In Major League Baseball there are the haves and the have-nots. No, wait. In MLB there’s the Yankees, the haves, and the have-nots. The Yankees are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett rolled into one.

With a $201M payroll, the Yankees spend more than $50M more than the Mets, the leader of the “haves” with a payroll more than $149M. After the Mets come the other “haves” – the Cubs, Red Sox, Tigers, Angels, Phillies, Astros, and Dodgers – all spending more than $100M per year in salaries. There are a few other “haves” in the $90M-range… then the “have-nots” fall into line.

As a Red Sox fan, I’m not complaining. The team for whom I root is one of the “haves” with a shot at winning a championship each year. However, since the mid-1990s, only the Marlins and Diamondbacks have interrupted one of the major-market teams from winning it all. And, I wouldn’t exactly call south Florida or Phoenix small markets – maybe just bad baseball fans.

With the Sox winning two World Series since 2004, the Yankees winning didn’t bother me as in years past. With all that spending, it was inevitable. It will just make the hot-stove season more fun in Boston this year. But for those baseball fans of “have-nots,” how long can they keep enjoying and supporting the long baseball season knowing there isn’t a chance-in-hell that their team can win a championship? How does that make Bud and the suits at MLB feel? Major League Baseball has become a league of elitists, which is just one of the many problems facing baseball.

With championship #27 under its belt, it’s happy-days again in New York. Congratulations to them and their fans. For the “have-nots,” MLB apparently doesn’t care.

Ah, the Fall Classic. Baseball in October. As a boy, it was a special time of the year. My first memories of the World Series began in the mid 1950s when names like Ford, Larsen, Berra, Mantle, Stengel, Alston, Hodges, Snider, Campenella, Maglie and Newcombe donned the sports pages. Hell, back in those days, the World Series sometimes began in late September. You know, a time when baseball was played in weather befitting the game.

Not today. Between extending the regular season to 162-games in 1961 (1962 in the NL), and expanding into a playoff system in 1995, the MLB Fall Classic appears more like a Winter Classic. Well, at least on the east coast. Watching recent Angels-Yankees games at Yankee Stadium in 30-degree weather and rain is a travesty. To make matters worse, MLB recently scheduled an afternoon game in LA and a night game in NY on the same day. Go figure. I understand time zones, but I also know it gets much colder on the east coast at night. DUH!

This year the World Series is scheduled to begin October 28^th. If the Series goes seven games (and weather permitting) it will end on November 5^th. For MLB and warm-weather residents, here’s a bit of meteorology; the East gets markedly colder in late October than in early October.

Maybe MLB was planning on a Freeway Series between the Angles and Dodgers, but that scenario doesn’t appear likely. With the Yankees up 2-0 at the time of this writing, I see no chance for the Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim beating the Yankees 4-times in 5 games. For the record, I also don’t see anyone in the NL beating the Yankees more than once, never mind four times.

So thanks to MLB greed, we could be watching the most important baseball games of the year in 20-degree weather and snow. It’s time for all those “brilliant minds” in MLB to figure something out. Leave the games played in cold and snow to the NFL.

It’s just another example of capitalism gone amuck.

If you’re a baseball fan who has never been to Cooperstown, it is a must atop your “bucket list.” This quaint, cozy little town in upstate New York will be abuzz this weekend, as tens-of-thousands of fans make the pilgrimage to baseball’s shrine – The National Baseball Hall of Fame.

And make no mistake, the sound of cash registers ringing along Main Street and in the Hall of Fame shop will be music to the ears of baseball’s sacred community. Induction Weekend is critical to the town and its baseball monument. And, whenever a Red Sox or Yankee great is inducted, the dollars usually flow in record numbers. So with Sox legend Jim Rice and 5-year Yankee Rickey Henderson being honored, everyone will be running to the bank this year.

The question is, what about the future of this American landmark?  What effect will the steroid-era have on the Hall of Fame and Induction Weekend?

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball needs to keep honoring its greatest assets. Like no other professional sport, baseball’s tradition is part of the game itself. So, with the likes of Bonds, Clemens, McGuire, Sosa, Palmeiro – and now Alex Rodriquez and Manny Ramirez all questionable future Hall of Famers – where does that leave the business of the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Could the steroid-era be the demise of this great baseball and American tradition and the beautiful town of Cooperstown?

Without great players being inducted on a yearly basis and those registers making music on Induction Weekend, where will the revenue be generated? How long would MLB and philanthropists keep the doors open at 25 Main Street?  And even if indefinitely – or, at least until we move away from this cheating era – what about the small, independent stores and vendors in this little community?  Who will save them?

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball need to make some tough decisions in the near future regarding the fraudulent numbers these great players allegedly perpetrated on baseball and its fans. The business of Cooperstown was looking forward to the induction of these great players. Without them, they could be doomed.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and MLB cannot leave these critical decisions in the hands of baseball writers who vote for players eligible for the Hall of Fame. That burden is not their responsibility – nor should it be.

