I admit that I'm not a fan of the baseball that altitude produces, however, if this is allowed, then why not allow the Detroit Tigers to increase the liveliness of their balls so that Comerica Park is more hitter friendly? Are the Rockies at a disadvantage because of their home park? It is possible that their pitching staff becomes more fatigued than other staffs throughout the year?

Changing the physics of the ball, or changing any external factor, is not good for baseball in general, no matter how you slice it. However, if the leaders of baseball deem it necessary, here are a couple more suggestions for equalizing baseball.

1. Create stadiums of equal dimensions across the country.

Just imagine going to ballpark in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia and watching a game and not knowing which city you are in since the dimensions of the field are the same. Just create stadiums that are big and round so that they could be used for other sporting events, for example, football, and then you would have a venue that would be useful all year round.

Of course, two sports would be damaging to natural grass so you would have to install some sort of artificial playing surface, oh well, what's a torn ACL here or there in the name of progress?

2. Allow every team a "home field ball."

I believe that an altitude scale should be created to determine the perfect baseball for each city. It would be unfair to a sea level team to have to play with a "normal" baseball, so therefore the baseball should be "juiced" before it enters play. It doesn't seem fair to me that the St. Louis Cardinals should be penalized for playing closer to sea level than the Rockies, so therefore, there should also be brands of baseballs.

Imagine the marketing that could be used by Major league Baseball. Thirty different balls means thirty times the value for collectibles. Fans will be up until three in the morning to see what baseball the home shopping channel is selling. "We have a Marlin ball with Ichiro Suzuki's signature, this is rare, and if you order now, we'll throw in a Pac Bell ball!" Kids in Anaheim will be asking their parents for the Red Sox ball for Christmas. The possibilities are endless.

Naturally, I don't think that changing the baseball itself is good for baseball. I don't think I'm a purist in believing that all games should be played within the same framework. The heart of the game lies within a stitched sphere, and while it may have changed in construction over the history of the game, it has always been the same ball for all teams who have played the game.

Major League Baseball thought it was a good idea (read: profitable) to put an expansion team in Colorado and it knew at the time that a different time of baseball would result due to the altitude. While I wasn't in favor of this proposition at the time baseball started in Colorado, I understood, however, reevaluating the situation ten years later and coming up with an idea that changes the centerpiece of the game is almost as ludicrous as Major League Baseball's accounting practices.

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