The Video Game Critic

I think it was Sparky Anderson who said, (something to this effect)

"In baseball, you can't run out the clock. You have to give the other guy his chance, you don't kneel on the ball, you throw it over the plate. And thats why baseball is the greatest sport in the world."

I agree. Go watch your hideous NFL draft, football fans. Nothing can touch baseball, especially in October.

With all the complaints listed here, MLB is enjoying the most success it's ever seen, so they must be doing something right.

My biggest gripe would actually be that the Players Union has way too much power. It's because of the MLB Players Union that the problem with steroids continues to be, well, a problem. The players get so much protection from the Union, that MLB can't really crack down on steroid use properly.

I'd like to see some of the PU power taken away, particularly from handcuffing teams with unreasonable contracts. Something that would help the league in general IMHO, would be to make Player contracts a Maximum of 4 years in length, and to also abolish 'No Trade Clauses'.

I'd also love more than anything else see the abolition of Interleague play. Bud Selig saved the game with the implementation of the Wild Card into the playoff bracket, but subsequently dealt a horrible blow to old rivalries with Interleague play. We don't need Interleague games, they are boring and have negligible effects on the season as a whole. Teams like the Cubs and Reds should be able to play long lived rivals like the Phillies more than 2 series a year. IL has also made divisional games more screwed up, to where teams don't play all their division opponents the same amount. For instance the Cubs will play the Cardinals 14-16 games a year, while facing the Astros 19 games, it's ridiculous, and this kind of crazy scheduling is due to IL. Get rid of it.

I would disagree that MLB is enjoying its "best success ever." Yes, attendance at the ballpark is excellent.

However, television is where you are truly judged as an elite sports league. And Ultimate Fighting (on pay per view!!!) absolutely trounced the World Series last year.

Baseball is a firm second place in the traditional big 4 sports. But a true listing of America's most cared about sports would in reality be:

1. Pro Football.
2. Nascar.
3. Mixed Martial Arts (despite laughable non-coverage by the elitest sports media)
4. MLB
5. NBA
6. World Series of Poker
7. Backgammon
8. Spelling Bee
9. Fencing
10. NHL

Okay, so 6-9 were joke (Hockey is really struggling in terms of TV ratings).

I like baseball, but the NFL is the better run league, no doubt about it.

-Rob

The Football (soccer) World Cup Final was watched by more people in the USA than any other sporting event.

It's jut that you don't hear about it, because it is Hispanics and illegals doing the watching (and playing). If population trends continue, Football will be the biggest sport in your country in 30 years.

[QUOTE=Gunstarhero]With all the complaints listed here, MLB is enjoying the most success it's ever seen, so they must be doing something right.

[/QUOTE]

This is not really the case.  Although attendance is still pretty good, the bulk of that is being carried by a few perennially winning teams like New York and Boston.  Most teams host half-empty ballparks, and that's on a good night.

The television ratings have been tumbling for years, and that includes the World Series.  Not only that, but young people are far more likely to be interested in other sports like football and basketball.

[QUOTE=Atarifever]
If you wouldn't find a no hitter exciting, it's because you don't understand the game.  Please don't comment again until you do.
[/QUOTE]

Nah, I'll keep commenting anyway.  And I DO understand the game, I just don't agree with what diehard baseball finds find exciting to be exciting for me.  I would find baseball far more exciting and enjoyable if the pitcher and hitter were on the same team, leading to lots of action.  A classic "pitchers dual" with little to no hitting just isn't exciting for me - not because I don't understand it, but because NOTHING IS HAPPENING.  I find it a stretch to even call baseball players "atheletes" since they easily spend 98% of every game either standing around or sitting on their butts.
Sudz

[QUOTE=Sudz]

 I find it a stretch to even call baseball players "atheletes" since they easily spend 98% of every game either standing around or sitting on their butts.
Sudz

[/QUOTE]

Is that a joke?  Do you realize the shape you have to be in to compete in a 162 game season?  Do you have any idea what a pictchers workout is like?  Do you realize how strong you have to be in order to catch up to a 98 mph fastball?  The above statement is one of the most absurd things I have ever read.

[QUOTE=feilong80]I would disagree that MLB is enjoying its "best success ever." Yes, attendance at the ballpark is excellent.

