Baseball is in dire straights right now. You know you're in trouble when you're getting beat in ratings by 'The Jersey Shore' and a terribly bad MNF game. No one seems to ever agree with my take, but the season needs to be shortened. It should be wrapping up by the time football season starts. By June the Astros have already played the Cardinals 4 times it seems. On top of other things such as implementing replay. Purists keep arguing replay will ruin the game or slow it down. If things aren't done it's going to disappear all together the way it's looking now.
They say the same things about hockey and basketball if a team other than LA, NY, Boston or Chicago makes the finals. I can only speak for myself, but I NEVER watch baseball until it is the actual World Series, *AND* you have the two best pitchers going at it. The reason I don't watch any other games is because I gave up trying to keep track of who plays for who, guys change teams more often than I change the oil in my car (figure of speech), I can't keep up, so I gave up. Same deal with basketball, for me anyway. And keep in mind baseball was fine - way before TV ever got into it.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/MLB-union-would-consider-bigger-playoffs-102610 Oh dear Lord, they want to expand the playoffs. Baseball really doesn't get it.
Problem 1: Over-saturation. Yes, the season is too long--no reason for more than 150 games, and even that seems too long. No reason to start before May. Problem 2: I think the overly-transient nature of the sport created by free agency has diminished fan loyalties. Unlike other team sports, baseball is "plug and play" as far as players are concerned. I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but it seems like baseball overall is doing OK at the gate. Personally I couldn't give a rat's ass over the Giants and Rangers, but that's kind of the way it is with sports. Only a handful of teams in any league can elicit enthusiasm coast to coast.
Scantily clad, taut, eager, easily excitable wimmenfolk, hoisting "inning" cards such as "round" cards in boxing, who are capable of choreographed and/or spontaneous dancing, jumping up and down and sideways, whilst performing acrobatic feats and/or chasing errant bats and balls would transform mundane tasks such as watching baseball.
Baseball's best aspect to me is the in-person experience. It's a day/evening out during the summer, taking it all in. Conversely, football is perfect for TV so you can break down every nuance between plays.
We have been discussing this very topic among our poker -playing buddies and here is my idea: Change the season to include 4 40-game mini seasons versus the single 162 game season where most fans go stats numb if their team is out of it. Instead of a season-ending playoff, have 4 40 game mini seasons where the first and second teams qualify for the season ending round robbin tournament. In this way, teams who have no chance over a 162 game may have a chance to qualify over a much shorter season for post season play where anything can happen. Overall, the 4 mini seasons may have to be 35 games to keep it from going through Thanksgiving. Make sure that the total number of games played possibly is close to today's standard to avoid pissing off the stats guys.
I just heard that stats last week. I don't remember them either, but profits were up this year. How can it not when they charge 2 arms a leg for a coke, beer and a hot dog?
I'm don't think the length of the season is the problem. When you look at the fact that these teams play 162 regular season games and every single year the playoff race comes down to the last week of the season. This year the AL West was the only race that wasn't ever a race. People who are diehard baseball fans watch a lot of games. The NFL has casual fans who only watch the playoffs or the Super Bowl. I do think some sort of salary cap should be used involving maximum and minimum payroll levels. Their are owners who do it right and owners who do it wrong. I have always disliked the Yankees but would never say that George didn't do every thing to win. That's the biggest problem. You have teams like the Pirates and Marlins who's owners are in it to maximize profits. Sure the Marlins have won a couple of titles but in both cases the owners took advantage by slashing payroll the following season just like the Rays are going to do. Then you have the Dodgers owners. Leverage everything for the fame of ownership while proving your ineptitude every day. The teams are individual businesses and the owners can do whatever they want with them but implementing a salary cap will keep the bottom feeder owners more honest while forcing the major market teams to be more creative with player development and signings. You obviously can't force an owner to make good decisions. You could level the playing field so that mid level market teams that do try to put a championship caliber team on the field have the ability to retain talent while building with new blood. So that teams like St Louis and the Rockies can keep their studs without the fear that Boston and New York are just going to blow them out of the water for guys like Pojols and Jeminez.
I think for baseball to be a sport enjoyed by a big percentage of Americans, it needs to be more exciting. Gotta change with the times, I guess. I like a format where more teams have a chance to play in the post season. The Royals have just been door mats for so long due to ownership problems that something must be done to revive the interest.
Baseball is a sport that I just don't understand its popularity. Every kid I grew up with was put on little league teams and only a handful still follow it. Watching on TV is excruciatingly boring and only slightly better to go to a game. In my opinion halving the season and cutting from 9 innings to 5 or 7 would make a tremendous difference.
Best way to get people interested again is to kick out all the former roiders and strike their achievements from the record books. Then you allow all the players to carry bats at all times. The last man standing at the end of the season wins the pennant.
I agree and disagree with some of your thoughts. You could chop off the season at any point and say the races were neck and neck. Conversely, if you played 200 games you'd still end up with some close races now and then. That's more the product of a schedule smartly weighted on division matchups than anything else. Owners will cling to the 162 game schedule because every game cut is money out of their pockets. Plus, players won't suddenly agree to pro rate their salaries downward accordingly. Baseball-philes who watch every single game must be in the minority though, otherwise conversations like this wouldn't be necessary. I'd argue that football fans, by and large, are more dedicated. Baseball by virtue of its protracted schedule caters to the casual fan taking in a game during the summer, as does the pace of the game. Baseball is America's past time, but football is America's sport. At the end of the day, the problem with mid-to-smaller-market teams like Florida and Pittsburgh is the fact they play in smaller markets, population and TV market-wise. They can catch fire and even win the World Series, but they can't carry the burden of the inevitable fat contracts that follow a championship year, thus the yard sale. Huizinga clearly opened his wallet to make a run for the Series, but there was no way he was going to lose money in the long run sustaining the players. It's also why you see teams like the Cubs looking to exploit areas of revenue outside the MLB revenue-sharing domain, things like concerts, football games and hockey games. I do agree they need some reasonable caps in place.
162 regular season games and then only 3 rounds of playoffs (best of 5, 7, and 7). Seriously? That is the most retarded thing I've seen. Why does the regular season go on for eternity just to have 8 teams make it to the playoffs and have it end in a matter of weeks? The NBA has it right imo and is the only major one of the four (NFL, MLB, NHL as the others) that isn't doing too terribly. The NFL is going to get screwed in a couple years. Btw, baseball is boring to watch, but fun to play. I like to compare it to radiology with my classmates (med school) that talk trash about it. No one thinks radiology (baseball) is real medicine (sport). Everyone says radiologists (baseball players) are overpaid. No one enjoys watching a radiologist (baseball player) do their job because it's boring to watch. Only a few do. lol.
My take as someone who watched casually watched as a kid and never watch now: Speed up the game. I read an article by Bill Simmons who said they should have a shot clock for pitchers to deliver a pitch. No one likes watching a pitcher wait for a signal from the catcher, shake him off, get another signal, nod yes, exhale, load up, and then throw to first base trying to get the runner out! And then repeat that scenerio, but this time the batter calls a time out to adjust his cup and batting gloves. They should also reduce the time between innings and time for a reliever to warm up. He should be warmed up in the bullpen before entering the field.
