Neutral Site for World Series?

Over the past couple of years I have become an avid listener of sports talk radio here in Philadelphia. My commute to work each day seems to have gotten longer and longer due to the increased traffic in the area. When I first started at my job it seemed that I would make it to work in under 30 minutes and now its very rare a day goes by when it doesn't take a least an hour. So I have turned to sports talk radio to pass the time. We have two choices in Philly, 610 WIP and ESPN 950. The morning shows of both stations are very good, Angelo Cataldi for 610 and Mike and Mike in the Morning on 950. They usually don't have commercials at the same time so I end up flipping back and forth the entire commute. Mike and Mike brought up an interesting question today, Should MLB consider a neutral site for the World Series just like the NFL does with the Superbowl?

There is definitely a trend growing during the World Series. The later in October the World Series is played the greater the chance of inclement and/or cold weather. All you have to do is look at the last three World Series to see what I am talking about. This year there has been rain twice in the three games at Philadelphia and when they finally finish tonight the weather will be more suited to a football game in Green Bay then a baseball game in Philadelphia. The temperature is supposed to be in the 30's with a wind chill in the 20's. Baseball is synonymous with warm weather. The majority of the season is played in Spring and Summer and rarely is a game played in temperatures under 50 degrees let alone in the 30's. With that said, is the weather impacting the integrity of the game? Should the World Series be played in a warm weather neutral location or earlier in the month?

As I see it there are three solutions to this issue, play the World Series at a neutral site, somehow shorten the season or spring training so the World Series falls earlier in the month, or play the World Series during the day when the temperature is at its peak.

Playing the World Series at a neutral site is an absolute horrible idea. Its one thing to have the Superbowl at a neutral site because it is only one game. How could you expect fans of a team to travel to Phoenix or San Diego for an entire week to watch their team play? The cost of tickets is bad enough as it is, but then you would have to factor in flights, hotel costs, meals, etc. into the cost of watching your team play. Would MLB even be able to fill the stadium at a neutral site for 7 games?

Playing the World Series during the day is obviously not going to work. We all know MLB is driven by money and network TV. Viewership would tank if the game was on during the day. No company would pay the money they do now for advertising during the game if it was held in the middle of the day and no network would pay the money they pay now (Fox paid 250 million dollars for the rights to broadcast this year's World Series) to show the games during the day.

So maybe the solution is to shorten Spring Training or at least start it a little earlier. By shortening Spring Training and starting the season a week earlier maybe MLB could avoid the inclement and cold weather we are seeing recently. Some people will argue starting a week earlier could mean more inclement weather at the beginning of the season. That is true, but you would then have the entire season to make up those games.

Anyway you look at it something probably has to be done to prevent this from happening to future teams during the World Series. Baseball is not meant to be played in freezing cold weather, its meant to be played during the dog days of summer.

Just my humble opinion...