Churchill: Vamos gatos, Chuck. Vamos gatos.

Dear Chuck Schumer,

First, I hope it’s OK to call you Chuck. I'm not in the habit of writing letters to United States senators, so forgive me if I'm being improperly informal.

I'm writing to you from New York’s Capital Region, which, as you surely know, just suffered a blow. Major League Baseball says our beloved little baseball team, the Tri-City ValleyCats, will lose its affiliation with the big leagues.

The reason, of course, is financial. Major League Baseball, despite reaping nearly $11 billion in annual profits, has decided it no longer wants to support such an expansive network of minor league teams. The league, in its rapacious greed, has broken the hearts of fans in smaller cities and towns across the country by cutting dozens of teams loose.

Many of those fans will never make it to a Major League Baseball game, given the distance and the expense involved. It can easily cost $300 or more for a family of four to attend a game at Yankee Stadium, but that same family could enjoy professional baseball at The Joe, as we call the ValleyCats' lovely ballpark in Troy, for $50 bucks or so. (I’m basing that estimate on personal experience.)

But let me get to the point of this letter. Chuck, I am asking you and your fellow members of Congress to repeal baseball’s antitrust exemption. Yes, I want you to spank Major League Baseball for doing us wrong.

I should make clear that, since I believe in free enterprise, I usually prefer that politicians not meddle in decisions made by private industries. Doing so is an especially bad idea when the meddling comes with the tinge of revenge, as would be the case in the punishment I'm hoping Congress will deliver.

But as you...