Baseball has been a staple in American culture longer than any person can remember. It is a game that has consumed many for years upon years, and has been a model of consistency for fans all over. At the very core of the game is a strong traditionalist community that ensures it is being played the proper way. This backbone is essential to carrying on the wonderful game from one generation to the next. The issue Major League Baseball and commissioner Rob Manfred are facing, is the lack of interest by the millennial and generation Z types (born after 1990). Young people are gravitating towards playing and watching other sports. According to the most recent 2017 Gallup poll, which uses random surveying on around 80 percent of the U.S. population, only 9 percent of Americans say baseball is there favorite sport to watch. The poll showed an intriguing trend that undoubtedly caught the attention of Manfred; soccer and baseball show meaningful differences in spectators by age, with soccer appealing more to adult’s younger than 55, and baseball more to adults aged 55 and older.
The sport is facing a tougher time than ever capturing the eyes of young adult fans. The current path will put MLB in the backseat amongst the major sports leagues in America. In fact, the sporting landscape is broader than ever. The number of Americans who say they do not have a favorite sport has grown from 8% in 2000, to 15% in 2017. The game is being taken over by advanced statistics and launch angles which results in increase homeruns and strikeouts. There is no doubt that the homerun is entertaining but aside from that the game is more robotic than ever. Speed, athleticism and contact ability need to be prioritized once again as it can be make the game much more entertaining to watch. Base running has become very base-to-base and makes the spectacle mundane. The reasoning behind baseball’s declining fan interest can be found in the slower pace of play, less adaptation to the new ways of the world with technology and mass media, and the lack thereof in a strong mission to make sure the youth, more specifically minorities, are getting the proper opportunity to play and fall in love with the game. The grueling 162-game regular season, which I do not believe needs to be changed, can also be thought of as a factor in declined interest. In the minds of some, it waters down the game. These types of people are often of the younger generation, who believe that knocking thirty games off of the regular season schedule can make each game a bit more meaningful.
Baseball is a culture rooted in its ways and traditions more so than the other four major sports in America. Big changes move at a snail’s pace and the game is often less likely than other leagues to adapt wide scale transformations. The idea of a 130-game schedule should be explored. But it probably won’t be. Traditionalists (including myself) are obsessed with numbers and legacy. What makes the game of baseball different, is this fixation with numbers that reaches unrivaled levels. Slimming down the regular season not only changes game strategy but also throws a wrench in the expectations set upon these players through the course of an extended history. The unwillingness to look into this idea is a prime example of the slow developing nature of the game when looking into putting forth new rules. The shortened season idea also hinders the money-making ability of the league. This is truly why the change is extremely unlikely to happen. If you do examine where this idea does benefit the game, then the changes may not look so outrageous after all. The first is that each regular season game will be a bit more meaningful. The fans attentiveness and willingness to attend a ball game will increase. The next positive that can be drawn from shortening the schedule is competing less for viewers with the sport that has been most popular since 1972: football. Once the calendar flips to August, America turns its attention from the dog days of summer and baseball, to the welcoming days of fall. Despite the potential to lose money, this is something the commissioner should look into to see if the advantages can outweigh the disadvantages and benefit to fan experience.
Fan experience can also be enhanced with rules in place to encourage a quicker pace of play. Until the 1980s, the pace of a baseball game was well under two and a half hours, with most seasons averaging around two hours per game. The 1990s saw a slight spike with average game times moving to just over 2 and a half hours. The problem holding the attention span of the younger generation is seen in today’s game time average which is comfortably north of 3 hours. Many players work slowly both at the plate and on the mound, which creates a stigma of a slow developing game. All major sports are going through the phase of increased game-time due to increased television coverage in mass media society. Technology has allowed for the transmission of data and information quicker than ever. This means every professional league is jumping on the opportunity to use its platform to make more money through lucrative marketing deals. Due to this, it is time to implement the ‘pitch clock’ for regular season games. This will place a time limit on each pitch throughout an at-bat. The penalty for violating the pitch clock can be one warning followed by a ball to the batter thereafter. Major League baseball needs to be aggressive on the pitch clock and encourage a quicker paced game for everyone involved. The clock should be at 20 seconds from the time the ball is successfully returned to the pitcher. Another hope is that the mentality and development of pitchers, start to change in the future years. This mentality will involve working quickly and complementing that with consistent strike-throwing. Please do not let David Price ever become a pitching coach.
The players who make up the future of baseball are now emphasized more than ever. Youngsters are being developed, cultivated, and nurtured like never before in today’s America. Rob Manfred is doing a fantastic job so far in his tenure as commissioner ensuring the game is not lost with our youth. More specifically, he is hoping to continue to increase the focus on minorities who do not often choose to play baseball. The league is investing in the Play Ball initiative and has launched it in full force. The purpose is to remind people that you can engage with baseball without having nine guys on each team, uniforms and umpires. Manfred states “There are lots of small games that are ways to play baseball that can be really fun for kids and can really help them develop skills.” The emphasis is to focus on baseball as a suitable neighborhood activity. You do not need a traditional baseball game on a traditional baseball field to develop a love for the game. Manfred and Major League baseball have identified where baseball is missing out. They are not attracting the exciting minority athlete. The sport seems to be a little more difficult to access, or play in a “pick-up” environment than that of basketball or football. The league as a whole is seeking to change that perception and keep concentrating on growing the diversity of the game. It is clear that MLB, the Players Association, and the commissioner are more progressive now than ever before. They have developed a plan to stay on the attack to give each and every youth player an equal shot at accessing the game. This initiative is more crucial to the future of baseball than any proposed rule change. Sports are always star-driven and baseball must continue to draw on diverse, dynamic stars.
This diversity will propel baseball into a new age and maintain its status as one of the nation’s most popular sports. The pace of play issue has a viable solution on the horizon, the commissioner is focused on promoting baseball for the youth, and the length of the season will be examined further. The direction is clear, and every move that is made must have the fans in mind. Other changes that can make the game more entertaining, is allowing for more personality to be shown on the field, even if it means overlooking some “unwritten rules.” This includes ‘pimping’ homeruns. The players reaction with his bat after destroying a baseball is slowly becoming a “cool” thing to do and is instant content on Twitter/Facebook. This not something that the league office can seek to forcibly change. This change will have to be implemented throughout teams and their development strategy.