Major League Baseball has a problem.

It’s not that the quality of baseball falls off in the postseason, quite the contrary. But by the time the playoffs roll around, not enough people care. This year the World Series is scheduled to run through Nov. 5.

Baseball is not meant to be played in November.

It’s hard enough to keep the general sports fan’s interest throughout a long summer. It becomes darn near impossible when the NFL hits midseason, college football starts deciding conference champions, the NBA tips off and the NHL puts a month of its schedule onto the agate pages.

I love baseball and want to see more young fans develop that love, but the game has to adjust to develop a stronger foothold. Here’s one man’s suggestions:

1. Keep 162. Too much of the record book hinges on this number. It has to stay.

2. Adjust the schedule. Heavy lifting, but well worth it. n Bump up spring training and start the regular season right after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. n Instead of championship Monday, begin with homestands in warmer-weather climates and domes right around St. Patrick’s Day. Between the West Coast, Texas, Florida, Atlanta, Missouri and domes in Milwaukee and Toronto, it can be done.n Schedule doubleheaders. Once a month, teams would kick it old school by having a scheduled day-night twinbill on the weekend. This would buy us another week at the end of the year.

3. Playoff payoff. Too many first-round series are sweeps and not a true test of the better team. The Division Series should be seven games (and with the calendar time saved above) start around Sept. 20. The World Series would start around Oct. 10.

Fantasy Flash

n Must start: Clinton Portis. I know he is one of the most perplexing running backs in fantasy football today, but expect the Washington back to churn out No. 1 production Sunday against Kansas City. The Chiefs defense is allowing well over 100 yards rushing per game, and the ’Skins turned to Portis twice last week for scoring plays at Carolina.n Bust: Brett Favre. Anyone following Favre’s career knows he’s due for a clunker. The Ravens have the speed and playmakers on defense to get the job done.n Sleeper: Ryan Grant. He’s been steady, but not spectacular. That changes this week against the Lions. Expect Grant to register his first 100-yard rushing game of the season and snare at least 30 yards worth of passes to boot.

Book it

I managed to get only one (Phillies) of the final four teams in the MLB playoffs correct. My parlay flop drops this year’s record to 25-22.

This week, Baltimore will hand the Vikings their first defeat.

Mike Larsen can be reached at mlarsen@kenoshanews.com