Posted on 06/27/2012 12:46:24 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
There exists in this universe a type of pitiable creature who will take any opportunity to tell you why he doesn't watch baseball any more even though he used to be a self-described "big fan."
You know exactly who I'm talking about. He's the type of guy who says he hasn't been to a game since the strike that apparently ripped his heart out even though there has been plenty of time to heal — a child born in August 1994 will be able to cast a vote in the election this fall.
He's also the type of guy who can't get over the size of player salaries that have risen with revenues, the cost of ballpark concessions no one's forcing him to buy or that they just don't make ballplayers (or men!) like Joe DiMaggio anymore. He's the type of guy you feel sorry for because he can't see past it all and just enjoy the sport for what it is. All of us have things we don't like about baseball, but we get past them anyway.
I bring this up because it looks like this aforementioned strawman is about to get a new excuse for why he doesn't like baseball and sooner rather than later. The adoption of the universal designated hitter seemed like an inevitability ever since the new CBA greenlighted two 15-team leagues and year-round interleague play. Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci pushed it further this week by quoting an "influential source" who believes we're 10 or fewer years away from 15 additional jobs being created for old sluggers who can't play defense any more.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
Well, if we want jobs for old sluggers and more offense, here’s what we do.
Get rid of the old, soggy two-way player idea. After all, football has pretty much done away with it, and look at the NFL’s success!
This would improve fielding, too! You could have that long-legged, fleet-footed .180 punch and judy hitter playing center field, now. There’d never be a need to pinch-hit for Steve Yeager style catchers, because the only time he’d be near a plate would be when he was behind it!
Why, you could get by with four starting batters, one for each base (including home). You could have some fast guys to pinch -run (free substitution of players). You could also pull the slugger for the average RBI man when the situation called for it.
The end result? MORE hits, MORE base stealing, BETTER fielding. If you think of baseball strictly in terms of hitting, running, pitching and fielding, all but pitching would be improved. No, with free substitution, even pitching could be improved.
That is the logical conclusion of this mentality.
Speaking for myself, I dropped MLB baseball when they added wildcards and interleague play. I will still have the ‘77-78’ Dodgers, the ‘81 Dodgers, and the ‘88 Dodgers to look back on. That’ll have to do. I didn’t care about the strike or the steroid stuff at all. They lost me before that.
When do the Congressional hearings start?
I remember watching some of those premier softball teams where it was not totally uncommon to see 28 homeruns in a row by one team in one inning! If MLB players only had to bat and not play a position we could be looking at football type scores. “The Cardinals defeated the Braves 37 to 21 this afternoon...”
I stopped watching baseball when hitters started stepping out of the box after every pitch. The game has slowed to a crawl and is unwatchable.
I guess I match the description of the strawman in the article. I was a "big fan" through the strike season. However, I did not stop watching because of the strike per se. The strike was really long. By the time it was over, and baseball came back, I realized I could do other things than kill 3 hours for 162 games a year watching baseball.
I tried to get back into it, but found it boring. I used to argue with people that "baseball isn't boring!". I remember once watching a 20-inning game that lasted until 2:00 AM and I loved it. After the strike, it just seemed boring. I wish I still liked baseball, but I don't. Maybe all the stuff the author mentioned, and other things others here have mentioned just combined to make the game seem boring to me now. The DH is laughable to me; but I no longer care what they do.
I love baseball, but I despise Major League Baseball.
In fact, after decades of adoration for the game — and a few years of having season tickets at Shea Stadium, as well — I reached my limit around a decade or so ago when I realized that it wasn’t a “sport” anymore, no more than Christians vs. Lions was very “sporting” back in ancient Roman days.
MLB is the only professional sport where there is no salary cap and where you can continue to BUY championships. Where is the “sport” when you have $230 million teams playing against $50 million teams? One must suspend any idea of fairness to follow MLB, and I’m just not able and/or willing to do that.
Hurrah for the Designated hitter rule!
I hate the DH and can’t stand that my Houston Astros were forced against their will to move to the American League.
And for everyone who wants to blather about how dull baseball is with pitcher hitting and how much more exciting it is with the DH, check the current MLB attendance figures:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance
The American League has six of the bottom seven teams in attendance and when they get the Astros next year, it will be seven of the bottom seven.
Even with a 106-loss team last year, the Astros averaged 3,000 more fans per game and finished 19th among the 30 MLB clubs. This year, they’re 26th despite a better winning percentage.
Of course, we knew even last year what a farce the commissioner and the union were leading up to - universal DH so more fat slobs like David Ortiz could pay bigger union dues even though they can’t catch a cold.
The Nationals’ pitchers this year have made a number of timely RBI base hits. By way of example, Strasburg has hit 4 doubles and a home run, averaging .348. Designated hitter is lame.
Look at in-state rivals in baseball. Nearly every case, the national league is more popular. Except for New York.
I quit watching baseball in 1950 when the Southeastern League went belly up.
MLB hasn’t been fun for a long, long time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.