Why even pretend MLB’s not all about greed?

SOME questions for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred:

Given that 30,000 attended Saturday afternoon’s Mets-Nationals game — in very cold weather — why did approximately only 12,000 attend Sunday’s Mets-Nationals? Could it be because it began at 8:08 p.m. on a 35-degree night, as per ESPN’s purchased orders? Was money — greed — not the determinant for such illogical scheduling?

Why did so few people east of the Mississippi, and especially in the Washington and New York areas, have no reasonable shot to see the end of that game even if it went nine innings? It went 12, finishing at 12:15 Monday morning in an empty ballpark. Might greed have been the reason?

Why, in the span of four Mets games, did two — ESPN’s late Sunday nighter and the Facebook-only number on April 4 — largely go unseen in New York, the nation’s largest TV market? Was greed not the reason?

But as long as the independent baseball media ignore such betrayals of The Game, common sense and common decency — vastly underrepresenting devoted fans — MLB will continue to interpret its shamelessness as widely approved.

➤ So the sportswriter sarcastically suggested to Doc Emrick that his next “Doc’s Scrapbook” on NBC should feature goalie Cesare Maniago, who played parts of two mid-1960s seasons for the Rangers before becoming a regular with the expansion Minnesota North Stars.

Then, Saturday, during RangersFlyers, there he was on NBC: Cesare Maniago, playing for the Rangers.

Emrick explained: “I’m a sucker for old, grainy footage.”

➤ He still has the gift. Since Mike Francesa’s appearance with Chris Russo on MLB Network, during which Fran-say-so authoritatively declared the Yankees will “count their blessings” they didn’t sign Japanese star Shohei Ohtani — Ohtani was spotty in spring training — the Angels pitcher’s MLB career stands at 2-0, with a 2.08 ERA, after allowing just four hits and striking out 18 in 13 innings.

If form holds, Francesa, at the next public opportunity, will claim he never said such a thing, that he knew from the start Ohtani is special.