Ever since Bud Selig has been in as baseball commissioner ticket prices have skyrocketed and corporate support increased to the point that they are now funding the sport. I keep hearing solutions from various ESPN hosts like “shorten the season” or “create some urgency”, how about this - - LOWER TICKET PRICES! In my book “Strike Three” we talked about the crumbling economy in major league baseball and we offered solutions. Now the Dodgers are bankrupt and soon MLB will have to assume control to pay the players. More teams are up against the “debt wall” and teams like the New York Mets are treading water. It’s a bit sad, even adding more playoff games isn’t going to cut it.

When I caught a game in Toronto recently, against the Houston Astros, the seats were $54 each, sure they were very low and close to the field but the Skydome was more than half empty on a Sunday afternoon.

I would support a 154-game season, sure why not, there should NEVER be November baseball, and it makes no sense. If I were in charge of Major League Baseball I would announce a 20% reduction in ticket prices for the remaining games this season and to start next season.

20% is around the number that MLB is down in attendance so this would help the owners fill the ballparks while they collect their last big television contract, trust me, in 2013 things will change forever, that’s when the deals are up.

Don’t be shocked if salary cap talk doesn’t start back up again after this season since the current CBA expires on December 11th, which is not being talked about at all? Why? Because players aren’t making what they used to, and owners aren’t either, so big changes are in store. Will they strike again? Maybe, we’ll get to gauge that better when the season ends.

Baseball isn’t the #1 sport in America any longer, the NFL is for now, but if they ever want to be back on top they have to change their image drastically. Players have to be more personable with the fans; the sport can’t continue to have that “corporate feel”. It’s a shame that most kids will never be able to sit just a few rows off the baseball field, like we all did as kids, because most families can’t afford it.

How many kids in the neighborhood play the game? The numbers are dwindling and the game has to get back into the American family’s psyche or they will continue to slip.