Nations Past Time No Longer

It’s that time of year again for baseball enthusiast’s to settle back in their Lazy Boy loungers and watch Major League Baseballs most important set of games, on the largest stage, in the World Series.

More then likely the match up will pit the much favored New York Yankees against last years World Champs the Philadelphia Phillies. This is not the match up the major corporations who back everything baseball had wanted, no that would have been the Dodgers of LA against the Yankees.  East against West, an old rivalry that dates back to the early part of last century until they packed up and moved away on  September 24, 1957 . The Dodgers no longer stored their uniforms in the locker room at Ebbets Field, now they were off to sunny California, far away from the memory of Don Larsen’s Perfect Game, the only perfect game ever realized in the World Series.  But I digress…

The purpose of the post is that of the dismantling of what was once THE sport in the United States, so much so it was label as the National Pastime. Before the time of television, the internet, DVD’s and the rise of NFL, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, WWF and well, the general splintering of American culture. Baseball was probably one of the few things that almost every American knew a little bit about and could discuss it with their neighbors or co workers, hence, it was the nation’s pastime.

Each year, a Harris Interactive survey asks Americans to name their favorite sport. The N.F.L. has won each of the last 43 surveys, often rather handily. Last year, 30 percent of Americans chose pro football as their favorite sport, compared to 15 percent for baseball and just 4 percent for professional basketball.

That was then and this is now. A regularly scheduled NFL game on a Sunday night will out draw the market share of any one of the World Series games this year. (The Bears-Falcons game registered a 12.0 overnight rating and a 19 share.) Through 16 postseason contests, TBS’ MLB playoff coverage is averaging 5 million. Last year was the lowest rated World Series ever. As a matter of fact, last year, TBS aired a full episode of The Steve Harvey Show instead of the beginning of Game 6 of the Boston/Tampa Bay series. Not exactly what Red Sox Nation had in mind.

I guess this post was coming from me sooner or later, it just happens to come now because of what transpired the other evening. You see the officiating was so horrendous in the game between the Angels and the Yankees, that one official who had blown THREE major calls in the game, came on afterwards and owned up to it. While that is a noble thing to do, it also opens the door for the head hounchos of baseball to institute a new technology called INSTANT REPLAY.

OK that should eliminate blown or controversial calls in baseball now, right? Some say no, and their reasoning is that the cameras being used will be that of the home teams stadium coverage, you think that might be a little slanted? Unlike football where the national press monitors every play from scrimmage.  So by adding yet another element like instant replay, you’re taking a sporting event who 60 years ago, according to the Sporting News took one hour and fifty eight minutes to complete. Last fall’s postseason games averaged three hours and twenty-five minutes from start to finish.

Folks if that is all I had to complain about, I think I could still enjoy a few games. But let’s run down an unofficial list of some of the problems that have plagued the MLB for the last five years to see why the National Pastime is no longer that.

• The baseball regular season now stands at 162 games a year, actually this year we had 163, because two teams were tied at the end of the season (Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins)
• The World Series will now have games in NOVEMBER

• Specialized pitchers: It used to be a starter and in later innings a closer, two pitchers, that’s it. Now you can have up to 5 or 6 different pitchers each game.
• Not to mention: Extra time between innings for commercials, conferences on the mound,  repeated pickoff attempts, pitchers stepping off the rubber, batters stepping out of the box. All annoying, all time wasters.
• Playoff games that used to start in the afternoon are now mostly scheduled during prime time and finishing well after 1 am
• No Salary Caps: which means an elite few teams with large revenue streams buy their way into the post season.
• Steroid Use: Of course any list about the ills of baseball start and end with Steroids. I am still wondering when it’s time for Cooperstown to open up balloting for players, like Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, etc…., where will they be placed if at all.

• BIG Business: Finally, yes major sports today is a huge business and with that being said, can the normalcy of baseball, the game, ever come back. Or will we see more Spiderman artwork covering the bases again?

Finally you can bring up the cost to take a family to a Major League sporting event, but in reality every sport is dealing with this problem. Not just baseball.

The players become greedier, thus demanding more and playing less. Baseball owners threaten to move their team if we do not build a humongous stadiums fit for the Romans.  All the while, we the fans get holding the bill, as usual. Whether paying for higher ticket prices, or outrageous sums for a hot dog.

Maybe, just maybe, we the fans could organize and let our voice be heard, by not buying the tickets or watching the games. I mean can you imagine professional atheletes who go on stirke becuase they have grievances? As John Stossel would say GIVE ME A BREAK!

The bottom line is a very lucky few, get to play, a little boys game and in doing so, are paid enormous amounts of money and are idolized like kings. Yet they disappoint their fans and show poor judgement at every turn along the way.

It’s very hard for me to feel sorry for these idiots, when somedays I literally have to roll up my left over pocket change to put gas in my car, so I can drive to work, and spend twelve hours at a real job.

It is truly a profession I believe is well past it’s time.

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Posted by Glenn on Oct 22 2009 Filed under MONEY, NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry