Nick Majewski

 Blog Post #3

Professor Zimdars

Baseball: The Stubborn Old Man

            Baseball has been “America’s National Pastime” nearly since its initial conception in this country. Today however it is a much different story. Baseballs popularity has been on the decline as the NFL and NBA are dominating the ratings and level of participation among children as well. Towns are starting to find it difficult to fill Little League rosters when in years previous, it seemed every kid played Little League growing up. Now most popular sports were all invented many many years ago in a world very different to the one we live in now. But naturally over time these sports have made changes to update to the modern world and modern viewers. Baseball has of course been different in some ways as people change, as the world changes.

A big controversy has also been added to the scope of professional baseball, and that is the new trend among some players of
“milking” a big hit by flipping by their bat in excess or taking their time to run the bases because they are admiring what they’ve just done in front of thousands of fans. This new trend of flashy characters and celebrations is very popular among the newer generations big leaguers and fans, while old and former players are not as excited about the changes. The common feeling among these people is that the players today are disrespecting the game and changing it for the worse. The most talked about instance of this came in last years Playoffs when Toronto Blue Jays 3B Jose Bautista crushed a home run and did the “bat flip heard round the world.” Baustista received an incredible amount of criticism following his actions, with former Yankees closer Goose Gossage catching most of the headlines by calling him a “disgrace to the game.” Gossage went on another rant a couple days later against the MLB players of today saying he doesn’t want to see “a bunch of Cam Newton’s” running around the diamond. In my opinion these type of comments are just dripping with jealously and resentment, he sounds just like the grumpy old guy that yells for kids to stop skateboarding on the sidewalks and anything but an open minded ex player who thinks he’s saying what has to be said to “save the game.” The fact is that nothing stays the same forever. And for former players to try and say that current players need to “react to situations the same way players did 30, 40 or 50 years ago, is just plain silly.” (Parker, TheShadowLeague) This is also true in most aspects of life. Things change over time, and those that cannot or in some cases will not accept that change get left in the dust.

However this is not limited to baseball in the world of sports either. With the recent surge of incredible play from Golden State Warriors PG Stephen Curry there have also been many former NBA players who dismiss his success for once again, seemingly jealous or resentful inclinations. The arguments are fairly similar as well with former NBA greats such as Gary Payton hating on the current state of the game. “Basically that no one defends anymore.” (Parker, TheShadowLeague) Some of Payton’s comments became headlines after Curry had another spectacular game where he hit several big shots from a very far distance. He mentioned that if someone was “pulling up” from where Curry does on a consistent basis they would be on the floor before they could get the shot off. This could be very true, except they’re not playing in the old NBA. There are new rules and consequences for actions today that were not enforced years ago.  The game has changed, and so has the way it is played. Basketball however has been making these changes to their advantage. Promoting the new game of deep 3’s and big dunks to younger audiences and its working. And the MLB needs to take some notes from the NBA in this regard. In the beginning, dunks were not a part of the game and people thought allowing dunks in games was going to destroy the game. It ended up turning basketball into one the most popular sports on the planet. They thought long shorts was disrespectful the game. It was not.

Now back to the diamond. Baseball has had the stigma of being “old” for quite some time. When Ken Griffey Jr. first came onto the scene he was heavily criticized by former players for wearing his hat backwards. As a member of this younger generation this is ridiculous to me. It’s such an old person view to think that just because a hat is not being worn the way it was originally, it is disrespectful. Why should kids be expected to act and behave by the same standards as their parents and grandparents when they were not brought up or exposed to the same standards as them? Older generations have always been more uptight because life was generally more uptight for them. There is obviously nothing wrong with growing up with different customs, but there is something wrong with trying to force your standards and customs onto another person.

Change is good, and baseball is in need of as much good as it can. Less and less kids and starting to play and practice and fall in love with the game. A sport where fewer children are playing is going to result in a sport with fewer adults who watch and fewer adults who will be eager to pass down their passion to their own children. This all equals a poor future for the popularity of baseball in America. Sports are primarily played for entertainment first, and baseball in particular seems to have forgotten this truth. Its en entertainment business that is currently not all that entertaining. With the influx of bat flips and dramatized trots around the bases the entertainment value of the game is greatly increased among a majority of todays viewers especially the younger ones. If baseball wants to stay relevant while the NFL and NBA take over the country, then the older generations of players and fans need to realize that times are different, and that’s not just ok, but it should be rewarded and celebrated.

 Works Cited

Epps Jr., Wayne. "Bat-flip Angers Players with 'look at Me' Approach." USA Today. Gannett, 30 July 2014. Web. 5 May 2016.

Fisher, Marc. "Baseball Is Struggling to Hook Kids - and Risks Losing Fans to Other Sports." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2015. Web. 05 May 2016.

Parker, Rob. "Old School MLB Legends Don't Like New School Attitudes ." TheShadowLeague.com. Shadow League Digital, LLC, 17 Mar. 2016. Web. 05 May 2016.