Fans love baseball -- but does it still love them back?

USA Today ^ | 10/01/03 | Marilyn Thomsen

[rhema]

It happened again not long before their season ended Sunday: I turned the radio dial to my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers

[Clemenza]

DOWN WITH THE YANKEES AND THE BRAVES!

Now that I have that out of my system, I think MLB has done a disgusting job of marketing the sport. Baseball remains a bargain for families compared with other sports, is not as thuggish as the NBA and is a nice relaxing way to spend a weekend afternoon.

Nevertheless, in an age of shortened attention spans, I doubt it will ever recapture its popularity.

[John H K]

Today's teams are no longer made up of minor leaguers who played together in a farm system long before coming up to the majors. Instead, they are cobbled-together groups of free agents who often only stay long enough to get a better offer.

Yawn. Another cliched bit of twaddle bemoaning the loss of the "good ol' days" in baseball.

And what does "loyalty" have anything to do with anything? Players used to stay with the same team for a long time because the reserve clause forced them to, not out of "loyalty."

And teams have always traded or sold players left and right; how is that not "disloyal" to the players?

Teams for a hundred years have routinely been the "cobbled together" result of TRADES; why is it suddenly so horrible that now some of the "cobbling" is through free agency?

[John H K]

Now that I have that out of my system, I think MLB has done a disgusting job of marketing the sport.

Baseball is the only major sport where the Commissioner spends essentially all his time telling people the sport is in awful shape, nobody can compete, etc. as part of a labor-negotiating tactic.

I'm hoping for the Marlins-Twins Selig humilation series, myself.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

How 'bout those Twins?

[Senator Pardek]

Yawn. Another cliched bit of twaddle bemoaning the loss of the "good ol' days" in baseball.

Right on target - Former NYY farm prospects -

• Andy Petite
• Derek Jeter
• Alphonso Soriano
• Jorge Posada
• Mariano Rivera
• Bernie Williams

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

but does it still love them back?

thats a tough one for a die hard red sox fan to answer

[Clemenza]

Yeah, kudos to them. Now if only they can get out of that AWFUL "Metrodome" that resembles a totalitarian interrogation center. I here the minor league stadium across the river in St. Paul is nice though. :-)

[Clemenza]

I'm hoping for the Marlins-Twins Selig humilation series, myself.

Yeah, so will the Marlins fans. All five of them. ;-)

[Alberta's Child]

Major League Baseball has another serious problem that is going to have devastating consequences in terms of its fan base -- it is slowly gaining a reputation as a "foreign" sport, due to the large (and growing) number of Latinos and Asians who populate the rosters of every team.

This is one hurdle that professional soccer has never been able to overcome, and I predict that it will eventually relegate baseball to second-class status among professional sports.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

When I was in high school, I rooted for the University of Connecticut Huskies (basketball). It eventually dawned on me that I was rooting for a team none of whose players were from Connecticut. Basically I realied I was rooting for my state, not the players. It's debatable whether this is better or worse, but it is certainly a different kind of fandom.

The extreme example of this in baseball is the 1997 vs. 1998 Florida Marlins. Indeed, I think they only have ONE player on their roster now who was on the 1997 championship team, and even HE left and was eventually re-signed.

Not bitching and moaning, just saying it is harder to 'bond' with players these days. It's similarly harder to 'bond' with many network TV shows these days because they move around so much schedule-wise.

[Clemenza]

I like the foreigners coming into the NBA. They don't believe in that arrogant "dunking" horsesh-t that has ruined a once interesting sport.

Interesting comment. I've always said that instead of having teams in places like Montreal or Toronto, MLB should think about expanding to Santo Domingo or San Juan, where there is a HUGE fan base that would guarantee sell outs.

Interesting phenomenom in South Florida is how so many of my Cuban American friends and co-workers LOVED playing the game, but couldn't give a rats a-s about the Marlins. The only team in SoFla that attracts a large and loyal fan base are the Hurricanes.

[paul in cape]

Who as the idiot who scheduled the Red Sox's first playoff game at 10 PM eastern? Giants/Marlins at 4PM? Who gives a rat's *ss about the Marlins.

Here in New England, the Sox are a religion!

WTF?

[Clemenza]

I would like to see a Sox/Cubs matchup or at least a Yankees/Cubs matchup. On the one hand, to see the Yank-offs humiliated in the fall classic would be grand, on the other, seeing them eliminated earlier by the Sox would end many an inferiority complex in Beantown.

[rhema]

And what does "loyalty" have anything to do with anything? Players used to stay with the same team for a long time because the reserve clause forced them to, not out of "loyalty."

As I recall, our small-market Twins have had several big-ticket players (Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett come to mind) who spurned bigger offers to stay with the club they'd broken in with. Without them, Minnesota's total of major-sports crowns would be zero instead of two.

[freebilly]

I turned the radio dial to my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers — and couldn't tell which team was up. In this era of corporate baseball, high-priced players come and go too quickly for me to remember their names. Like too much of the world, baseball has lost its personal touch. For fans, it's sad.

Gee, the world's changed since 1974. How did that happen? I love baseball. I love Pac Bell. I love Fenway. Yeah, the game is more corporate, but they still gotta win between the white lines. I think the game is every bit as good today as it was 40 years ago when I was a kid.

Go Bonds! Go Pedro McNasty!

[rhema]

Not bitching and moaning, just saying it is harder to 'bond' with players these days.

I don't know how long it'll last, but Twins' fans have bonded with quite a few of our self-effacing, modestly salaried players (Koskie, Mientkiewicz, et al.) who just bust their butts to win games.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

I'm a Yankees fan, but if they made it to the World Series, the only team I wouldn't mind beating them would be the Cubs. And, if the Cubs WIN the World Series, I hope it's the Yankees that they beat. Obviously, any Cubs World Series win would be Earth-shattering, but they would know they beat the team with the best record in baseball (indeed, they'd have done it TWICE, since they'd have to get past the Braves, who are tied with the Yankees for best record).

Love the Yanks or hate them, but Cubs/Yankees is perhaps second only to Cubs/Red Sox for drama, subplots, waxing poetic about the historic ballpark, etc.

[fat city]

Today's teams are no longer made up of minor leaguers who played together in a farm system long before coming up to the majors.

The entire Cleveland Indians team played with each other in the minors-- a couple of months ago-- and will be again at the start of next year.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

I don't know how long it'll last, but Twins' fans have bonded with quite a few of our self-effacing, modestly salaried players (Koskie, Mientkiewicz, et al.) who just bust their butts to win games.

Good to hear. For some teams it's not so fortunate. Rooting for a player can become like rooting for a one-night-stand to call you in the morning. Sure, the sex was great, but you're afraid to invest anything more in the relationship. OK, maybe I'm over the top in the analogy. I do that sometimes for effect. It's just baseball, of course, a mere trifle in the great scheme of things, but awfully fun to follow, even if you can't be certain if your favorite player will be there next year.