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Boras making a pitch for nine-game World Series
Scott Boras loves the World Series so much, he wants to make it best-of-nine, opening with two games at a neutral site.
Arguing that the shift would create a marketing bonanza that would rival the Super Bowl, the high-profile player agent outlined his ideas in a letter he sent to baseball commissioner Bud Selig on April 15.
"I know from an owner's perspective, this is a gold mine," Boras said. "To have a World Series Weekend, WSW, I think it will create a stage that the game has not seen."
He would open the weekend on a Friday night with a televised gala announcing the MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year awards.
Hall of Fame voting would be announced Saturday, with the World Series opener that night and Game 2 on Sunday night. After that, the Series would pick up the 2-3-2 format that's been used almost every year since 1925.
Cities would bid for the right to host the first two games.
"Create this buzz around it the same way they do the Super Bowl," Arizona outfielder Eric Byrnes said. "I think is a very innovative idea."
But it would add more tense games to a postseason in which World Series champions already have to pile up 11 wins.
"Nine games? It's too long," said New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter.
The World Series originally was a best-of-nine affair, with the Boston Americans (now the Red Sox) beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 in 1903.
Winning the right to stage the first two games would be a windfall for the host club, Boras said.
Chicago's Wrigley Field hasn't hosted a World Series since 1945. The Series hasn't been to Washington, D.C., since 1933, and it's never been hosted by Colorado, Seattle, Tampa Bay or Texas.
Source: AP
Arguing that the shift would create a marketing bonanza that would rival the Super Bowl, the high-profile player agent outlined his ideas in a letter he sent to baseball commissioner Bud Selig on April 15.
"I know from an owner's perspective, this is a gold mine," Boras said. "To have a World Series Weekend, WSW, I think it will create a stage that the game has not seen."
He would open the weekend on a Friday night with a televised gala announcing the MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year awards.
Hall of Fame voting would be announced Saturday, with the World Series opener that night and Game 2 on Sunday night. After that, the Series would pick up the 2-3-2 format that's been used almost every year since 1925.
Cities would bid for the right to host the first two games.
"Create this buzz around it the same way they do the Super Bowl," Arizona outfielder Eric Byrnes said. "I think is a very innovative idea."
But it would add more tense games to a postseason in which World Series champions already have to pile up 11 wins.
"Nine games? It's too long," said New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter.
The World Series originally was a best-of-nine affair, with the Boston Americans (now the Red Sox) beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 in 1903.
Winning the right to stage the first two games would be a windfall for the host club, Boras said.
Chicago's Wrigley Field hasn't hosted a World Series since 1945. The Series hasn't been to Washington, D.C., since 1933, and it's never been hosted by Colorado, Seattle, Tampa Bay or Texas.
Source: AP