To whomever wrote that excellent article on promotion/relegation:

I just wanted to say that I am impressed with the site and particularly with the article on promotion/relegation. I also wish MLB had the good sense to make it more exciting by adopting such a system. I hope that you continue to publish the hypothetical situation charts next season, including the run difference information. On that note, in your "BPL" for 2011, isn’t it true that the St. Louis Cardinals would never have even made the playoffs? They were tied with Boston, but had the inferior run difference (+70 vs. +138). Therefore, I don’t think they deserve the green highlight! Though, of course I congratulate them on their eventual championship.

I’d like to ask you something, which is, how do you think a P/R relegation would come about? I mean, what sequence of events would lead to the change? I have a feeling that it would be met with a lot of resistance on the grounds of maintaining tradition, a point which you alluded to in the article. On the other hand, you and I were converted. I have a guess as to how it might happen, and I would love to know what you think.

Two considerations:

1. The people who support a P/R system in general are anyone who follows the soccer/football in any country but this one.

2. A large chunk of the people who follow MLS also follow the sport abroad and would love to see a P/R system here. In fact, the biggest reason MLS hasn’t adopted the system yet nor plans to "anytime soon" is because the league isn’t financially well-grounded.

How it could happen (in roughly 8 steps):

1. MLS continues to grow, especially as more players transfer between the US and Europe, and coverage of the EPL (and other major events such as the Euro and World Cups) continues to improve.

2. Eventually MLS becomes large enough that it can afford to expand and allow for P/R.

3. At the same time, the soccer/football continues to grow in popularity, and more and more clubs are formed across the country and Canada.

4. MLS makes the switch to P/R because so many (foreign league following) fans demand it.

5. MLS sees huge gains in viewership toward the end of the first season of the new system as fans and journalists can’t get over the excitement of speculating who will fall, and which new teams will find their way to the top.

6. The sport sweeps the country. A new league pops us in each state. MLS becomes more like the Champions League. The US is destroying the rest of the world in every major competition.

7. The other sports in the US take a big hit. Compared to soccer/football, they all seem painfully boring and insignificant as being the champion or the worst team mean next to nothing.

8. Baseball fan demographics continue to trend toward older people. MLB viewership starts dwindling
faster, so they do a study and realize that the fans would be thrilled to have a P/R system. They try it, and it obviously works well. Eventually, the other sports do the same.

I realize my rhetoric is a little over the top, but ultimately I think that it will be MLS that introduces the system to the US first, with baseball catching on perhaps a decade after that. Anyway, keep up the good work!

All the best,
Jeremy Chapman

[reprinted from DRSEA Newsletter – Volume IV, Issue 8]

I used to chuckle when my mother would sometime look at me quizzically and ask, “When were you born?” My reply was generally, “You were there, weren’t you?”

But as I continue to ponder the ongoing dilemma that Major League Baseball faces in the Dominican Republic concerning age and identity fraud among young prospects, my mother’s occasional memory lapse has become increasingly understandable, particularly in a country where record keeping is often lax.

Major League Baseball recently revealed that of the 500 prospects a year it investigates, more than a third are rejected because of inconsistencies about who they are or when they were born. I am convinced more and more than a substantial amount of the identity questions are not because of deliberate attempts to mislead, but part of a cultural anomaly. But it is virtually impossible to separate the intentional from the unintentional, further exacerbating the dilemma. Baseball has taken to labeling such cases as “inconclusive,” but still locks questionable prospects out of the game.

In a recent case, Juan Carlos Paniagua, who had signed a $1.1 million contract with the New York Yankees, had his contract voided by MLB – and the right-handed pitcher with a 95-mph fastball was suspended for a year – after his identification paperwork was deemed faulty. This came after he was suspended for a year in 2010 for providing false identification to the Arizona Diamondbacks under the name of Juan Collado.

(more…)

It will come as no secret to loyal reader(s) of this column that I enjoy using the word “honkbal” whenever I can and I will go to great lengths to include the Dutch term for baseball at any and every opportunity.

And there can be no greater opportunity than the one which has recently presented itself as the Netherlands emerged victorious in this year’s Baseball World Cup held in Panama City, Panama by defeating Cuba 2-1 in the final.

It is the first time a European team has won the championship since 1938.

Well done Oranje!

[reprinted from DRSEA Newsletter – Volume IV, Issue 7]

The strange case of the Florida Marlins Leo Núñez – who is actually Juan Carlos Oviedo – may be just the tip of the iceberg if what some baseball insiders are telling the DRSEA INFORMER is true, following the revelation that the Dominican Republic pitcher played under an assumed name for years and is older than he claimed when signed.

Several people have told me that as many as 30 current major league and minor league players from the Dominican Republic are in the same fix as Núñez /Oviedo, and, like him, failed to come forward when MLB offered amnesty to players who admitted falsifying their names and/or ages.

“It would be naive to think that Núñez is the lone culprit in this,” one person told the INFORMER . “Major League Baseball really only intensified its crackdown on age and identity within the past two or three years; before that it was kind of hit or miss, and if you were missed, the chances of avoiding discovery, obviously, are pretty good.”

(more…)

Chase Utley, the five-time All-Star second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, is “teaming up with PETA to urge people to always adopt from animal shelters and never patronize pet stores or breeders.”

Utley and his wife Jennifer also run The Utley Foundation:

The flagship event of the Utley Foundation, Utley All Star Animals Casino Night is an annual event created by Jennifer and Chase Utley. All funds raised from the evening benefit the Etana Fund at the Pennsylvania SPCA, which helps to support and care for the many victims of animal cruelty, neglect and abuse. Each year hundreds of people spend the evening playing casino games, bidding on amazing silent and live auction items, and enjoying delicious cocktails and food. 2011 marks the fourth year that Jen and Chase have put on this event and to date the casino nights have raised close to 1 million dollars. Utley All Star Animals is always looking for new sponsors to join them in the fight against animal cruelty.

Furthermore, Jen and the Phillies Wives have started “Save a Pet at the Park,” an annual event where:

the Pennsylvania SPCA brings cats and dogs to the game to be adopted by Phillies fans. … Fans holding tickets to the game are encouraged to bring donation items to the PSPCA. The 2010 event also included the sale of a calendar featuring the players with their dogs. … Over the past 4 years, the event has raised over $170,000 for the PSPCA.

And finally, the Philadelphia Phillies Citizens Bank Park has been named the “most vegetarian-friendly ballpark by PETA” for the last four years.  So there you go.