State of the Nation's Pastime
Commissioner for a Day
At least financially, baseball is as healthy as it has ever been, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. With the season just days away, AOL plays Bud Selig and counts down the top 10 things Major League Baseball can do to make the national pastime even better.
State of the Nation's Pastime
10. Speed Up the Game
Casual fans often say baseball is too slow. Maybe they have a point. Between mound visits, pitching changes and TV breaks, the game takes too long these days. MLB could partly offset that by enforcing Rule 8.04, which requires a pitcher to deliver the ball in 12 seconds when the bases are empty.
State of the Nation's Pastime
9. Stop Saturday Blackouts
When Joe Buck, pictured, and Tim McCarver call FOX's national broadcasts on Saturdays during the season, they're the only game in town -- literally. Even if you have a satellite dish or MLB.TV, you can't watch anything but FOX. MLB should give its fans more choices, instead of pandering to a TV network.
State of the Nation's Pastime
8. Tweak the All-Star Game
The Midsummer Classic was fine before it "counted," so MLB should lose the silly stipulation that the winner gets home-field advantage in the World Series. While they're at it, they can also ditch the notion that every team needs a rep. Are Royals fans really tuning in to see guys like 2006 All-Star Mark Redman?
State of the Nation's Pastime
7. Ditch the DH
With all due respect to Big Papi, the designated hitter needs to go. Seeing pitcher's hit isn't pretty, but removing the DH adds another layer of strategy that's sorely lacking in American League games. A few veterans might have their careers cut short, but most DHs, like David Ortiz, could just pick up a glove.
State of the Nation's Pastime
6. End Interleague Play
It was cute at first, but now it's tiresome at best, unfair at worst. The intra-city rivalries like Mets-Yankees and Angels-Dodgers just aren't worth it when the vast majority of the matchups are of the mid-week Cubs-Mariners variety. Leave AL vs. NL to the World Series and bring back the balanced schedule.
State of the Nation's Pastime
5. Fix the Postseason Schedule
It's hard to match the drama of the playoffs, but a few tweaks could make them even better. The division series should be best-of-seven, not best-of-five, off days should be limited to days when teams are traveling so no team is stuck with a long layoff and the games themselves should start earlier than 8:30PM Eastern.
State of the Nation's Pastime
4. Stop Holding Fans Hostage
MLB has systematically used the threat of relocation to extort shiny new stadiums out of taxpayers over the past two decades. That practice should stop. The Yankees are paying for their new home out of pocket, and they aren't the only franchise that can afford to -- not when baseball is a $6 billion a year industry.
State of the Nation's Pastime
3. Beef Up Testing Even More
No matter what the general public thinks, MLB now has one of the toughest testing programs in sports, but, as Sen. George Mitchell pointed out in his report on the steroids era, it can get even tougher. An independent party should handle drug testing and baseball should pour even more money into the program.
State of the Nation's Pastime
2. Overhaul the Draft
The amateur draft is broken. At the root of the problem is MLB's informal slotting system, its recommended bonuses for picks, which often filters top-five talents like Rick Porcello, pictured, to wealthier and more successful clubs like the Tigers. Baseball would be better off without a slotting system at all.
State of the Nation's Pastime
1. Install a Salary Floor
Forget a cap, it's clear you can compete with limited resources. Owners like the Marlins' Jeffrey Loria shouldn't be allowed to spend so little on player salary, especially when they receive annual revenue sharing checks from MLB. It's unfair to the richer teams that subisidize the payments, and it's unfair to fans.
