Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Rob Manfred has a really bad idea to change the World Series forever.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is one of the most-disliked commissioners in all of sports (just behind NFL’s Roger Goodell) and he clearly isn’t on a goodwill tour following the conclusion of the 2020 MLB season. In a recent interview, he said actually kind of saw a benefit in a neutral site for the World Series.
“You should always think about innovation,” Manfred told The Daily. “I wouldn’t say a neutral-site World Series is completely off the table. There were things that we saw in Texas that were advantages for us. You can plan. You can take out travel. You can pick sites that eliminate weather problems. Those are all things worthy of conversation and discussion. I think the big (weight) on the scale in favor of our traditional format, the thing that really matters at the end of the day, are fans in home markets.”
No, Manfred, that’s a terrible idea.
Fans will miss out on huge moments with a neutral site
Why don’t you just rip all the fun from fans who spend all season traveling to their home stadium only to likely never have a chance to actually see their team win a World Series. We hated it this season and we’ll hate it even more when there isn’t a pandemic threatening us.
This idea of a neutral site works fine for things like football because that’s the norm and there’s only one game, not seven. It’s a huge inconvenience and expense for fans to travel and not even know when the World Series win might come. It’s just not the right move.