Posted on 05/21/2015 5:49:56 AM PDT by BlueStateRightist
...MLB faces headwinds that have been years in the making and forces that are outside its direct control. In 2002, nine million people between the ages of 7 and 17 played baseball in the U.S., according to the National Sporting Goods Association, an industry trade group. By 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, that figure had dropped by more than 41%, to 5.3 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Baseball is growing in Europe (Primarily Britain)
So who do you think now pays for the ball parks, even Little League?
When I grew up playing LL ball, it was unusual for parents to attend a game, much less practice and there never was the now norm screaming cussing parents in near riot.
What does the average kid do when he’s bored and has some spare time? Does he think about going to the park and playing a pickup baseball game with his pals? Most of them, the answer is no.
It’s the X-box, Playstation, and WII which gets all of his attention and makes him smile.
Let alone, that in the 40’s-80’s you got your sports information from a newspaper. I used to love reading the sports section of the paper from front to back. I knew about the most insignificant sports because they were in the sports page.
My 13 year old son couldn’t name 3 MLB baseball teams. And he’s been playing organized baseball for 7 years. I think were done with it though. It’s not because he’s not an athlete, or because other players are that much better than him, but because I don’t see myself spending $3000 for him to play something he barely cares about. Football and basketball are school sports in middle school. Baseball is not.
Now ask my son to name some video game characters, and he can name 1000 of them. The times have just changed.
When our kid is bored he will go out and bounce a baseball off the house. Which has resulted in a few broken windows :) I waffle on travel teams because I don’t want to burn him out on the sport. At the same time most school teams want kids who have played travel ball and playing at a higher level would help him improve. He just enjoys sports though-whether it’s running, basketball, or baseball.
Baseball requires an attention span.
When I was a kid in the 1970’s, we did not have helicopter parents. My friends and I could ride public transit to baseball games at Three Rivers Stadium without adult chaperones. We could bring inexpensive snacks and drinks into the stadium with us. A local bread company ran a promotion where if you were a kid and brought a wrapper with you, you could get in for a dollar.
Today, if parents would even let the kids out of their sight for three hours, you would have to have at least a hundred bucks to swing the expense of a day at the ballpark.
We still do high school baseball around here but even at the high school level the players are already specialized. Its one of the reasons the DH is going to become standard across baseball.
Incoming MLB pitchers these days haven’t swung a bat since the 8th grade or earlier.
I wish LaCrosse was around back when I was in school for a spring sport. I would have been good at it.
Does anyone here remember playing “workup” baseball? We didn’t have teams. You started in right field. Every time someone struck out or was put out, he went to right field and everyone else moved up one notch—right field, center field, left field, third base, shortstop, second base, first base, pitcher, catcher, and, finally, at bat. You batted until you were put out. Then you started all over again in right field. If we had more players than positions to fill, we just had a crowd of right fielders!
“Now ask my son to name some video game characters, and he can name 1000 of them. The times have just changed.”
Exactly why we pushed him into more intensive participation. He could name all the key strokes to kill Krackens and other soldiers but could not remember 5 players or to turn in his home work. His gaming has dropped to about 2 hours a week. The initial detox pains were there but he has adjusted over the last year or so and has grown to love the game more and has crossed the threshold of seeking out his own workout time rather than me pushing him. He has seen what he can do with work versus being a nerd.
On May 22, 2014, the Tigers were trailing the Texas Rangers 9–2 after eight innings when Danny Worth entered the game as a pitcher for the first time in his career. Using mainly knuckleballs, Worth allowed one hit and struck out two to retire the side in the top of the ninth inning. He became the first Tiger position player to pitch a full inning since Mark Koenig in 1931.
We were home at 5:30 for dinner without a panicked mom and dad having to put out an Amber Alert for us.
I also blame the helicopter parents for taking thee fun out of a game that is supposed to be fun. Thanks to helicopter parents, every aspect of the game is micro-managed. Kids are nor longer allowed to play unsupervised in a vacant lot because helicopter parents have this irrational fear that a bogyman will snatch their darling child, or another kid will talk mean, or a bully might tease, or whatever. Now, every aspect of the game is orchestrated by adults who set the rules and resolve controversies, rather than letting the kids play the game.
Wow...that will sure plump up the sales tax coffers in Red Hampshire this weekend.
I agree. I sucked at baseball - found out years later that most of my vision comes from one eye, and I therefor have no depth perception. But most of the games I played as a kid involved 4-5 players a side. A grass field, T-shirts for bases. A bat and ball, and hopefully (but not always) a glove.
No adults. None. Nada. Zilch.
Never heard of such a thing. Doesn’t sound like very much fun. How do you keep score with no teams? If you have 4 kids you can at least play a form of touch football and keep a score.
Based on 25 years of coaching hs baseball pitchers are dh’d for less than other players.
High school pitchers are usually some of the better athletes.
College on pitchers don't hit.
LOL. Sure do. My kids have no idea. I would teach it to them, but no one here plays disorganized baseball.
I remember my first glove. I got it for Christmas. It was a real sacrifice for my folks, too. I think I still have that glove somewhere. I could play without worrying about my fingers.
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