Name: Rick "The Fan's Commish" Swanson
Age: 56
Hometown: Connecticut
Swanson's Campaign Platform:
Perhaps no fan is more prolific in his writings to the Red Sox than Rick. From such ideas as changing starters (who only go 6 innings) to terminators (have them pitch the last six innings rather than the first) to portable seats that convert standing room to seating room, Rick has been a fountain of suggestions.

1. As President of Red Sox Nation what would be your first act?

My first act as President of the Boston Red Sox would be to take up the cause of Johnny Pesky. I feel that every Red Sox fan, and every true fan of the game, knows that he belongs back in uniform, and in the Red Sox dugout. I wrote this story Please Put Pesky Back on 3/31/07. It was my hope that by continuing to bring up the fact that Pesky is left out, we could get him back in the dugout. Now the season is past mid-season. Nobody says much about Pesky anymore, but I vow, if I become President, I will not let this cause end. I pledge to do whatever it takes, to put Pesky back in the Red Sox dugout this October.

2. As President, what would your advice be to John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino?

When it comes to getting my ideas heard by John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino, I feel very lucky that for the past 5 seasons, two of them have responded too many of my ideas to help the game. What I hope to convince them to try now, is something many consider radical. I firmly believe that the optimum way to utilize a pitching rotation is to have six men starting in the rotation. I feel that the way they do things in Japan, is the best way to run a staff. Before each game in Japan, the pitching coach will ask the starting pitcher, if he will give his supreme effort to finish the game he is about to start. I feel if the Red Sox take the same philosophy, it will enhance the chances of winning each time. It is my hope that Baseball Operations will try this method, because it will give Boston the best chance to win it all this year.

I also hope to continue my quest in creating a theme park like facility that I have called, "Red Sox World." I first had this idea in 1999, when I sent it to Ted Williams. I told him that they should put seats where the screen is and a hotel over the Mass Pike with rooms looking down on the field. Ted had his secretary Mary Duhly Xerox my email, and send a letter with a stamp to the leaders of the Red Sox, with the note, "This is from one of the most passionate Red Sox fans I have ever come in contact with."

Here is my vision of Red Sox World:
Red Sox World will start by buying everything left from Ted Williams' HOF, now in Tampa. Employees will look and dress like Plymouth Plantation and Sturbridge Village, only it would be with Red Sox historical characters. One person will look like Tom Yawkey, another Smoky Joe Wood, Ted Williams, Tony Conigliaro, they all would look and wear a uniform of the day. There will be at least 3 Teds, young Ted, old Ted, Marine Ted. They would be like Mickey and Donald at Disneyland. Each room would have an era of the team, corresponding to Red Sox history. The first would be 1903; it would have a virtual pitching machine, where fans would bat against a virtual Cy Young. The next room would have 1912, and you would bat against Smoky Joe Wood. You would include Babe Ruth, Mel Parnell, Tom Brewer, Dick Radatz, Jim Longborg, Louis Tiant, Bruce Hurst, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, and a few from today, including trying to hit a virtual Wakefield knuckleball. In each section there will be video monitors where you could watch all the great games in Red Sox history. Each complete game will take 15 minutes for the entire game, or highlights in 5. The Snodgrass muff will come to life. Transcript of what Tris Speaker said to Christy Mathewson in the last of the 10th will be heard by all. All the great baseball writers will have their work read out loud to the fans. From Hugh Fullerton, and Tim Murnane, to Ray Fitzgerald and Will McDonough, the knights of the keyboard will have their great works heard by the fans of the future.

Maybe it might not be over the Mass Pike like my picture, but it could happen right over first base.

3. As President, what would your advice be to Commissioner Selig?

I have called myself The Fan's Commish since I started writing a blog for baseball-almanac at http://www.around-the-horn.com/?cat=4 My category is "Good of the game." If I could ask the real commissioner Bud Selig anything, I would ask him to fix the DH rule. I want baseball to either both use it or nobody uses it. I think this story Grady's Rule will lead to one rule for NL and AL in 2009 explains what baseball should do. I want to have a National Pastime Election by 2009, where everyone decides DH or no DH. In 2008 I want the interleague games to use the rules of the visiting league. This way fans of each team will get to see how the other league plays. At the end of 2008 a vote will decide.

I want all October baseball starting no later than 6:30, so kids could stay up and watch the last out.

I want baseball to make an official rule for what a checked swing is. Currently there isn't anything in the official baseball rule book that defines a checked swing. At the site called Baseball terminology they give this description:
There is no official definition in the rules of baseball that defines a check-swing. Rather, it is entirely the decision of the umpire of whether or not a pitch was swung at. Generally, factors such as whether the bat passes the front of the plate or the batter pulls his wrists back are considered in making this decision.

Why can't MLB use this NCAA rule?

Section 2.0 of the 2005 NCAA Official Baseball rulebook states: A checked swing shall be called a strike if the barrel head of the bat crosses the front edge of home plate, or the batter's front hip.

At least if you had a rule, then you could decide if the umpire made the correct call. Baseball has 14 different ways you can get called for a balk, but not even one rule for what a checked swing is.

I would also ask the Commissioner why baseball does have some type of salary cap like football and basketball. The first story I ever wrote in a blog was Hope Springs Eternal When one team spends 10 times more than other teams, it isn't a level playing field.