Greed, not common sense, drives scheduling
Posted: Monday, April 21, 2008 4:25 PM
My friends in tennis often marvel at the structure of team sports that commands all players to adhere to a team schedule. Tennis, of course, is a collection of players who are independent contractors and who operate in a manner similar to musical artists. They make their own touring schedules. Some decide to play many tournaments while others parcel their appearances more discriminately.
It’s a different story in baseball where the schedule has changed dramatically over the last three decades and for the players the changes have not been for the better.
The most recent example of this involves the Rockies. Colorado played 22 innings in San Diego Thursday night and had a night game Friday in Houston – going from one city to the other is a distance of 1,307 air miles. So as happens all the time in today’s game baseball’s absurd scheduling worked to the detriment of some of its players. And it is impossible to blame the lack of concern over this on anything other than greed.
Why not a day game on Thursday in San Diego as both the Astros and Padres were moving on to other cities for play on Friday? Teams are reluctant to schedule many day games for fear of upsetting suite holders and local television rights holders. Why not a shorter trip for the Rockies? That’s a question for the schedule makers. After Thursday night’s marathon, San Diego traveled to Phoenix, a much more reasonable trip of 301 air miles as opposed to the lunacy the Astros had to endure.
Here’s the rub: Baseball routinely asks its players to make insane turnarounds. (My NBA friends with the Golden State Warriors moan about games on consecutive nights involving travel to Denver, a distance baseball teams equal or exceed dozens of times in a season). There is no argument that the players aren’t well compensated for this demand but money can’t overcome human frailty. Fatigue can’t be stopped by dollars but it can be abated by other means. Oh, wait a minute, the moral stampede in the BALCO aftermath eliminated stimulants from baseball clubhouses. How do you think this kind of scheduling can be survived with anything resembling a “major league performance?”
Here’s the second rub: Houston, like all teams, kept to charging major-league prices for last Friday night’s game even though it was unlikely Colorado could provide a high-level performance. And no one seems to care about this. To the Rockies’ credit they scored six runs in the first inning Friday night and won and also won on Saturday night. It doesn’t make the situation any easier to accept, but it speaks to the professionalism of Colorado.
How bad has scheduling gotten? Well, San Diego schedules night games when the visiting team has to travel with the full knowledge that Lindbergh Field has a takeoff curfew of 11:30 PM. With an average game taking nearly three hours to finish, a team playing the Padres on a getaway night has to scramble to beat the clock. Any long game and the curfew becomes an issue. And again no one seems to care. To make their appointed game in Houston, the Rockies left San Diego at 3:30 AM, willingly breaking the curfew that carries a $3,000 fine. The Rockies arrived in their Houston hotel after 8:00 AM and no one seems to care.
FIVE MORE SWINGS
(Observations from a Sunday around the majors)
1. Question for Frank Thomas, released by the Blue Jays yesterday: If Barry Bonds can’t get a DH job, what chance does Thomas have of landing with another AL team?
2. Saw impressive young arms in Luke Hochevar of Kansas City (deceiving results in his second major-league start) and Jair Jurrjens winning his third game for Atlanta. Saw impressive older arms in Randy Johnson, still throwing 91-92 mph and strong until Arizona’s defense betrayed him in the sixth inning, Miguel Batista, one of the best free-agent pitching signings in recent years and Andy Pettitte, who is quietly putting a miserable winter behind him.
3. Saw a Dodgers team that needs a spark. It scored only three runs and dropped all three games in a lost weekend series against the Braves but it has a lineup that should generate more runs. Arizona looks so good up front that some nerves are frayed in the NL West as the other teams know they have to push hard to keep the Diamondbacks in sight.
4. Saw the Jose Reyes smile return. For the life of me I can’t understand why the Mets would have attempted to suppress the energy that is the essence of Reyes. As he goes, so go the Mets. His styling will irritate some opponents but although baseball admittedly trails in this field, the pro sports world is becoming more accepting of emotion and celebration. The Mets worked hard to correct the damage caused by an ill-conceived notion of moving Reyes to second base in 2004. They now need the Reyes of 2006, not the sullen non-factor of last September.
5. Saw a wonderful piece in the New York Times on Curt Flood. Flood as a pioneer has overshadowed Flood as a standout player (seven Gold Gloves, .293 career average and six seasons where he batted .300).
What is largely unknown is that Flood’s stance essentially ended his career at age 31. Playing into his late thirties would have allowed Flood to accumulate numbers that would have bolstered his Hall of Fame candidacy. But there is no doubt that Flood should enter the Hall of Fame alongside Marvin Miller for their roles in the baseball revolution of the 1970s.
