Players and announcers always complain about shadows in late afternoon starts, pointing out how hard it is for hitters to pick up the ball. It may have led to no “major” injuries, but it certainly isn’t conducive to good baseball.

Coupled with MLB’s handling of rain-delays, forcing play to continue through weather that shouldn’t be played through, until the game is official, so they won’t have to reorganize travel, issue rain-checks, or ramp up the stadium operations (and expenses) on an additional day without selling any additional tickets.

Then there’s 9 PM World Series games, night games on get-away-day (usually a 1 PM local start, so both teams can travel without a 4 AM arrival) because ESPN wants to air this matchup, and they want it in primetime.

At it’s core, an athletic league is supposed to organize, officiate, and sanction league games for the purpose of producing a champion. The drama of competition and the production of a champion is what is supposed to draw paying fans.

MLB, year by year, continues to become more and more a brand, a product, and a marketing force. Which is great. Make the money, sell the tshirts, pay the players. But you can’t continue to put the games, and the credibility of their results, in the backseat, and letting ticket sales and TV ratings drive the bus.