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But there are a few problems with Bouton's proposal. There won't be as much protection for hitters and catchers in terms of equipment. Using the same ball over and over again can make it difficult for the batter to pick up at dusk with no ballpark lights and result in injuries. There are reasons that baseball evolved the way that it did.
So I have another proposal that would serve to turn back the clock on the way the game is played without sacrificing some of the needed advancements in Major League Baseball over the past century: form a Women's MLB.
Just as Vintage baseball was already played by over 200 teams before the formation of the Federation, there are many female baseball teams throughout the country. Organizations such as the Women's Baseball League Inc. and the American Women's Baseball Federation have done incredible work getting young, eager women the opportunity to play in organized leagues. But just as hardly anyone knew about the various factions playing under 19th century rules until Bouton launched the Federation, there is little or no exposure for these female teams. Someone famous and wealthy who is currently involved with Major League Baseball (that narrows it down, doesn't it?) needs to step up and form one official women's baseball league similar to the way that the WNBA has for women's basketball teams.
Not that the WNBA is perfectly run, mind you. In fact, it's absolutely ludicrous that the NBA and WNBA seasons overlap as much as they do considering that basketball is an indoor sport. The "WMLB" should start out as a league played only in warm-weather cities and cities with available domed stadiums. That way, the WMLB season could begin in November and end in March, providing year-round quality baseball for enthusiasts such as myself.
Medium-sized cities that are still too small to support a Major League Baseball team would be ideal venues for the WMLB. Cities like Las Vegas, Norfolk, New Orleans, Charlotte, Memphis, and San Antonio could see significant revitalization. We could even bring baseball back to Montreal and Olympic stadium in a new and exciting form.
Why so exciting? Because without 50,000 large crowds, teams will be able to have large dimension ballparks while still having a good view for all of the seats that they need. And women in general have a little less upper body strength than men do. With home run output down, just as in Bouton's Vintage Base Ball Federation, more exciting aspects of the game become more important.
Case and point: Sophie Kurys stole 201 bases out of 203 attempts in the 1946 All-American Girls Baseball League. Granted, the bases in that league were just 72 feet apart, but given that Pete Reiser (a fantastic player whom you've never heard of) led the major leagues with 34 stolen bases that year, I don't think you can attribute all of those steals to the basepaths. A different brand of baseball was being played by those women in the 1940's; you might say that they were in a league of their own...
The WNBA provides another good case of what we might expect from a prominent women's baseball league. People who are sick of the lackadaisical play, flagrant traveling, and automatic dunks of the NBA tend to favor the WNBA. Plus, the lower salaries, smaller egos, and cheaper tickets attract fans as well. They're not in danger of outdrawing the NBA, but they are also not in danger of folding.
Some see Major League Baseball as being in a crisis similar to the NBA. Personally, my love of MLB is unconditional, but there are those who feel that recent labor disputes, ticket price hikes, and substance abuse allegations have made the game unwatchable. Those people would have the WMLB as a refreshing alternative, while guys like me would have something to do in February.
Isn't it possible that these women would be just as likely to use substances like HGH and tarnish the new league? Yes and no. On the one hand, without gigantic salaries involved, there might not be the incentive to spend the necessary money for doping, much less potentially ruin their bodies for that small edge. On the other hand, there could be incentive to prove that women can outperform MLB players working towards an eventual integration, and various illegal substances could be involved towards that end.
More importantly, the popular perception is that women would be less likely to "juice" because of the risk of losing their femininity. However, I think that I speak for a lot of guys when I say that I still find Marion Jones ridiculously attractive. In this case, the perception in more important than the truth; people will believe the sport to be clean and enjoy it regardless of whether or not it actually is (you can't test for HGH any more reliably with women than you can with men).
So the formation of a prominent national women's baseball league would provide many benefits. It would give year-round baseball to hardcore fans like me. It would provide old school baseball for purists like Jim Bouton. And it would give peace of mind to conspiracy theorists and the easily disillusioned. In addition, the league would create thousands of jobs for mid-size cities desperate for that kind of growth. It's going to take people more charismatic, business-savvy, and entrepreneurial than I to get this thing going, but I just don't see much argument against attempting it.
Just think. This November we
could be watching baseball instead of counting down the days to the Rule V
Draft.
Disagree with something? Got something to add? Wanna bring up something totally new? Keith Glab resides in Chicago, Illinois, and can be reached at keith@baseballevolution.com.
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