I miss baseball, but...

[Philip]

9 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

It sounds to me like you're saying that baseball is broken, and all attempts to make it better will inevitably make it worse. So... I guess we're done here.

No, I’m not saying that, and creating strawmen is counterproductive. I am saying that the problem is being ignored completely.

[DrungoHazewood]

7 hours ago, Philip said:

No, I’m not saying that, and creating strawmen is counterproductive. I am saying that the problem is being ignored completely.

If you completely disagree with the solutions MLB has come up with (and I do, too, I think they're far too limited and conservative and won't really change anything) what do you propose?

[JR Oriole]

14 hours ago, Frobby said:

For me, the main point of pro sports is to give me a break from the more serious problems in the world and stresses of my daily life.    That’s why it sucked so bad to lose sports just when Covid was becoming a 24/7 topic.    Man, I could have used a break from that!

But now, three months later, I’ve found other distractions.    So while I want my sports back, I’ve realized that the world can go on without them.   

I agree with this.  Watching the news for long enough will just wear you down completely.  Hard to find optimism anywhere.  I definitely miss sports, and especially baseball.  As much fun as it was to watch Eddie Murray send Mark Clear's first pitch into the right field bleachers yesterday on MLB network, I have seen that sequence about 10 other times in my life so it didn't have quite the drama that live sports can bring.  You find other things to take up your time because we all do, but I love the game and am anxious for it to come back.  Even if we stink, I am still going to care.

[Philip]

3 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

If you completely disagree with the solutions MLB has come up with (and I do, too, I think they're far too limited and conservative and won't really change anything) what do you propose?

The first thing is to find out why interest is decreasing.

I think it is because other athletics are easier to do when you are a child. Organized baseball is complicated and very expensive. The current makes it out of reach for most children. Also, It needs land, facilities, equipment, and lots of people.

The same is true of football, but football appeals to a different mindset. I could go into detail but it would be a digression. George Carlin covered it well, but not completely.

Basketball requires a ball and a guy.

So the first thing I would do is make organized baseball freely accessible to young kids, which is not an inaccessible goal.

The game itself needs to change a little bit, because the ability of the players has evolved so much, but the biggest need is to get children involved.

[Orioles1954]

17 hours ago, Frobby said:

For me, the main point of pro sports is to give me a break from the more serious problems in the world and stresses of my daily life.    That’s why it sucked so bad to lose sports just when Covid was becoming a 24/7 topic.    Man, I could have used a break from that!

But now, three months later, I’ve found other distractions.    So while I want my sports back, I’ve realized that the world can go on without them.   

There are many athletes who are now seeking to use their "platform" to advocate for whatever. Sports should be a relief, a pastime and entertainment. When the players (i.e. entertainers) interrupt their profession and use their platform for "cause XYZ" then it becomes an even greater annoyance. Yep, I've been making it just fine without sports.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Orioles1954 said:

There are many athletes who are now seeking to use their "platform" to advocate for whatever. Sports should be a relief, a pastime and entertainment. When the players (i.e. entertainers) interrupt their profession and use their platform for "cause XYZ" then it becomes an even greater annoyance. Yep, I've been making it just fine without sports.

It doesn’t bother me at all when athletes speak their mind.   Everyone has the right to do it, and if an athlete wants to use their platform in that way, fine with me.    At the same time, I don’t give their opinions particular credence just because they happen to be good at sports.    

[spiritof66]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It doesn’t bother me at all when athletes speak their mind.   Everyone has the right to do it, and if an athlete wants to use their platform in that way, fine with me.    At the same time, I don’t give their opinions particular credence just because they happen to be good at sports.    

I agree with that. But sometimes there are athletes and those with a sports-based platform whose views and opinions I value because of their intelligence or thoughtfulness or life experience. Jabbar. Arthur Ashe. Bill Veeck. Popovich. Bobby Knight at one time. If I pay attention to them, and I sometimes do, it's not because of their sports prominence, but the reality is that if they hadn't achieved fame through sports, I wouldn't know about their other qualities, and no one would report on what they have to say.

I also have to believe that the current absence of sports is both causing the media to pursue athletes' opinions more widely and more vigorously, and gives athletes' opinions more space and prominence than they otherwise would have. At least I hope so.

[yeoledugger]

It really is disheartening to read about the feelings expressed in this thread from diehard, baseball aficionados. As an O’s fan since 1954, who lived through those lean early years of rebuilding a new franchise, I would be dismayed to think that baseball might be entering a slow dissolve phase, due to lack of interest by the masses and greed by owners/players. Baseball has such a long and storied history filled with stats and memories. I remember those bygone days of Paul Richards, masterminding the signing and development of the “bonus babies”, which helped toward winning the first modern era World Series for the Baltimore metropolitan area. Of course the trade later for Frank Robinson certainly enhanced the achievement of that accomplishment. 

Let us hope that “America’s favorite pastime” has a long and prosperous life ahead of us.

[spiritof66]

Tonight (Friday) really felt to me like a baseball night. First time this season. I could even have handled Hunter and Bordick tonight. I think.

[brooksiefan]

I have loved baseball for as long as I can remember.

Reverence for the numbers.

 Amazed by the stats of the games legends.

Dreams as a child of what it would have been like attending a game at bygone parks like Ebbett's Field or The Polo Grounds.

Through scandals and work stoppages, ever increasing salaries and ticket prices, I have followed MLB and my beloved O's. I understand the entertainment value of a ballgame blah, blah, blah...

In a nutshell, I have been emotionally invested in the game.

It would have been nice to watch some baseball as a diversion from Covid 19 and significant other events happening in the nation.

I have found other, more personally satisfying, activities for my time.

Watching the billionaire/millionaires fight over every last morsel has finally led me to realize that my love for the game is not reciprocated in the least.

Perhaps what I really love about baseball, is the grandeur and mystic of the history and legend of the game, as seen through the eyes of a naive young child growing up in the '70s.

Moving forward, I'm sure to follow MLB MUCH less. 

P.S. Grandchildren are so much fun!

[foxfield]

It has become really kind of anticlimactic... the season.  Baseball, owners and players, have shown that they are infected with the same thing driving the rest of the country.  It should not be surprising.  Except....those of us who love the game, who have seen it as americas game, would have appreciated the sport seizing the opportunity to command a higher ground.  Baseball has missed an opportunity, to promote the game, for the good of the game.  And it has done so by increasing the risks of even more harm to the game.

The owners and the players should have found a way to return, health concerns notwithstanding, and shown appreciation to the Game, it's fan's, it's past and it's future.  Instead, they go to great lengths to undermine the foundation of the game.  Then they run to various reporters who pointedly retell their side....its the owners, it's the players.  In these historic times, it should be noted that baseball owners and players...or players and owners if you prefer, failed  the game.  And they have done so in such extreme manner that it may not recover.

I don't mean to be dramatic, but I am unimpressed with the "solidarity" of two sides who do not care about their own industry.

[LA2]

I'll see how I feel once the season starts. More regionally-focused, shorter season sounds promising. Just too bad it took a pandemic to get such changes rolling. How about 154 games next year?