More of the Same in Major League Baseball

I've spent a lot of time exposing what I call the "Aristocratic Conspiracy" in major league baseball. Just thought I'd point out that this year's American League playoffs feature teams from the top three metropolitan areas (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago). The fourth team (Boston) is from the seventh largest. Over in the National League two of the teams are from the tenth and eleventh largest areas (Houston and Atlanta, respectively).

This doesn't happen by accident. It is because of the nature of the conspiracy: the major leagues simply know they can't survive if these top large media market teams do not frequently appear in the playoffs and vie for the World Series. Free agency makes that happen, and it is no different than giving the Yankees an extra out every time they go to bat.

I listened to a morning radio show a couple weeks ago in which famed pundit and christened baseball expert George Will said that the $200 million the Yankees spent on their players this year had bought so little. I wanted to pull his head through my car radio, grab it at the sides and shake it so his brain would be put back into its correct position, saying plainly: "George, the Yankees are in first place." Now I actually like George Will, he's a smart guy, but this is just too damn sycophantic. My respect for him as an authentically articulate iconoclast just dropped several notches.

Indeed I do feel resigned because I like baseball so much, and yet I see how horribly it is exploited. And I can't stay silent, hoping at least a few others would see what I see, and -- after a few ripples are made -- hope against all hope that I can enjoy it once again.

For more, check out my page on baseball here.

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