A Requiem for Baseball

This is the April, 1963 opening day cover of "The Sporting News". It was the first copy of "The Baseball Paper of the World" I ever owned. I was 10 years old. Once upon a time, that was a real thrill. 

October, 2014

I was raised in the country of baseball. I raised my two sons in the country of baseball. They both turned into pretty fair country baseball players. They each had opportunities to play  beyond high school. They never considered it. 

Last night, they joined me to watch the Celtics game, always number 1 in these parts.  When that was over, I asked if they wanted to watch Game 7 of the World Series. One said, "Nope". The other yawned. THE SEVENTH GAME OF THE WORLD SERIES, FER CHIS'SAKES!! 

After they hit the trail to more promising shores, I turned on the ballgame. It was the 5th inning. By the 6th, I fell asleep. 3 innings later, the game was over and I woke up. 

My son’s American Legion team folded last season for lack of interest. High school games draw parents, girlfriends and dogs running in the outfield. 

I live 5 miles and one easy walk from the Fenway shrine. Yet each season, I trek there less often, choosing the comforts of home over being squished into seats built for 1912 bottoms at the Old Ball Yard.  

The games are far too long, the pace much too slow and there doesn’t seem to be an immediate remedy. (Actually, I have a few but no one is asking me.)

I know stadiums are still largely filled in hot spots like Boston and that franchises and players make ungodly amounts of money.  But, other than cities with competing teams, (Hello and Bye Bye, New York, New York), does anyone care about teams a continent away? Or, has the game become so regional that casual fans become  engaged only when the local 9 is involved?

National coverage of the game is on the decline. ESPN cut their baseball staff and programming nearly in half. Their daily website is nearly devoid of daily coverage of the National Pastime in favor of soccer, auto racing and the latest version of whatever sport that combination of boxing and wrestling is supposed to be.

While the NBA and NFL have dozens of immediately recognizable stars, casual fans can’t identify the most glittering MLB stars today. A recent ESPN poll of the 100 most famous athletes did not include a single baseball player.  

Baseball remains a beautiful and perfectly conceived game. But it’s hold on the public imagination is fading. Absent immediate and radical changes, it’s not coming back. 

In this spring, I am an aging man in love with a dying sport longing for days gone by.