Few commissioners in any sport have proposed more controversial and revolutionary ideas than MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. He has another one, and most probably won’t like it.
During a Thursday radio interview on WFAN in New York with Craig Carton and Chris McMonigle, the commissioner revealed that MLB had discussed holding an in-season tournament similar to the NBA Cup. In addition, the league also explored the idea of a split schedule.
“We’ve talked about split seasons. We’ve talked about in-season tournaments,” Manfred said. “We do understand that 162 (games) is a long pull. I think the difficulty to accomplish those sort of in-season events, you almost inevitably start talking about fewer regular-season games.”
The talk about an in-season tournament comes as somewhat of a surprise. The NBA recently began using an in-season tournament format to drum up fan interest after ratings were low. MLB, however, has very solid ratings, much better than the NBA.
So, why feel the need to do it?
The discussion over a split schedule is less surprising and, as it turns out, is not unprecedented.
“In 1892, the National League staged a split season in a bid to generate additional fan interest; it did not stick,” Sports Illustrated reports. “In 1981, MLB held a split season after a players’ strike interrupted the regular year.”
However, despite all the talk of change, Manfred noted that any proposal to shorten the season would play havoc with MLB’s much-revered record books, making it a big obstacle.
“It is a much more complicated thing in our sport than it is in other sports. Because of all of our season-long records, you’re playing around with something that people care a lot about,” Manfred said.
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