It’s time for the leaders of the game to step up and set new guidelines to ensure the business of baseball and pilgrimage to Cooperstown continues for years to come.

It’s hard to believe the MLB All-Star break is upon us. With summer yet to arrive in the northeast, the weather here still feels like NBA playoff time. When do the Lakers arrive in Boston for yet another NBA Finals? Is Garnett’s balky knee good enough to play? What…you mean we have to wait another year to see that? The addition of Ron Artest and Rasheed Wallace to the Lakers and Celtics, respectively, has all but assured that rematch in 2010. But that’s for another Blog.

So, I guess it really is MLB All-Star week. For some reason the lure of the game no longer exists for me. Is it my age, or has the steroid era dampened my enthusiasm for the game and its stars? Probably a little of both.

However, for me, the game of baseball, once filled with statistics that mattered and star players who gathered yearly to put on a “show” for baseball purists, no longer exists. Oh, sure, the All-Star game now “counts,” as the winner provides its league with home field advantage for the World Series. But that, too, is a joke. Why they allow an exhibition game to carry so much weight for its historic Fall Classic is mind-boggling.

I also wonder; do the names Pujols, Utley, Beltran, Teixeira, Longoria, and Bay bring as much excitement to today’s young fans as did Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Williams, Musial and Clemente did for my generation? I hate to sound like an old fart, but I think not.

Don’t get me wrong. Players of my youth were no angels. They drank and chased women with the best (or worst) of men. We just seldom heard about it. But there was a “star power” in those days that simply doesn’t exist today. I’m sure being a kid and only getting to see baseball games on TV on weekends helped make players larger than life during those innocent years, but I think it goes beyond just that. Times have changed – and so has the game of baseball. Sadly, for the worse.

How does that song go? “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio – a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.”

Do you think Albert Pujols and his fans know Simon and Garfunkel?

Manny Ramirez, called by many the greatest right-handed hitter of his generation (along with Albert Pujols), is the latest potential casualty to become a Hall of Famer. Hit with a recent 50-game suspension for violating the MLB drug policy, Manny joins the likes of McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, Palmeiro, and A-Rod who will be keenly scrutinized for possible entry in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

McGwire’s fate seems to be determined, as he has already failed to gain sufficient votes. We’ll soon find out about a few others, as their five-year retirement from baseball approaches. The wait on Manny and A-Rod could be to their advantage, as they are years from retirement. Time can deter memory. However, whether any of these cheaters get into the Hall of Fame, they have already ruined the fabric of the game. And who’s to know whether others who have been inducted weren’t also guilty of steroid use? I have my suspicions.

What made baseball so different from other major sports was its stats. Numbers have always been part of the game. As kids, we all knew 714, 61, and 2,130. Today, those numbers have been shattered. However, can you instantly tell me what the new numbers representing those records are today? Personally, those old numbers, along with 755, are the one’s I’ll forever remember.

Unfortunately, baseball stats have gone the way of basketball and football statistics. No one knows … and no one cares.

Since the announced retirement of Curt Schilling, the question du jour is whether or not he should be voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. My initial, knee-jerk reaction was no. However, I’m now having second thoughts.

I am not a stat machine, so if you’re looking for all the numbers, you can look ‘em up on numerous sites. However, what I do know is that Schilling has 216 wins; six all-star appearances; one World Series co-MVP; one of the best post-season pitching records in baseball history; and three championship rings.

A friend and colleague of mine said, “He absolutely does not belong in the Hall.” However, my friend also thinks Schilling is a blowhard – and that the blood-soaked sock was really ketchup. So, his judgment may be influenced by his disdain for him, rather than analyzing his accomplishments.

Players need not win championships to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. See Ted Williams, Ernie Banks, et al. However, those who have accomplished the feat, especially multiple times, definitely deserve consideration.

Curt Schilling has been known for speaking his mind…and, in 2004, when he stated, “I’m going to Boston to break an 86 year-old curse,” he fulfilled his brash prediction. His memorable, bloody-sock, game-six win versus the Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever witnessed. He later repeated his bloody sock heroics in a game-two World Series win versus the Cardinals when doctors, in an unprecedented procedure, made a wall of stitches to keep Curt’s tendon in place. Even if it were ketchup on his sock, Schilling later had surgery on his right ankle to repair the ruptured tendon.

And, in 2007, Schilling was part of a second Red Sox World Championship.

So, whether you like him or not…you can’t deny his accomplishments. While his 216 regular-season wins might not be Hall of Fame numbers, his post-season record of 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA might get him over the hump.

And, oh yes, there’s also those three rings.

Classic: highest in quality; of enduring interest; noteworthy – worth remembering; traditional event. Thank God the dictionary includes traditional event in the definition of classic, or I wouldn’t understand what the World Baseball Classic meant.

Of course, we all know the World Baseball Classic has begun, right? Japan opened the event versus China in the wee hours of the morning in the U.S. I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. so not to miss the fist pitch. Ya, right.

