LONDON - I know that summer officially starts on June 21, but for all intents and purposes, summer officially started last night when Mark Buerhle threw the first pitch of the season to Grady Sizemore. It may seem that baseball is heading into a season of turmoil off the field as it tries to deal with a decade of overlooking steroids in the game. But on the field, things couldn't be better.
For the first time in a long time, there's hope in Milwaukee. There's hope in Detroit. There's even hope in Tampa Bay (and free parking to boot).
As it stands, baseball is on the precipice of a major sea of change in the major leagues. Many out there who are either too lazy or too set in their ways will continue to bash Major League Baseball and its unfairness to small-market teams. These people are wrong. The days when teams like the Yankees and even my beloved Red Sox could simply throw their millions around to try to buy championships are over, and has been over since Mariano Rivera blew a save in Phoenix five years ago.
Teams have figured out that the keys to success lie not in splashy free agent acquisitions, but in building an organization from the ground up. The time of the rich "haves" and "have-nots" are over.
Over the past few years, teams like the Brewers, Devil Rays, Diamondbacks and Tigers have slowly collected talent, traded away expensive, aging veterans for young, minor league talent, hoping that it all percolates at the right time. That time is now.
Many of the teams looking to contend this year have not been in contention since we were in diapers. The Devil Rays were born in the cellar of the American League East, only escaping for one season since their creation. Now? Some of the brightest stars of recent years are adding new life to baseball backwaters, including Tampa Bay.
The major leagues are ready for a youth movement. The remains of the heroes we knew growing up are either retired or on their last legs. Baseball players, like war heroes, are simply fading away. The new stars of the future are no longer in the big cities like New York, St. Louis or Philadelphia, but in the small market teams that are now becoming meaningful again.
Perhaps the brightest pitching star since Doc Gooden, Felix Hernandez, is playing in Seattle (make sure to see him when the Mariners come to Baltimore this summer).
Delmon Young, younger brother of Demetri Young, will languish in the minors for another half season before he's called up to Tampa Bay. Young will soon become a household name and will be competing for MVP awards before some of you get out of graduate school.
With good prospects, there comes the need to sign these players to longterm deals. One only has to look at Cleveland to see how, by signing a core group of young players to longterm deals, teams will be able to contend for the next decade.
The other side of this is by locking these guys up early, they can get them cheaper and avoid losing them, via free agency, in their prime. Good news for the little guys, bad news for teams like the Cardinals and Yankees, who have farm systems so weak I could be the starting second baseman for their Triple-A clubs.
So be careful, Mr. Steinbrenner. Your team's older than most beer-league clubs, and the competition's only getting closer.
Watch out, Mr. Henry. Jacking up the prices of Red Sox tickets to where people are deciding whether to buy a Vespa or outfield seats isn't going to help fend off the upstart youth movements in other cities.
This may be the unofficial start of summer, but it's the official start of a whole new ball game.
