On the Road to Milwaukee

Well, I think I've probably already said everything I need to say about the scheduling nonsense. Maybe an "I told you so" is in order to the umpiring crew: because they bit on the Hargrove Filibuster Ploy, we have to make up 4 games instead of 3 and 1/2. MLB should require the same crew to come back and call those games, but I don't quite think Selig and the boys have the sense of justice that I do.

Now it seems we're required to abandon the frozen tundra of Jacobs Field to go play our home games in    wait for it   

Milwaukee.

You've got to be kidding me. I wonder what compensation plan MLB has ready to offer the Indians for lost gate revenue. I just heard on the radio this morning that a spokeswoman for the leagues was complaining of the difficulty accommodating every team's interests in scheduling. Tampa Bay, for example, doesn't want to have too many April games. Cry me a river. If, as seems to be true, MLB has to inflict a significant measure of injustice on somebody in order to draft a 162-game unbalanced schedule for 30 baseball teams — well, you'd think a principle of seniority would be applied. Maybe Tampa Bay should get shafted, if the choice is between scheduling early-season games in the Devil Ray's dome in Florida vs. assigning the Indians their longest homestand of the year in the lion days of April.

Ugh.