Every MLB Team Should Play On Memorial Day
ERIK S LESSER. Shutterstock Images.In some baseball debates, you can see both sides. For instance, I don't like the DH. But I can understand why some people do. I disagree but both sides have valid points. There are some things that I think every baseball fan can easily agree with. Here's the ultimate layup: Every MLB team should play on Memorial Day.
Major League Baseball doesn't agree. Some teams have the day off. I'm not talking about two teams either. EIGHT teams will not play on a day that most Americans have off. These teams won't play on Monday:
Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays
You want the Blue Jays to have the day off because they aren't in the United States? Even that doesn't work because they are the only Canadian team and it means that an American team would have to have the day off. You want to give the A's or Royals the day off to save those fan bases another day of humiliation? That's a different argument.
Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox. Getty Images.To make matters even worse, the Yankees and Nationals are on the West Coast and playing night games for some idiotic reason so they won't even start play until after 9 PM EST. What the fuck are we even doing here? Not only should every team but it should be day games across the board. Just have them built in as four game series for each weekend and the days games allow time for travel (if needed) to the next series.
Sometimes I honestly can't wrap my head around how clueless MLB can be. I know it's just one day but this is part of a larger argument. This is a great opportunity for baseball to attract a younger audience and get families to the ballpark. I know people get mad the World Series games are all at night but you can understand the financial element even if you disagree. It makes ZERO sense to have an off day on Memorial Day but have every team play on a random Wednesday when kids are still in school. They'd make MORE money by having teams play on a holiday.
ERIK S LESSER. Shutterstock Images.This is also a great way to honor the military. MLB will have special uniforms and most teams honor veterans during the game. It's enables teams to celebrate actual heroes. It also integrates Americana with the sport. It's a win all around. You can build off that and maybe have the families of a fallen veteran throw out the first pitch. Have some incredible military stories told during some inning breaks. This makes so much sense, it's honestly stunning how MLB is dropping the ball here. Then again it's Rob Manfred. Nothing should stun us.
Let's hope they can fix this for next season and moving forward. The good news is every team does play on July 4th. The bad news? For some idiotic reason, four teams have Labor Day off. Amazingly, every team plays the day after Labor Day. What are we even doing here? Someone needs to save baseball from itself. They fixed the pitch clock. Now fix the goddamn schedule.