I’m sure the “Classic” will gain interest as it progresses, especially if the U.S. does well. But, don’t count on it. Baseball is back, but it’s time for spring training. Even baseball fanatics need time to warm up to our national pastime. Also, when the best of the best don’t play, Americans have little interest. And when MLB teams prefer their star players stay home, how can its fan base support it?

The World Baseball Classic was developed for the rest of the world to watch. And that’s exactly what they’ll get. No one here cares.

Also, due to the Classic, the 2009 World Series will be played in November this year. Ridiculous.

SI.com has reported Alex Rodriquez tested positive for an anabolic steroid and testosterone in 2003.  Rodriguez chose not to comment to a SI.com reporter. He stated, “You’ll have to talk to the Union.”

Is anyone really surprised? It’s disappointing, but not surprising. The only negative is that we’ll now be talking steroids again rather than the enjoyment of Spring Training.

So, we now have the greatest home run-hitter of all time, arguably the greatest pitcher of all-time (at least of his time), and, now, possibly the best all-around player of all-time, all tainted by the steroid era. What does the future hold for inductions into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Is it time for Bud Selig to take a look at the record books? Should MLB begin thinking of restoring the records held by Aaron and Maris? Should there be an asterisk on Clemens’ 354 wins? These are questions that need to be asked and answered. MLB and Selig can no longer hide their heads in the sand.

Get ready… ESPN and your favorite sports talk-radio stations will be all-over this story in the coming days. If A-Rod thought Madonna was a magnet for the media, she has nothing on a good steroid story!

Floridians and Arizonans…prepare for the migration of snowbirds.

Forget Groundhog Day and the folklore of the groundhog predicting spring. And no true baseball fan really believes spring begins March 20th this year. Spring commences when MLB team equipment trucks leave for Florida and Arizona.

For baseball fanatics living in cold-weather climates, spring training is their annual hope that freezing temperatures and snow begone – with the sound of baseballs off wooden bats music to their ears.

The pilgrimage for World Champion Phillies’ fans is to Clearwater. Bostonians gather on the Gulf Coast in Fort Myers. New Yorkers head to either Tampa or Port St. Lucie in Florida, while Cubs’ fans go west to Meza, Arizona. St. Louis faithful travel to Jupiter on the Atlantic Coast. Wherever flight takes you…south or southwest, spring calls and America’s game is soon back.

My travels take me to the Fort Myers area in Florida and the islands of Sanibel and Captiva. It’s paradise. Get me out of this frigid weather and into City of Palms Park and Hammond Stadium, home to the Red Sox and Twins, respectively. This year, I may even go to the new spring home of the Rays just up I-75 in Port Charlotte. What better way to start the ’09 season that seeing the Sox, Yankees, and Rays – the three best teams in the American League, if not all of baseball.

It will be interesting to see how much the recession affects business this year. Cities and small towns hosting MLB spring sites desperately count on baseball fans and snowbirds to open their wallets and contribute to the local economy. Revenue generated this time of the year is critical to Florida and Arizona.

I’ll do my part dumping money into to my favorite spots like: ‘Tween Waters Inn on Captiva and its Oasis Pool Bar; Doc Ford’s Sanibel Rum Bar; and Matt Asen’s famous Timbers Seafood Restaurant and Sanibel Grille – where you could run into Chris Berman, Ted Koppel, or Brooks Robinson on any given night. Late-night usually includes Sanibel’s Jacaranda Restaurant and its fun “Jac Bar” with live music…or a trip to Fort Myers Beach visiting its numerous hot-spots.

The things we do to help the economy - and to stay young.

Snowbirds…start your engines. Baseball is back!

The Hall of Fame Industry is one of the most prestigious industries in the world. The mission of each Hall of Fame, no matter its category, is a responsibility like no other. Honoring greatness is important to history. Unfortunately, the definition of greatness is a subjective evaluation.

In the case of Jim Rice, recently elected into The National Baseball Hall of Fame (along with Ricky Henderson), he was selected in his 15th and final year on the ballot. Rice’s election is the ultimate example of the arbitrary nature of the selection process. How was it decided that Rice is a Hall of Famer in 2009, but he wasn’t in 1995, 2000, or 2008? A Hall of Famer is a Hall of Famer, no matter the year.

I’m not here to evaluate Rice or to suggest that he does or does not belong in the Hall of Fame. I watched him play his entire career in Boston and always considered him one of the most dangerous hitters of his time. My question is: How could selected members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (the voting body for the National Baseball Hall of Fame) name Rice on only 29.8% of their ballots in his first year of eligibility in 1995 and 76.4% of ballots in 2009? How many home runs or RBI did Rice get the past 15-years to heighten his status?

Halls of Fame have a responsibility to their mission statement and history. They need to constantly reevaluate their election process and to whom they provide the honor of being involved. They also need to better define their criteria so election is less arbitrary than it appears to be today. It’s obvious that The Baseball Writers’ Association of America needs better guidance.