Read the opposing argument from Babe Ruthless.
How do you add to the tedium of an already exhausting 162-game season? It’s simple – you schedule an additional 25 to 30 meaningless games to be played before it all even begins. It is the ultimate exercise in futility!
I know, I know! You have to evaluate the talent you have on your roster, test the game-readiness of your players, and help your players get ready for the rigors of a full season… blah, blah, blah. The reality is that could be accomplished in MUCH less time.
Fans complain about the waste of time that is a four-game preseason in the NFL, but baseball’s preseason is nearly twice as long as that of the NFL’s REGULAR season… and what does it prove? Does a major league manager really need 30 games over a full month to determine whether he should pitch a guy in the fourth or fifth spot of his rotation?!
If you want to scrimmage, then by all means scrimmage. I absolutely appreciate the value in getting players on the field against other (different) players. I know that batting against a pitching machine is entirely different from batting against a human being, and I understand the need to have your hitters stand in the box against a variety of pitching styles before the games actually count. Don’t bother keeping stats, though, and DEFINITELY don’t report to me who won the “game.” That has about as much REAL LIFE value as Monopoly money. This is PRACTICE, and nothing more.
Would you apply to a college with your PRACTICE SAT scores? Of course not, because they hold no REAL value and the universities understand that a PRACTICE SAT is not the same thing as the ACTUAL SAT. I am not saying that the practice SATs are a waste of time, nor am I advocating that a student should not take them to prepare for the real SATs. However, I can’t think of a single person who would recommend you take the practice SATs 30 times before trying your hand at the real thing. There is only so much that can be gained from practice and simulation, no matter how “realistic” that simulation may be.
With that thought in mind, the real joke about Spring Training is that the games aren’t even genuine simulations of regular season play. At least in football they ATTEMPT to keep the starters together and on the field for a period of time in every game. Between intra-squad and split-squad games, where the team literally fractions into mini teams either to play with other split-squads, or to play with themselves (pun intended), no real stock can be put into the outcomes of these bogus situations. Does it matter if you’re single-A ball shortstop and your big-league second baseman hook up on a double-play during an intra-squad game where your own triple-A catcher grounds a fastball thrown by your own double-A middle reliever?
All of this adds up to one fact – the results of Spring Training provide NO indication of what to expect once the regular season begins. Sure the world champion New York Yankees also finished first in the Grapefruit League last year, but the Philadelphia Phillies (the team that went on to win the NL Pennant) finished in twelfth place with a record of 13-19-2. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing!
The rosters are not genuine, the stats do not count, and the games are meaningless. Far too much time is wasted on more than a month of exhibition, when it could all realistically be condensed into a much shorter period of time. If the powers that be want to ensure that the baseball season does not extend into November, I have the solution – CUT OUT SPRING TRAINING!
