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I've said so before, but I'm a proponent of taking the whole week off from league play (with exceptions below). Switch the All-Star Game to a three-game series. That way everybody can get in without farcical baseball being played. Starting pitchers can go at least five, if their performance warrants it, and managers can make moves that don't shame them as baseball strategists. Fans won't have to wait 30 years for the game to come to their town. That week could also contain the Hall of Fame Game, the Civil Rights Game (both of which would be games that count in the standings), the Futures Game, the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, the Cracker Jack Oldtimers Classic.
Call it Baseball Week. Revel in the irony that Baseball Week would have more symbolic baseball than competitive league play. There would be primetime national baseball programming every night. Some baseball fans would build pilgrimages around it. Others would ignore it entirely. But news outlets would cover the shit out of it and baseball would expand its cultural footprint. We'd all get plenty of distractions, while yearning for the Mets to return to their schedule, but some would say, "Hey, great time to schedule my vacation and actually pay attention to my family for a week in the middle of the summer."
And all of our teams would return fresh and healthier with a second (modestly ceremonious) opening day.
Anyhow, this is part of my broader marketing plan, which also includes all post-season awards to be presented in a November primetime awards ceremony, possibly broadcast from the hometown of the previous year's champion.
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