Grapefruit League No More by 2020

The city of Sarasota, Florida recently voted down a measure that would have brought much needed renovations to the home of the Cincinnati Reds Spring Training facility. With the outcome of this vote, look for the inevitable to happen, a Red move to always sunny Arizona and the Cactus League.

With 12 teams already located within 1.5 hours of each other in Arizona and the Dodgers and Indians on the way in the next couple years, baseball is seeing a major shift in spring baseball and Arizona is happy to accommodate.

Goodyear, Arizona could use a new team to partner with the Indians. A nice Ohio connection of the Tribe and Reds in the same park would be entertaining and convenient for fans. Surprise, Arizona has a facility that was built to accommodate three MLB teams. Casa Grand recently pushed hard for a team and with the growth of the outlining cities around Phoenix, it is not a stretch of the imagination to see every Major League team with an Arizona home by 2020. I could see Queen Creek, North Phoenix, Gilbert, West Mesa, North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Avondale, Anthem, Chandler and many others easily being able to accommodate teams.

And how about Tucson? Just 1.5 hours from Phoenix and able to currently house 4 teams. The Tucson area could easily host another 6 teams with new growth.

And why not? Barring a freak of nature, it doesn't rain in Arizona and it's absolutely beautiful during March. This happens to be a great benefit to big league baseball teams in trying to get every single day of work-outs completed before the season begins. Florida is the rainy, hot and humid state, with numerous wash out games and days in the spring. Every day counts in spring training and one day of lost work certainly sets a team back.

Plus, you have the dreaded travel that the Grapefruit League teams have to contend with. A simple trip from Ft. Myers to Brevard County is a good 5 hours long. Big league players love 5 hour bus rides, don't they? In the Phoenix area, it's a hop, skip and a jump to the next park, with the longest trek being only 1.5 hours to Tucson.

The Grapefruit League does have some nice parks, so please don't get me wrong about the accommodations. Palm Beach and Clearwater have beautiful facilities. But these same parks could easily be built with new money in the desert.

If it's a matter of convenience and the convenience that not only players want, but that organizations want, the Cactus League just makes better sense. For the weather, expenses that would be saved and for the ease of finding every possible entertainment element in the world to do, Arizona almost seems like a no-brain er for teams.

There are some leases ending soon and talks are already in the works for more teams to head West, but it will take some time for my entire prediction to come true. A few staples in the Grapefruit League might fight the movement to the end. Clearwater and the Phillies are in a brand new park and I can already picture the Yankees as the last team sticking to it's Florida roots, vowing to never leave the Tampa area. Steinbrenner would probably fly his players to games out West before giving up on his Florida empire.

Bye-Bye TBS - Hello Fox Sports

I'm curious, does anyone know when Frank TV starts?

This show better be to the level of Entourage the way TBS is promoting it. For sports fan not familiar with Frank or the fan who only watches sports come playoff time, I wouldn't be surprised if you are saying to yourself that you will boycott this show because you are so sick of the Frank TV commercials.

I for one, will not be watching for a different reason. Cox Communications, out here in the Phoenix market, has yet to pick up TBSHD. Watching these playoff games is like watching sports back in the 90's. How did we ever manage? The only time I veer away from my HD stations is when I'm forced to. And, unfortunately these TBS playoff games have forced me to.

On to the ALCS for the Indians, where Fox will be picking up the games. That's HD Channel 710 and no more Frank TV spots for me. For all you NL fans, enjoy TBS, no HD with Cox in Phoenix and Frank TV a little longer.

Playoffs Equals Big Attendance

Year in, year out, I am always happy to see teams packing their ballparks to over capacity limits in the playoffs. Teams that only averaged around 25,000 fans a game during the regular season are now jamming their parks full with 45,000 fans.

This is always attributed to fair weather fans. But is that truly the case? I actually wish it was the case, as it would excite more fans into attending regular season games the next year. But unfortunately, they are filling the parks with the same fans that attended 5 to 10 games during the regular season. The problem is, that with the potential of only 2 or 3 home games in a playoff series, these same fans are forced to have to attend the same 2 or 3 games versus spreading it out over a full season.

Where the fair weather fans come into play is with TV audiences. Ratings jump through the roof with fans who haven't watched one game the entire year now glued to their TV. All the sudden your dentist, doctor and neighbor is talking about the big game the night before.

What we hope to see is the fair weather watchers of the post-season translate into fair weather attendees come the 2008 regular season. Put on a good show for the TV audience with huge crowds behind you and these fair weather TV fans are sure to bite.

I for one hope this is the case. Teams like the D-backs, Indians and Rockies should be playing in front of 45,000 fans all season long and not just the playoffs. What fans are seeing now in the playoffs is absolutely wonderful, but is actually only a replay of what half the fans have been seeing all season - Great Baseball.

A Perfect MLB World Series Path

Here is how the post-season will shake out starting today with the Rockies-Phillies game. The only logic involved in this is that the Indians will win their first World Series title since 1948. Best record in baseball and best 1-2 punch on the mound.

Look for the Rockies to be playing the D-backs in the NL finals. Why will the Rockies top the Phillies? Because when the Tribe reaches the World Series, it would be much more convenient to see them play in Denver than in Philly. But, here's hoping that scenario doesn't shake out, as I have to root for my current hometown and NL team, the D-backs. Making only a 30-minute drive to watch the Tribe play and possibly wrap things up in the Series on the road would be a very sweet thing.

We already know the Indians are taking it all, but how are they getting there? Through LA of course. A nice little $98 one-hour flight is definitely in the cards for next weekend. The Yankees will go down and the Red Sox do pose an area of concern, but it's only right that on the road to a title, that the road runs conveniently close or through the Phoenix area.

So there you have it...Indians over Yankees. Angels over Sox. Tribe over Yankees. Colorado over Philly. D-backs top the Cubs and then roll over the Rockies. All to get to the 2007 World Champion Cleveland Indians.

How sweet it will be. Go Tribe!

Congratulations to MLB

It's been requested that I lighten things up a bit. Not an easy task for someone as mad at everything as I am, but I'll give it a shot.

Major League Baseball has yet again broke its all-time attendance record for the 2007 season. This is a great feat, especially considering how poor some team's numbers were this year.

Overall 2007 has been a great year of baseball. Pennant races are coming down to the wire, records were broken and most importantly, my beloved Indians have returned to the playoffs.

Here's to getting a first round series against the most arrogant city in the nation - Boston. They really are not that good of a team and are in a division that really was not very good this season. It would be an honor to get to knock the Red Sox and the city of cry baby cheaters out of the playoffs.

I tried, but couldn't do it. Baseball was great this year, but won't be complete without Cleveland's first championship since 1948.