I am a baseball traditionalist.

I hate the designated hitter. I despise domed stadiums. I loathe the sight of hitters digging in wearing battle armor on their arms and shins. I prefer that pitchers throw complete games, instead of coming out once they’ve thrown their 100th pitch. I’m not even a big fan of free agency, which has all but destroyed the notion of players of staying with a single team their entire career; I enjoyed following Mickey Mantle’s Yankees, Stan Musial’s Cardinals and Ted Williams’ Red Sox when I was a kid.

Don’t even get me started on the steroid scandal.

And I don’t think the World Series should be played in November, which is what likely will happen this season. I just heard that tonight’s Yankees-Angels game will be played in 35-degree weather at the “New” Yankee Stadium. Imagine what the weather will be like two weeks from now in the Big Apple if the Yankees win the American League pennant. The Northeast already is getting ready for the first “nor’easter” of the season.

That’s why I’m rooting for the Los Angeles Dodgers (who are playing the Philadelphia Phillies) to win the NL pennant and the LA Angels to prevail in the AL. There’s a decent chance the weather will hold up in Los Angeles, enabling the fans to watch the games in relative comfort.

I know what’s going on here. MLB wants to extend the season with multiple playoff series. It’s all about the money. The divisional playoffs are best of five series; the league championship series are best of seven, as is the World Series. If we’re going to insist on all these playoffs, why not shorten the first series to best of three, the next one to best of five and save the longer series for the Big Show?

As it is, the baseball season now will overlap not only with football (the traditional sport of autumn), but with pro basketball and hockey (the traditional winter sports).

Enough already!