Thirty years ago, when someone mentioned American sports, the first thing that they would say is baseball is by far the most popular. Thirty years ago baseball in America was a sport that was played on little league ball fields, street corners, and even in school yards during recess. It was a sport that kids loved to play and adults loved to watch, analyze, and debate.
Today, when I think about baseball I think of an outdated game that was great during its prime but has failed to adjust to current times.
Baseball, to me, is similar to a vehicle today without power steering, or an auxiliary jack for my iPod. Baseball over the years has failed to adjust and adapt to an ever-changing world where instant replay and high definition televisions are the norm in today’s society.
Many sports, like American football and professional basketball, have adopted the instant replay system due to an increased speed of the game and the leagues ambitions to get the calls right. Baseball, on the other hand, has decided to stick to their traditional roots of history. Baseball has been hesitant to incorporate technology into their sport causing missed calls to decide the outcome of pivotal games.
Ironically, due to this lack of ability for baseball to adapt, the game overall has suffered in the television ratings battle. Between Brett Favre and Randy Moss, most people didn’t realize that the San Francisco Giants dominated in the postseason and spanked the Texas Rangers to earn their first World Series in over 50 years.
Baseball is an afterthought to those that are not die-hard fans. Other sports have a certain wow factor about them that can attract the casual fan, where baseball with its 162 game schedule fails to generate a uniqueness that’s needed to increase viewership.
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