Baseball Is Not Dead

I see it with a certain level of regularity.

"Baseball is dying."

Before you break out the black suit, allow me to first of all point you to the fact that the National Pastime continues to set revenue records, with 2018 surpassing $10 billion (Forbes).

However, the vultures circling can lean on the note that attendance was down (Forbes).

Then, of course, we reach the time-honored debate of baseball being "boring," which is to say you don't want to learn the game. I can say I'm guilty of having done the same about soccer at one time.

Knowledge is power, of course.

But that aside, there's also the "kids aren't watching/playing" point. That's a two-pronged thing. First, baseball is not doing well in the inner cities, and that's been known for some time. Indeed, African Americans aren't playing baseball in the numbers that were once played. All true.

Second, and the very crux of the problem, takes us back to the boredom issue. You see -- silly me -- I go to a game and watch the game. Many now take to their devices and pay little attention to what is actually happening on the field. Many people want their action at breakneck speed. They don't want the leisurely pace.

Some of it is on us to educate. Why is baseball such a great game? Because, at least to me, it was a game without a clock. The chess match of pitcher and catcher versus the batter is a magnificent ballet of fastball, slider, change, and curveball.

The placing of fielders -- from the Ted Williams shift right through to what we see today -- is all a part of that dance.

But baseball also has an enemy. Friendly fire, if you will.

Rob Manfred. Yes, the Commissioner of Baseball.

Writer Bary Rozner wrote for the Daily Herald that Mr. Manfred, who is trying to implement a series of new rules to baseball, "is not a baseball guy, which is why he sees no beauty in the sport."

Rozner's piece is spot-on.

The truth is some of us don't care how long a game takes. I loved Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, for instance.

I went to sleep at one point, and when I woke up, I glanced at my phone to see who had won the game. It suddenly hit me (on Twitter) that they were still playing. Thus I was wide awake when Max Muncy ended it in the bottom of the 18th.

Rob Manfred has succeeded in installing clocks in stadiums to countdown between innings and pitches and so on. Why we can't just have umpires enforce that is beyond me, but OK. I can concede on that point.

Rob Manfred wants to change up the voting on the All-Star Game. I mean, whatever. I'll deal with that. The trade deadline will be a hard date of July 31st. I'm OK with that one, as the trade deadline was a wink anyway since we all knew things could still happen during the waiver period. So, OK.

Between-inning breaks will drop to 2:00 for all games. Again, whatever. I don't see that as a big deal. You're not going to gain a whole lot of time off of that. TV needs to earn revenue. Understood.

Another All-Star Game note is to put a runner on second base in extra innings. Whatever floats your boat there, since we know it's an exhibition. There's a change to the Home Run Derby as well, and I couldn't care less.

Lastly (for 2019), mound visits per game are reduced from six to five. OK, go with that, but keep in mind it really did not impact the length of games.

Then come the 2020 changes. The 40-man roster in September will be gone, and I'm fine with that. It got silly after a while.

The disabled list...oops, INJURED list...is going back to being a 15-day list, as opposed to the 10-day list. So be it.

Then we get to the three-batter minimum. Say what you want, but I can't hate this with enough certainty. There are myriad reasons to hate it, and none of this is my "Get off my law/I yearn for the old days" stuff that several of you think it is.

It's not baseball to insist that pitchers throw to a minimum. You've now messed with strategy. You'll have pitchers faking injuries. Oh, and think about that: is some twirler throwing 12 wide pitches because he has no control going to be better than a pitching change? Is it going to make the game shorter?

No. No it will not.

To Rob Manfred, pace of play is like a wall. It's his goal. It's his obsession.

Anything else be damned.

Speeding the game up is, in part, accomplished by umpires calling the strike zone they were taught to call. By truly being the arbiter of the game. They control it. Get the batters back in the box. Get the pitchers on the mound.

Pitch. Hit. Catch. Change sides.

Yes, baseball has to evolve. It somehow has to keep younger fans intrigued, which I still think is accomplished by those of us who love the game educating those who don't get it. I think it's in aggressively getting the faces of the sport out into the communities to be seen. That's a great way to create interest.

Those of us in the "back in my day" category have to adjust as well. The wool uniforms are gone. Leaving your glove on the field doesn't happen anymore. Gladys Goodding doesn't play the organ at Ebbets Field. Ebbets Field is long gone.


Players Weekend happens, whether I like it or not (and I hate it). Lament whatever we want, but baseball shall survive and prevail.

We have to make sure of that.

No matter how Rob Manfred tries to destroy it.