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Bob Costas' Fair Ball

© Bryan Walker

Any real baseball fan needs to read a copy of Bob Costas' "Fair Ball." Costas addresses the issues pressing Major League Baseball, its owners, its players, and its fans. Everything that caused the 1994 work stoppage could happen again after next season. However, Costas very thoughtfully lays out a plan primarily for the owners, since they should be able to master what they own.

Personally, I thought that the owners should have grabbed Costas to become the commissioner of baseball instead of Bud Selig. Nothing against Selig, but who would be a greater advocate of the game than Costas. I understand that he may not be able to influence the owners like Selig seems to be able to do, but he would undoubtedly be a fan's commissioner.

Anyway, here's what he recommends in a nutshell:

Revenue Sharing - Costas' plan calls for revenue to be shared among the teams. The teams currently with the most money would still have more than the others, but the disparity would not be as great.

Salary Limits - Teams would all have a salary cap and a salary floor. The lowest paid major leaguers would get a raise, and the highest paid would get a ceiling.

Now I'm not astute enough regarding Major League Baseball finances to know if Costas' plan would work or not, but I like the following ideas.

Realignment - Under the "Fair Ball" plan, only the Houston Astros would be moved. They would go from the NL Central to the AL West. Read the book for his reasoning. He wants to keep the two three-division leagues.

Wild Card Playoff - Costas says kill the wild-card and give the best record in each league a first-round bye. His argument revolves around the importance of pennant races to the game of baseball. The wild-card spot negates any pennant races, since second place wins a post-season spot, too. He says that the end of the season is more exciting without the wild-card.

Here's some of the rest of his ideas: Lose the DH. No longer needed. Expand All-Star rosters. Have an international draft. Force umpires to enforce a true strike zone. Utilize instant replay. Bring in more front-office minorities. Keep Pete Rose out of baseball but in the Hall of Fame.

I disagreed with some of his ideas, especially his ideas about playoff scheduling. But I would still vote for him for commissioner.

Email me with your opinion of his ideas. mailto:bnwalker@bellsouth.net

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