In 1791 a statute was written in a small town in Massachusetts to protect the newly finished town building from the little kids who used a "stick" and a "ball" to play on the lawn. It wouldn't be for almost another 50 years that the shape of the game was laid out by a man in a small New York town.
You know the names, probably a whole hell of a lot better than I do since I'm a confessed non-fan. Why am I a non-fan when there are people like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Heinie Manush, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Roberto Clemente, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey, Jr., and numerous other storied players? I'm a non-fan because baseball (yes I hope you gleaned the subject was baseball by now) isn't baseball anymore. At least not in the same way it was played when Bill Mazeroski stepped onto Forbes Field. Not in the same way movies like Major League, The Natural, A League Of Their Own, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Necessary Roughness (I know that was a football movie, but it was such a bad football movie it made you want to watch baseball) depicted the hallowed sport of America's pasttime. It's not the same game that Chabon glorified in his children's book, Summerland. A book, I might add, that almost made me a fan.
So, why the hatred? Why now? Well I'll tell those of you that are left (I'm assuming everyone else has given up and left by now).
The headline from this article. Not the actual story, just the headline. 1960. 45 years since the Pittsburgh Pirates have played baseball in Yankee Stadium. That's approximately 7,300 games that the Pirates OR the Yankees have played. 7,300 is more games than BOTH the Penguins and the Flyers have played since they joined the National Hockey League. And yet in that 162 game schedule with only 30 teams in the league they can't find the time to schedule 1 lousy stinkin' game against every team.
One theory postulated by a fan says that the league's don't play the same kind of baseball. Between the different rule set, the DH, and long ball vs. short ball it would never work. I'm sorry, don't all 30 teams play baseball? The Western Conference vs. the Eastern Conference in hockey play very different styles of the same game, but it makes the game that much more entertaining watching the team, coaches and players alike, try to adapt to the other's style. Now I'm sorry I keep comparing baseball to hockey when football is just as flawed schedule wise, but football at least has the excuse of a very limited schedule. Baseball at it's very heart is a simple game. Stand by the plate, swing the bat, hit the ball, run for the base. You're either safe or you're out. It's so simple, it's usually the first sport that little children play. From T-ball to little league to pony to mustang little kids are fed a steady diet of baseball. So why is the sport so out of whack?
Why is one of the most hotly debated sports topics for baseball a scandal ridden blotch on the sport? Why are player's salaries and contracts more than the GNP for several countries (most not even the impoverished third world). Baseball just barely ranks above hockey in the ratings and that's not saying much. When you're outwatched by a fake sport, and a bunch of guys going left what does that say about the shape of your sport?
If you read my last post you know I was subjected to the Pirates game. I watched a "professional" athlete make the same mistake that the third graders my dad used to coach during their first couple games. The difference, the third graders stopped making the mistake and they were only paid a hot dog and a can of pop per game. Back then that was less than $1.00. All told the entire team probably cleared about $100.00 on paper. Of course since most of the pop was donated, it was simply on paper. This guy is making at least $300,000 probably more. That's almost 2 grand per game. That's a lot of hot dogs and pop. The funny thing is, the series against the Yankees is going to end up being the season series for both teams. The Yankees aren't playing as well as they could and the Pirates are playing better than expected. That will change once they play each other. The Yankees will beat on the Pirates and rally their season, while the Pirates will attempt to bounce back from the beating by going to Boston only to be beat again and slump for the rest of the season.
Steroids, inter-league play, scandals, Barry Bonds, A-Rod's outrageous salary, bored fans, and even more boring games. The days of watching the underdog come back to turn the mythical double play and beat the first place team have long since fallen by the wayside. Teams that are near the bottom usually stay there and owners simply spend more money to try and entice them to play the game that they used to play for free in their childhood. Hell, more than once I've heard fans (actual fans) say that they were just going to grab a cheap ticket, go into the park, grab the giveaway, and then head out to do something better. And these people are the fans. I think it's time to start over. Level the league for a year, take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and find some people who care...if you can. And while you're on that hiatus, donate a fraction of the league's salaries to a charity. I'll bet they can cure a disease with all that money. Just one non-fan's opinion (though oddly enough I'm not alone on this one).