MLB make the "Nationals" really national!

Let me take you on a little mental journey for a moment...

Dateline - November 1, 2006 - Major League Baseball Office

commissioner Bud Selig steps up to the podium with the press awaiting his announcement. He clears his throat and says "The winner in the bid for the Nationals for the 2007 baseball season is the city of Portland, Oregon. Congratulations Portland! The Nationals are yours for next season. I apologize for all the great cities that made wonderful bids that did not get chosen and they all may resubmit for 2008. Thank you". The media now is a buzz with questions and the celebration starts in the Portland offices. The Nationals are now in their third city in their forever rotating home town. 2005 was in Washington, D.C. and 2006 was in Las Vegas, NV.

Yes Major League Baseball you can make the Nationals truly national. No more worries of seasons where the buzz has worn off and loosing is keeping fans from the gates. Each year begun anew with a whole city of fans purely happy not to have to drive hours to see major league baseball for its right there in their backyard.

Hasn't there been crazier ideas before? Disco Demolition ring a bell? How about the DH or interleague play? Think about it. How great would it be if one team was really national visiting all those cities that could not support a major league team long term but for one year is doable. It would be the PT Barnum or Ringling Brothers to end all circus's. Maybe it is even sold to them and they bring all their sideshows to line the entrances to the park. Ok now that is probably going too far.

Sure you can worry about all the logistics or all the employees and such but that can be worked out. The farm system would stay the same. It would not rotate. Also a home operations office would stay in a permanent location as well, maybe even down the hall from MLB. How many young people would not love the opportunity to spend a few years seeing a new part of the country every year. Just imagine.

So many cities would be vying for the bid each year hoping they were chosen, just like the Olympics but each year. This would have to create more jobs and give more cities and people hope. Sure a city like Pomona might never win but there are plenty of cities of enough size that the team would not start re-visiting cities for at least a couple of decades.

I can hear you now, this idea is just plain nuts but I would counter that it is not any nuttier than anything else Major League Baseball has done since they bought the Expos. So if you are going to make a farce of things then why not go so far that way that it actually becomes reasonable.

I have to go now, San Antonio is on the other line asking me to head their bid for '08.