Bruce Meyer, the MLB Players Association’s chief negotiator, condemned MLB’s “cynical tactic of depriving America of baseball games.”

Hey, Bruce … right now, nobody even notices. Thanks to Meyer for another example of baseball’s exaggerated self-importance. We’re never deprived of that.

It seems MLB, as per an agreement reached in March, can dictate any length of schedule as long as the players are paid pro-rated salaries with no additional cuts. The owners recently discussed implementing a schedule of 48 games.

On Monday, MLB reportedly offered the players 75% of their pro-rated pay to play a 76-game schedule. But the players would get that 75% only if the postseason is completed, 50% otherwise. Once again, the owners want to pass risk to the players. Once again, the players retched. Forty-eight games looks even more likely.

A 48-game schedule makes purists say, “That’s ridiculous!” while bowing toward the record book. The players say, “That’s ridiculous!” while bowing toward the bank.

They’re both wrong. A 48-game schedule would be a jolt of adrenaline for the tired, fading, boring enterprise that is MLB.

First off, flush the record book down the toilet. Baseball’s obsession with stats doesn’t help today’s game. Nobody cares about Babe Ruth. He died in 1948. The record book’s credibility got flushed during the steroid era (ironically at the behest of the purists). Nobody will ever win 300 games again. Don’t worry about the record book.

Football always moves forward. Football changes constantly, and it’s usually for the purpose of entertainment. That’s why football is No. 1 in America.

Purists campaign against the universal designated hitter because it skews a managing strategy that has long since been undone by the prevalence of the “three true outcomes:” Home runs, walks and strikeouts. The DH gets another good hitter up. It’s entertaining.

The players want more money. They don’t care, at all, about anything else. If any of them says otherwise, he’s lying. That’s the players’ sole problem with a 48-game season.

But a 48-game season would be awesome. It would be a sprint, not a marathon.

You might not want it every year, but it would be a welcome change of pace and perfectly understandable given circumstances.

The long season adds up, to be sure. That’s part of the game’s majesty (gag). But no single baseball game means anything until September.

Networks try to put lipstick on that pig throughout 162 games by emphasizing superstars, the odd marquee pitching matchup and OH MY GOD, RED SOX-YANKEES! (ZZZZZzzzzz…) But tangibly, no one game means much until September.

With 48 games, it’s the equivalent of mid-August as of Opening Day. The race is on.

Even MLB’s worst teams have good streaks. The Pirates won five in a row April 14-20 last year. At streak’s end, they had won 11 of 14. If that happens in a 48-game season, they can tread water (or even a bit worse) and make the playoffs. The Pirates were 25-23 after 48 games. If there had been four wild cards in the National League (as per one proposal for 2020), the Pirates would have secured the final spot. (But now it’s reported MLB might stick to its usual postseason format of 10 teams.)

It would be fun. With games averaging a stupefying three hours and five minutes, and the ball put in play in less than 65% of plate appearances, baseball could use an injection of fun. MLB attendance has dropped 7.14% since 2015, the last time there was an uptick. That’s 5.2 million fewer tickets sold.

A 48-game schedule might allow baseball to finish on its usual timetable. Coronavirus permitting, perhaps 2021 starts on time with spectators in the stands.

From a fan’s perspective, it’s hard to see a downside to a 48-game schedule. It’s all TV, anyway. You can’t go to games, except in Texas. (Those attendees get to be guinea pigs.)

The players will play. Sixty-five percent of big-leaguers make $1 million or less. They have to play. There may be exceptions, but most of the big earners will play, too. They won’t want to be vilified.

Looking at it from, say, Bryce Harper’s perspective, a pro-rated chunk of his $26 million salary translates to $7.7 million. Not bad for 48 games. (Under Monday’s proposal, Harper would make just $1.4 million more for playing 28 more games.)

The schedule for every major sport is too long. The NFL should be 14 games, not 16. The NBA and NHL should be 72 games, not 82. MLB should be 120 games, not 162. The quality of product would improve, in some cases drastically. All those cutbacks would enable each sport to start and finish within a logical timetable. That’s instead of the Stanley Cup Final in June and the World Series in November.

But that means less money for the owners and players. But how much is enough, and what about the fans?

Play a 48-game MLB schedule. The vast majority of fans would love it, and seeing the purists stew in their soiled diapers would be fun, too.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)