Baseball heading for a new dark ages?

The lords of baseball are at it again. They just can't handle success. They are their own worst enemies.

The 2001 World Series was truly worthy of the title "fall classic." Accordingly, the Series produced the highest television ratings baseball has seen in a decade. The ratings were so good, in fact, that Fox, which is usually the third or fourth ranked network, won the ratings battle for the week. With this kind of news, baseball should be planning for an impending renaissance, a new golden age.

Instead, in their infinite foolishness, those who are entrusted with the care of the game and its legacy are likely to squander a golden opportunity. Instead of a renaissance, a new dark ages for the game of baseball may be just around the corner.

Before the echoes of Sunday's cheers had faded in the Arizona desert, before the Yankees had a chance to get back to the Bronx to clean out their lockers, the powers that be had once again set out to resume their inexplicable assault on the game, its fans and its traditions.

This most recent attack on the game comes in the form of the elimination of two teams, a process the owners have euphemistically dubbed "contraction." (It's nice to know they figured out how to use the antonym feature in their thesaurus).

The biggest problem with the introduction of the concept of contraction into the world of baseball is that it is based on an irrelevant economic model. Put simply, contraction won't have the desired effect on the small-market teams' bottom lines. The economics of the situation call for the relocation of franchises, not their elimination.

It is true that there are several franchises that are failing in their current markets (e.g., Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins). But Major League Baseball does not share revenues to the degree that the National Football League does. Eliminating teams will do little or nothing to improve the financial status of the other struggling teams left behind. More importantly, no new revenues will be produced by this scheme.

Strengthening existing franchises through relocation, on the other hand, would add to overall revenues of Major League Baseball and therefore would benefit all concerned. This is true even before one factors in the ridiculous and unnecessary costs of buying out the owners of the franchises eliminated in any "contraction." Early estimates are that the two franchises eliminated will be bought out at a cost of approximately $250 million, which equals roughly a $9 million payout for each of the remaining clubs.

The long history of the game is ripe with evidence supporting relocation. The eternally struggling St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore to become the tremendously successful Orioles. The Braves moved first from Boston to Milwaukee, and then on to Atlanta, each move would eventually bring more success to the franchise than it had in its prior location.

If the issue of contraction were the only dark cloud on the horizon, perhaps, the future would not appear so bleak. Unfortunately, the black storm clouds of labor strife have begun to appear on the horizon as well.

The possibility of a work stoppage this coming season should be a cause for alarm. The game has not fully recovered from the fiasco of 1994, which saw the World Series cancelled for only the second time in its history, the first time since 1904.

A lengthy labor battle would most likely cripple the game for years to come. The fans were fairly patient and forgiving following 1994. Many, like myself, ended their boycott of major league games upon the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement in November 1996.

The owners and players would be naive to assume that the fans' patience is infinite. It clearly is not. A long labor dispute could be the final nail in the coffin of Major League Baseball. I don't think the lords of the game understand just how priceless and fragile what they hold in their hands is. If they don't figure this out soon, what is in their hands might all turn to dust. Even the myopic Bud Selig must have some sense of this by now.

If Selig and the owners don't get it, all the gains of the past five years could be given back within months. They mustn't let that happen.

Extra Innings: A couple of contraction related items.

Item 1: Killing the Twins

If teams must be eliminated, as the owners argue, the Minnesota Twins must not be among them. Sure their owner just wants to take the money and run, but Major League Baseball shouldn't let him determine the club's fate.

The Twins, who started life as the original Washington Senators of "First in war, first in peace, last in American League" and Damn Yankees fame, have a rich history that should be preserved.

Walter Johnson, Sam Rice, Goose Goslin, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Bert Blyleven, Kirby Puckett, and Kent Hrbek are just some of the greats that played for the franchise over the years. A team with that kind of history is always infinitely more interesting than a recent expansion club without any history. And to top it all off, one of the best stories of the 2001 season was the rise of the Twins to respectability. If the Twin Cities can't support the Twins, another city surely can (Las Vegas perhaps).

Item 2: Bud, don't move the Diamondbacks to the American League

If contraction occurs, as it appears it may, one team is going to have to switch leagues. Under the agreement the Arizona Diamondbacks made upon entering Major League Baseball, they must accept a move to the A.L., during the first five years of their existence. Next year will be number five.

Don't do it Bud. Don't move them. The Diamondbacks have won a pennant and World Series title for the National League. Leave them be. Move the Milwaukee Brewers back where they belong, the American League.

And from now on, leave the leagues alone. Despite the fact that the individual leagues no longer have significance as legal entities, they still have a great deal of meaning to the fans and to the history of the game. That meaning should be respected. The integrity of the leagues must endure.