Bill Thompson’s Top 5 Baseball Executive Orders
Moments after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America, President Joe Biden issued a slew of Executive Orders. This isn’t out of the norm, it’s become common practice for each incoming American President to do exactly as Biden did on Wednesday. We’re not going completely political here (just as we didn’t back in 2012 when we compared all the Presidential and VP candidates to MLB managers), I do that enough as is. Rather, the Executive Orders issued by Biden got me to thinking of what I would do were I given the ultimate power in the baseball land and could say, “Hey, this is what I want you to do and you’re going to do it!”
Before we begin, if you think sports-related EOs are a fairy tale, I present to you the current Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Since he took office in December of 2018, he has not just made baseball an important topic within his regime he has made the betterment of baseball a driving force of his Presidency. We’re not talking only baseball initiatives either, in addition to those, he has pushed wholesale changes on various Mexican professional leagues and bent the game of baseball in Mexico to his will.
Taking cues from Obrador, it’s time for some wholesale changes to baseball, baby! Don’t worry, I’m not about to unleash the 47 Articles of Improving Baseball on you, though I could and it’s important you know that. Instead, you’re getting the abridged version, which are the five things I think are the most important in terms of the health and prosperity of the game of baseball throughout America, and by extension the world.
1. The nationalization of professional baseball
I’m not calling for the end of the American League or the National League, rather I’m calling for the end of their ability to lord power over the rest of baseball. There’s one thing all these years of baseball capitalism have taught us: it doesn’t work. By removing owners from the equation and allowing teams to be run by the state and funded by the people it would allow for the game to prosper across the board, instead of only for the owners. Most importantly, it would return pride to the relationship between a community and their ballclub.
2. Nationally funded youth programs/leagues
People don’t want to hear it, but baseball in America is in trouble.
It’s not going away anytime soon, I’m not arguing anything as silly as that. However, youth participation, especially among communities of color, continues to either dwindle or stagnate. A key reason for that is cost. By turning amateur baseball at all levels into a national product we would remove the cost barriers and be able to create jobs and growth in communities via new fields, complexes, etc.
This measure would get the youth of the country interested in baseball again, and by especially targeting our efforts in communities of color we would help to return the game to the communities that have given to it the most in the past.
3. The closure of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
I think a baseball Hall of Fame is a good thing and I would like for there to always be one. However, in its current form, it needs to go away.
The entire concept needs to be rebooted and we need to take a long, hard look at who and what we are including within its walls versus who and what we are excluding. The current Hall is an attempt to whitewash away the sins of baseball, what we need is a Hall that both celebrates baseball and presents the ugliness of the sport’s past (and present) for all to see.
4. Expansion of Baseball markets
With baseball becoming nationalized there would be no more need for communities without pro baseball. I’m not saying that every town the country over would get a team. However, there’s no reason that major metro areas should be without baseball.
People should not have drive three hours or more to see the only baseball in their area. By nationalizing the game and removing all the existing leagues (and reforming them as a cohesive whole) from the process we would be able to create a better system with teams strategically dotting the map to provide baseball of all talent levels to the American public across the entire nation.
5. Baseball for everyone
Whether we’re talking about watching games in person, streaming them online, or watching them on a TV at home or in a bar; people need to be able to watch baseball.
By nationalizing the game, we can create the most important thing for baseball to surge back to the top of the American sport’s mountaintop: the ability to watch.
No more blackouts, no more luxury boxes that people can’t afford, or regular seats that are outside the price range of most working-class families. Tickets are available for all, part of baseball’s nationalization is that it would become a public trust again which means people can watch games in person without having to pay a dime outside of their taxes.
If you live in Iowa you can go to a streaming service and stream any of the games from any of the leagues of various levels without having to worry about a blackout. Baseball needs to be affordable (via taxes it definitely is) and available to watch, this part isn’t rocket science.
Look, I’m not unrealistic, zero of these things will ever come to pass. That doesn’t mean a guy can’t dream. That’s exactly what I’m going to keep doing, dreaming of a baseball world where the game is controlled by the people and is for the people, instead of a bunch of old rich white dudes.
