Thursday, April 29, 2004
Jayson Stark of ESPN.com answered the FAQ about the possibility of a 2005 World Cup of Baseball the other day and I'm left wondering about one of the problems:
The biggest issue in the World Cup is that it would have to be played in March during Spring Training. Why is this such a problem? The way I see it is, yes, it is a great way for players to prepare for the upcoming MLB season (call it competitive spring training), but do we honestly believe that teams are going to allow their best players to go? Here's what Mr. Stark had to say:
"But let's just say the commissioner, the union and all the top people in the sport have a major vested interest in having this World Cup succeed -- and there's a really good chance they'll be communicating that to every owner, every GM and every player who might wind up on somebody's team. Insurance will be offered -- to both players and teams. Every effort will be made to assemble the best coaching and training staffs around. And, at least subtly, pressure will be applied. If even one team balks, it opens the door for every team to balk. So it's expected that more high-profile players will take part than you might think."
Insurance isn't going to make The Boss sweat any less when Godzilla steps up to the plate for Japan. One could argue that players get injured during the spring anyway, but they're not doing that in an atmosphere with the whole world watching. The regular season could be affected even more than it is now by March games: Starting pitchers' arms will wear out earlier. Knees will get creakier. You get the idea.
While the idea of a World Cup is fantastic in theory, I'm not sure we'd see it play out to its fullest potential. I'm not saying it would be a situation where minor league nobodys would play against each other, but the star power that would fuel a worldwide audience's attention won't be there simply because contracts are paid by owners. Maybe Mr. Stark is right, but I think baseball has to deal with a couple of its black eyes (we won't get started on steroids, even though drug testing issues are out of the way) before it creates the ultimate World Series.
posted by Charles Curtis 10:08 AM
