[pieceofthepuzzle]

Love baseball. Lover soccer. Soccer enthusiasm is definitely on the rise in the US, and kids are being drawn away from baseball to lacrosse and soccer.

That said, baseball will survive, but may have to cut back a bit on how many games played in a season. If soccer teams played as often as baseball teams, interest for each individual game would wane - likely even in Europe. The World Cup is so special in part because it’s every 4 years.

[gusty]

Baseball if run in the same manner from the grassroots to MLB will become irrelevant in the American sports world in the next half century. I say this as someone who played the game at a high level, so it brings me no pleasure to say so. But I live in Realville and am capable of putting down the pom poms. The one stat that MLB should be real alarmed at is the one that points out that 50% of baseball's fan base is older than 55 years, second to golf. The NFL and NBA’s are 75% under 55 years of age, soccer fits also into this demographic. Any product or sport that is king of the nursing homes is not one with a happy future. When all the fans still have the left blinker on when entering the parking lot, your future is not bright. With the retirement of Derek Jeter, MLB will have zero stars to promote. This doesn't mean there is no outstanding players, but no one with star power, pizazz you might say. The games top players all look alike, sound alike, like robots. There is no personality in today's players, just vacant looks. The Tug McGraws of the past are all gone.