St. Louis, Missouri was the westernmost Major League Baseball city from 1892 — when the "Perfectos" joined the National League — up until 1955 when the Athletics relocated from Philadelphia to Kansas City. Baseball certainly lagged behind western population growth in America. As recently as 1952, half the National League could be found inside the states of New York and Pennsylvania. Because of its seclusion, and the onset of radio's vast reach, the "Gateway to the West" built up a gigantic geographic fan territory. Despite its small-market status, the results at the gate are still being felt today . My self-imposed research assignment: What if two divisions (an East and West) had existed in both Leagues since the beginning of the 20th century? If the long-standing MLB era of 16 total teams (1903-1961) had been broken into divisions, St. Louis would have played in the National League West — with Chicago, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. Yes, you read...
Major League Baseball needs to close up a tunnel to their Postseason — the very one I hope my Cleveland Guardians utilize this October. Over the past few years, the American League Central might as well be known as the "Loophole Division." Play your home games in this particular region of the country and you could conceivably be the AL’s tenth-best club (based on win percentage) and get included in the top six. Worse, the potential exists for a bottom-half team to masquerade as worthy of the playoff bracket's 3 seed — recognized with hosting a Wild Card Series. Undeserving Postseason insertion is bad enough; up to three home games (and a favorable match-up) are a bridge too far. Remember, this is a diehard Cleveland baseball fan telling you this. One that witnessed his team regain the AL Central's top spot this week, for the first time since April 6. The Guardians were 5-2 way back then. Today, they only have 34 more wins that that. And yet, the playoffs will be a ve...