Baseball Season Has Begun?
Mar/084
Officially, yes it has. The Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A's officially opened the season on March 25 in Japan. (For the record, they split the two game series.)
This is absolutely goofy, for a variety of reasons.
1. It's March 25, for crying out loud! Every other team is still in spring training. In fact, the Red Sox will play a few more exhibition games AFTER they have played this two game series in Japan that will count toward their regular season record. Who dreamed that up?
2. This is a not-so-subtle money grab for Major League Baseball. Bud Selig's (MLB Commissioner) mission is to expand MLB worldwide, but apparently he's willing to do that at the expense of the fan base in the U.S. The Red Sox have one of the biggest fan bases in all of baseball. Do you think Red Sox nation is happy with this scenario?
3. The Cincinnati Reds should play the first game of the season. That used to be the case. They are baseball's oldest franchise, so baseball should open in Cincinnati. Ok, as a Reds fan, I'm a little biased. Doesn't mean that I'm not still right. :o)
Did I miss any other reasons why this is a bad idea? Or do you actually like the plan?
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8:30 am on March 26th, 2008
Agreed! I think opening the season of an American sport in Japan is just a shameless publicity stunt. It's stupid, and has really ruined the excitement for the beginning of this years season for a lot of people.
I like the idea of starting with Cincy.
10:52 am on March 26th, 2008
Coming from another Red's fan I would have to agree with the above statements! I had always looked forward to Cincy starting the season. Is it me or does it seem that Selig will do anything for more money and if it hurts or detracts from the Reds organization it is a double bonus. The decision for other teams to start the season over the last few years is not the first thing he's done that negatively affects Cincy. Maybe it is just because he is biased as a former owner of the Brewers. Okay…my ranting is done for now! Anyway…Go Reds!
11:47 am on March 26th, 2008
Okay, I can not be silent on this one. As a loyal Reds fan for many years and an American, can we keep just one tradition in the United States? We have outsourced so many jobs. Do we have to outsource the national pastime too? I raise my Diet Mountain Dew to a winning Reds season in 2008.
6:47 pm on March 27th, 2008
WOW! How did that happen, I didn't see that one comming. Again I guess my head was in the sand. Like a lot of things that sneak up on us we are out of touch or too wrapped up in our own little problems to be vigilant. You know like , What, no prayer in school, and so on. George W. Bush once said,.."Our nation has been put on notice: We are not immune from attack. Oh yeah, Baseball should start the season in Cincinnati.
Jim B