The Big Ten announced last Thursday that the 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament will be held at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. In the past, the conference championship had been held at the home of the team with the best regular season record. The conference hierarchy is pretty pumped up to finally have the tournament at a “neutral” site.

“We are excited to announce that the 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament will be held at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio,” said Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany. “Moving the baseball tournament to a neutral site will allow the conference office and the local organizing committee to promote this event throughout the season.

Technically, Huntington Park is a neutral site because none of the Big Ten teams actually play their home games there, but I’m pretty sure the Ohio State University will still be in Columbus as of 2009. I agree that establishing a set site for the tournament is a huge advantage for the conference in terms of marketing and promotions, and a very good move for all postseason tournaments. This gives people a chance to get tickets and travel set up for for the tournament weeks in advance, as opposed to scrambling for it after the regular season winner is declared.

That being said, this site is hardly neutral and the NCAA falls into this trap all the time. This is like the college basketball game this past weekend between UConn and Gonzaga that was considered to be at a neutral site even though the game was played in Seattle. Or better yet, the Rose Bowl, which is considered to be at a neutral site even though Penn State has to travel 2500 miles to get there while USC has to go like 10 miles.

The tournament being played in Columbus would be a huge advantage for Ohio State if: a) college baseball fans actually existed and b) home field advantage actually meant anything in baseball.

Regardless, never underestimate the effect of traveling hundreds of miles and staying in a hotel for a week. The disadvantage to playing on the road is not necesarily playing at the other team's stadium, but its the long hours spent on a bus or plane, followed by lying in bed at a Residence Inn, watching the Discovery Channel while waiting for the 10 pm bed check. Then, because there's literally nothing else to do, going to bed at some ridiculously early time like 11:30. This throws off a college athlete's bodily clock more than cross country travel does.

While every other team is trekking to Columbus during finals week next May to play this tournament, the Ohio State baseball team will be sitting at home, doing what every other student does during finals week: eating, sleeping, drinking and playing Call of Duty on ps3.

My choice for the Big Ten Baseball Championship would have been the Field of Dreams in Dubuque County, Iowa. It’s neutral (75 miles from Univ. of Iowa), has national appeal and is already a tourist attraction. This is guaranteed to increase interest in the Big Ten tournament, which was the goal in the first place. Without a doubt, if the Big Ten hierarchy build it, people will come.

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ChiChi Madu
ChiChi was born in New York City and instantly became a fan of the Giants, Knicks and Yankees. More