Sorry, that should read, “Scott Boras’ Plan To Revitalize The World Series”, a headline supplied by Maura Johnston, who forwards the following item from the Bergen Record’s Bob Klapisch.


With America having gone to sleep on the White Sox and Astros in 2005 and further ignoring the Tigers and Cardinals last October, Boras (above) recently proposed turning the Series into a best-of-nine contest, with the first two games played at a neutral site.

That way, the entire industry could turn the Fall Classic into a bustling convention “ not unlike the Super Bowl, which has become America’s favorite TV sports event. By comparison, the World Series continues to suffer from its hurry-up, hastily thrown-together agenda, a victim of the league championship’s unpredictability.

Under Boras’ revamping “ explained in a letter sent to MLB’s headquarters “ Game 1 would be played on a Saturday in a warm-weather city, where there’s a low probability of rain or even snow. The night before, he said, would be like “the Oscars” where players from both teams would be introduced and feted before a national TV audience. But the event wouldn’t be just for pennant winners; everyone would be there, including the game’s biggest stars, along with the networks and the advertisers.

“There’d be interaction between players and management, the interaction between players and corporations would increase, the boundaries would be removed,” Boras said. “The Super Bowl does that, although it’s a terrible event.”

I beg to differ. Were it only for the early broadcasts of “Super Night At The Super Bowl”, I’d not have marveled at a) the sight of Chuck Fairbanks in a suit nor, b) the vocal stylings of Smoking Joe Frazier.

Returning the Fall Classic to a best-of-nine doesn’t strike me as nearly as bad an idea as starting the series at a neutral site (surely going back to a 154 game regular season schedule would allieviate some weather concerns?).  But nothing about Boras’ scheme is quite as dopey as awarding home field advantage based on the results of the All-Star Game.