Random thoughts from the house bound:
When I was a kid NBA and NHL ended in early May and football started in mid September. MLB playoffs were over by mid October just as College & NFL season got into full swing.
Over 50 years MLB has been encroached from both directions so that instead of 100 days of being about the only game in town - it is down to about 30days from mid-June until the All-Star break. The playoffs go head to head against NFL and college football and feel less and less relevant each year.
I think there is a chance the NBA will rethink it's long held start of its season from late October until mid-December and push its playoffs back into July and wrap up about the time NFL starts preseason. Effectively they would not lose about 1/3 of their season to NFL in October to mid December. In the process they swallow up the last period that MLB had the calendar to itself.
Will MLB be able to withstand being a 2nd banana almost 100% of the time on a daily basis? I am not so sure. There is some irony in that gambling may prove to be a savior for the sport.
Baseball may become far more entertaining to younger people that can wager for 3 hours on the outcome of each at-bat, inning or performance of single players. How popular would Trout become when he has 8-1 odds he will homer against Garret Cole and then does? The betting permutations on baseball are endless.
Picture a screen where the odds of a batter getting a hit change with each pitch and that is all 1/2 the audience is paying attention to - the betting box in the lower left corner of the screen replacing the score/hit/error box. Make the odds 2-5 for. When Draft Kings wins the rights to gambling and pays more to the sport than ESPN or Fox - do not be surprised.
Pete Rose will reemerge as the spokesperson for the gambling site and make more money in one year than he did in his whole career. May even open the HOF to him as attitude on gambling softens.
It is a brave new world and I have too much time on my hands.....be well.
