Morrissey calls for less games

Chicago columnist Rick Morrissey explores the idea of a 130-game MLB season. Weather, as usual in these types of columns, is the culprit, according to Morrissey.

Now I know this would play havoc with statistics. Records we hold dear would likely never be broken again because of the shortened schedule. But let's keep in mind that the steroids era has taken a sledgehammer to the record books anyway. The home run records, in particular, are silly.

Anyone who has had to sit through a game in the spring knows it can be a wretched experience, at least in Chicago, especially when the wind has kicked up and the cold air hasn't received the memo about summer being somewhere on the horizon.

I agree that stats hold less meaning than ever in baseball these days thanks to performance enhancing drugs. That said, I think there is a simple solution to the beginning of April weather issues in cold-weather cities that can still allow for a 162-game season: don't play in the North outdoors until the third week of April.

Baseball should schedule the first two full weeks of games in warm-weather cities and cities with domes. By the middle of the month there is less chance for snow in Chicago or Cleveland or anywhere else they play baseball in the North. Either way, here's hoping the Twins never host an opening day in their new open-air ballpark during the first week of April. Yikes!

Update: Same newspaper, different columnist, with a similar view point to Spitting Seeds.