However, television is where you are truly judged as an elite sports league. And Ultimate Fighting (on pay per view!!!) absolutely trounced the World Series last year.

Baseball is a firm second place in the traditional big 4 sports. But a true listing of America's most cared about sports would in reality be:

1. Pro Football.
2. Nascar.
3. Mixed Martial Arts (despite laughable non-coverage by the elitest sports media)
4. MLB
5. NBA
6. World Series of Poker
7. Backgammon
8. Spelling Bee
9. Fencing
10. NHL

Okay, so 6-9 were joke (Hockey is really struggling in terms of TV ratings).

I like baseball, but the NFL is the better run league, no doubt about it.

-Rob
[/QUOTE]

Sorry, but TV does not decide who's the most successful. League Revenues declare who the real winners are and there's not really any disputing that MLB is currently the healthiest economically it's EVER been. Revenues are actually outpacing player salaries, as unbelievable as that may seem, but it's %100 true http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/17/06mlb_baseball-team-valuations-cx_mo_0420sports.html

Now, I'm not declaring that MLB is making more money than the NFL or even NASCAR, but it simply cannot be denied that right now, MLB is creating it's own records financially, which proves that fan attendance is really just a small portion of the revenue stream and ultimately doesn't decide anything. Marketing revenues are through the roof. It's the caps, shirts, and jerseys that are driving the success of the sport right now, attendance doesn't even really matter.

This article from MLB.com tells another similar story:
[QUOTE]Baseball is seemingly already there. When this World Series is over, the Fall Classic will have produced seven different champions since 2000, an unprecedented run in major sports. Gross revenue has increased to $5.2 billion this season from $1.2 billion in 1992, the first year Selig took over as Commissioner. The average player salary has increased to $2.8 million this season from about $1 million in 1992. Both are records.[/QUOTE]
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061024&content_id=1722211&vkey=ps2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

It's not the $2 increase in Wrigley Field ticket prices that's going to pay for Alfonso Soriano's $130 million contract. And it's certainly not people watching WGN, it's going to be all the merch sold.

[QUOTE=JustLikeHeaven][QUOTE=Sudz]

 I find it a stretch to even call baseball players "atheletes" since they easily spend 98% of every game either standing around or sitting on their butts.
Sudz

[/QUOTE]

Is that a joke?  Do you realize the shape you have to be in to compete in a 162 game season?  Do you have any idea what a pictchers workout is like?  Do you realize how strong you have to be in order to catch up to a 98 mph fastball?  The above statement is one of the most absurd things I have ever read.
[/QUOTE]
Unlike with other sports, i find that people who don't get baseball have al kinds of crazy reasons they claim to not like it.  For example, the president of my dorm when I first went to University hated that me and two of my best friends almost always took the TV room for baseball games.  He'd complain by saying stuff like "tell me, how good of a game is baseball when not even all the players touch the ball every inning.  Tell me that".  I still don't quite get that one.  What are they supposed to do, break into spontanious games of catch?  One of my friends always says "Man, the only inning you need to watch to get the whole game of baseball is the last one."  That's even worse.  I mean, tachnically the only part of any sport you have to watch to get what happened is the last minute or so.  That's how TIME works!  The ending comes last.  People who don't like baseball usually just don't undersand baseball and just don't want to admit that.  As a result, they say silly things that pass in a group of other people who don't like the game, but doesn't fool anyone who understands the game.

[QUOTE=Atarifever]
People who don't like baseball usually just don't undersand baseball and just don't want to admit that.  As a result, they say silly things that pass in a group of other people who don't like the game, but doesn't fool anyone who understands the game.
[/QUOTE]

That's not true at all.  I think most of the people who so vehemently rail against the sport are people who truly care about the sport, but have seen it degenerate into a shadow of what it once was, for the many reasons listed throughout this post.  People who don't know anything about it rarely want to get into a discussion about it.

I've been going to Oriole games with my dad since the 1970's.  When I was young I played baseball (or whiffle ball) every day after school.  I still have the thousands of baseball cards I collected as a kid.  I have boxes of memorabilia.  Believe me, I know a thing or two about baseball.

But while other sports have improved through salary caps (NFL), rule changes (basketball), or other means, baseball is getting worse.  Anybody who still regards it as "the American Pastime" (as it was undisputed 20 years ago), is living a life of denial.