Baseball Begins: And does anybody care?

Baseball season is off and running, and maybe it’s just me, but it seems for about 87.6% of the city, no one is really paying attention.

For real. I mean is anyone actually talking about baseball?  Is there any semblance of water cooler conversation regarding our beloved Cubs or White Sox? Actually, delete that last question, because with just about everyone working from home these days the water cooler at work has gone the way of the fax machine and My Space—practically nonexistent.

But I digress. Actually, I don’t digress, at least not nearly as much as the entire sport of baseball has “digressed” into the bland, plain, unexciting product it is today. Baseball today is like ordering a vanilla milkshake, light on the vanilla and easy on the ice cream. Not much to it, but I’ll drink it if I have to.

The game is just too slow and methodical for these modern times. Too deliberate. Not enough actual “ action”.

It used to be our most popular game. America's “ National Pastime”, if you will. Those were the days when kids and adults, at this time of year, would be checking out rosters, making predictions, figuring out starting lineups, checking on their teams pitching rotation etc, all in anticipation of another exciting season.

Now? Most of us are lucky if we know more than 3 or 4 players from our beloved home team.   Rosters change in baseball now with the same rapidity that those old kaleidoscopes did when you turned and twisted them causing the colors to go in a whirlwind of shades and sizes.

Who is on what team now? What happened to my favorite players, and what color uniform are they wearing?  And whatever happened to those cool Kaleidoscopes?

And again, I digress.

But digressing is exactly the point of this column, as I believe that is precisely what’s happening to baseball. Baseball is digressing! It is a sport fading faster than magazines and newspapers.    Yes, people might still go to a game if they are invited,  and it is always fun being at the old ballpark with the sounds, smells and sights that can delight the senses.

But watching a game on TV?  Following the team closely through the statistics in your local newspaper? Those days are long gone for the large majority of fans, who often are more concerned instead with what back up offensive lineman their chosen football team has just picked up.

So, the next question becomes what to do? What does baseball have to do to turn the tide and at least come close to regaining its status as one of our American Pastimes. Note: They can’t catch football or basketball right now, let's be realistic, but they could at least try to pass up sports like golf, NASCAR, Tennis and for the love of you know you who, even Pickleball!

To their credit, They did try last year to turn things around and made a good start with the speed up rule of having the pitcher deliver the pitch within 20 seconds of getting the ball. Definitely made a difference!

The pitching change was a good start. A nice move in the right direction. But, still it was like putting regular gasoline in a diesel truck. It helps, but really barely moves it along and is clearly not the long range solution.

The problem has been, and still is. That there is simply not enough actual action in the game.  “Action” meaning balls put in play, which means hitting, running the bases and fielders making plays.  Instead it is often an endless parade of strikeouts, walks, and the occasional home run.

It’s not the 2 and half hours or 3 hours it takes to complete the game that is the problem, but instead more so the increasing inactivity during that said time.

In a follow up column to come, I will offer some “drastic” changes to the game to help save the popularity of baseball. In my opinion, “drastic” changes, not just little tweaks, are needed if baseball is ever to regain its popularity especially with today’s speed and instant reaction induced young kids.

In the meantime…another baseball season is upon us...and the silence, speaks volumes.