that is meant as a showcase for the players and a treat for the fans, where Little League rules seem to apply (managers try to get everybody to play; every team gets a player on the team, et cetera), now has an immense effect on who wins the World Series. The team with the best regular season record gets home-field advantage in the World Series. Period.
4). Institute a meaningful salary cap. While I am diametrically opposed to the realignment idea, the reasoning behind such a drastic suggestion is rooted in a real concern. Some teams are always going to be richer than other, and some teams are always going to be more liberal with their free-agent spending. That's a fact of professional sports that isn't limited to MLB. The luxury tax is a good first step, but I don't think it goes far enough. I'm not sure what a fair cap would be in financial terms, but teams shouldn't be allowed to spend $423.5 million on free agents in one offseason as the Yankees did in 2008. One way to minimize the "Yankee Impact" could be to require that a team spends a certain percentage of its payroll on the farm system and player development. While that wouldn't necessarily curtail the emphasis on free agency, it would force teams to develop talent rather than simply pillage the smaller market teams. Connected with this idea, a minimum payroll should also be instituted. From time to time some teams will have to go into rebuilding mode with a small payroll, but situations like the Marlins' firesales in 1998 and 2004 should be outlawed.
5). Toughen drug testing. One thing MLB has done well over the past few years, although they were extremely slow in addressing the problem, has been to implement a stringent drug-testing policy with severe consequences. I'd like to see still tougher policies, though - one positive test means a year suspension, and a second positive test means you're out of the game. Forever.
6). Return the Brewers to the American League. It's absolutely unbelievable that Bud Selig was able to get away with moving the Brewers, the team he used to own to the NL Central - where he thought they'd be more competitive. While this has not proven to be the case, it has upset the balance of the AL and NL. There is, simply put, no reason for the NL Central to have 6 teams and the AL West 4. My solution would be to move the Royals to the AL West and return the Brewers to the AL Central. While it's tough to imagine Kansas City as a western city, it's only slightly further east than Arlington, where the Rangers play. Following these steps would give every Major League division 5 teams and interleague play would still allow these geographical rivalries to develop.
7). Sanction baseball academies in Latin America. One of the most stomach-turning moments in recent memory was the story coming out of Washington where the GM or the GM's assistant was pocketing bonus money supposedly ticketed for Latin American recruits who had signed with the team. By sanctioning academies in Latin America, MLB can ensure that young prospects - some of who are signed when they are 16 years old, perhaps even younger - are not exploited.
8). Enhance programs like R.B.I. The Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program is one of the better programs MLB has created in recent years. Ensure that MLB players, especially African-American and Latino players, serve as community liaisons with their home cities.
9). Eliminate maple bats. If you've watched any baseball in the past few years, you may have noticed that more and more players are using maple bats. MLB actually broached this subject in 2006 but the players shouted down the suggestion. The fact of the matter is that maple bats shatter, while ash - the traditional wood used for bats - cracks. A few years ago Rick Helling, a former major league pitcher, was impaled by a maple bat which had shattered while pitching for the minor-league Nashville Sounds. It is only a matter of time before a maple bat shatters and hits a fan, especially in parks where fans are particularly close to the action (such as Wrigley Field or Fenway Park). Maple bats need to be outlawed before a fan or player is seriously injured or killed.
