Major League Baseball Death Spiral

It's never really been the same for me since the strike

It's become a gentrifiers pastime. Working class can't even afford to watch thru the knothole. 

Baseball has been struggling (if national and world attention is how you keep score) and that's why they changed some of the rules.  I like all the rule changes except putting a guy on 2nd base in extra innings.  If you go to the game, the pitch clock allows you to miss the pitcher playing with the rosin bag and the hitter scratching various body parts,  It's telling that only the older pitchers are complaining.

Don't know about national and world attention (or survival), but I predict that baseball will be played in the 22nd century and American football will gone thanks to mothers.  Talk to me in 2101.  

shut up and go see the A's.

"Should have kept it simple, stupid."

Sabermetrics and statistics technology, and horrible umpires who think we pay to see them have ruined a once great sport. You need a code book to watch a game and understand wtf they're talking about. I used to know every player's stats. wRC+.  Gimme a fuckin break.  

Bla, bla, bla. People in here sound like grumpy old men sitting on a park bench, shaking their fists and saying, "Everything's changed! It's not like it used to be!"

Of course those same grumpy old men are forgetting that when they were young and everything was good, the grumpy old men of those times were sitting on a park bench shaking their fists and saying, "Everything's changed! It's not like it used to be!"

And the same for the age before that, and before that, etc. etc.

Same as it ever was.

Like all things do over time, baseball has changed, but it's still baseball and the game will continue on long after we're gone, and long after the kids of today who 30 years from now will lament that everything has changed, it's not like it used to be, are gone too.

As for the supposed fading popularity of baseball, there are many examples that show the game continues to be as strong as it's ever been, maybe stronger.

Ultimately, all one has to do to see that the game isn't fading is to note all the fully guaranteed $200/$300 million dollar contracts being shelled out, and the astronomical salaries in general. Next year more than half the teams in the league are going to offer Shohei Ohtani $500+ million guaranteed to play for their team (common' Giants!). Does anyone think the billionaire owners are shelling out that kind of money in a fading situation?

At least when it comes to money billionaires are not stupid. None of them are looking to sell their teams and they're (almost) all lining up to give out those massive contracts, which means the money is there, which means people, LOTS of people, are watching.

Oh, and Knotseau, I know the "Regular folks have been priced out" theme is a favorite of yours, but in this case it's just fake news. You can get into any midweek Giants game and ANY A's game for $10 - $12 (and in Oakland you can then walk right down to the best seats), and you don't HAVE to buy a beer, or a hotdog or other crap, and you don't have to drive and pay the parking fee. Go To The Game knot.

Anyway, it's a shame that you can no longer find the beauty in baseball Roar, but the beauty is still there and the game is doing just fine.

GO GIANTS!!!!!

Nicely put Roarschock.... seeing the Yankees 5X this season

No cash accepted at the stadium these days, so I cant easily throw tips to the real people serving food & drinks .... the REAL people who keep the stadium going.

I have to pre plan at the bank to tip ..... but then I get to see players like Aaron Judge in person, like i saw the GD in the real world so many times.....  (no tips)

But some folks work these jobs to pay their bills for  living in NYC.  Beer tenders always got tips before plastic. Sad evolution to me ....

One of those societal evolutions that make the rich richer and the poor poorer

Just got a ticket for Pride Night. 308

Go Cubs!

donster, go to the bank and get a stack of $2 bills and hand them to whoever sells you something and/or helps you. I doubt they will turn them down.

And the new rules are weird but among other things at least games can still theoretically go to 20-something innings or more, and those are fun to watch. 

"Nothing Stays the Same" is almost always true, you can't go home again.

And yeah, if I didn't have a fence I'd be saying Get the fuck off my lawn quite a bit.

I agree with most of the comments above. It's been painfully obvious over the past 20 years that the game has gone electronic/video/analytical/boo boo bullshit.

I blame ESPN to a large degree . Can't stand that network.

Yes there is always going to be change- has to be I guess...but where does it all end?  A.I. ??

Please don't blame the umps.

Gambling is also ruining sports. 

The new changes have been a revelation. The games are back to their normal pace, something that was gradually ruined by both pitchers and batters over the past 20 years. It's about getting the game back to where it was, not a 3.5 hour match-up of 25 strikeouts and 13 relief pitchers.

Stolen bases are up, strikeouts are down, there are more balls in play and bunting has increased. Ya gotta be 1/2 loony to think the new changes have been anything but positive. 

The extra innings man-on-second thing continues to be pretty weird but outside of the playoffs, who needs a 12 or 14 inning game anyway.

Watching baseball is akin to watching paint dry.  At least for me but I know people who are really into it.  To each their own and I have buddy who hits up the "Innings Festival" in Arizona each year.  Mix of  A-List musical acts (e.g. Green Day, Eddie Vedder) + spring training:

https://www.inningsfestival.com/arizona

That being said, minor league games can be fun.  Cheap seats and even cheaper beer.

I don't think baseball is dying. Not a great fan of some of the changes, but I wasn't keen on splitting up the AL and NL into divisions when I was a kid, either.
I grew up with baseball. Sacramento was and still is a baseball town. I couldn't wait to tryout for little league. Some of my friends and teammates had Dads who played pro ball.
Always a Giants fan and later, when the Athletics moved to Oakland, an A's fan, too. Rickey Henderson is still my all-time favorite player.
If I had a gripe about any of the changes, it would be rules that affect managerial strategy. I couldn't imagine a manager like Billy Martin letting anyone tell him where or where not to put his infield or any defense. If Martin brought in relief pitching for one batter and he didn't get results, he'd yank him for another. I doubt anyone would tell him the pitcher has to pitch to at least 3 batters without him kicking dirt all over the ump.
I get in this day of instant gratification that baseball is too slow, but baseball was invented as a pastime. The days of passing the time of day or night by kicking back, smoking a good cigar, enjoying a few beers and keeping a score card might be all but gone and it was fun while that lasted. However, I don't think the game will ever go away. It'll just morph into something that continues to interest people.
I spent a lot of time this year watching my 10 year-old grandson play and learn the game. Over the course of his season, it was especially fun to watch him improve athletically and learn more of the game's nuances. As long as kids like him are still excited about baseball, I think it'll live on just fine.
 

teams moving in any sport sucks.

sorry roarshock.

so the warriors, A's and raiders all bailed...

and yes, it's ironic 2 of my teams have been re-located...but that was long ago. i'm talking like 1980's and beyond as being lame for a team to move.

>>let's remember how much Grateful Dead and Rock-n-Roll history went down at the Oakland Coliseum.<<<

for sure.

My decay with the National past time -

dad taking me and friends to a few Indians games every year, watched them on TV collected cards and listened on radio> watched Indians less, attend a game or two per season,followed box scores and standings> stopped going, stopped watching Indians, still followed Indians standings and box score, watched playoffs and WS.> followed Indians standings and box score, watch the World Series> maybe watch some of the World Series games, periodically check only Indians standings

Roarshock wrote:

^^Oakland A's have real fans. That was real teary eyed drama last night. Yes, the team won the game too, 2-1.^^

I was at the game last night in the right field bleachers! Was such a glorious time w/ like minded people.  The coliseum might be a dump but its OUR dump.

It's also not lost on my how many great Grateful Dead shows were played there (i'm thinking 6/8/74 which will be a 50th anniversary next year) - Bobby refers to the World Champion Athletics on the tape, and in a few months they would make it three in a row.

John Fisher is really the worst kind of person - He's the real life Henry Potter. He reminds me of Trump big time, another guy that feel into $$ and doesn't think of anyone but himself. These guys both give me a terrible view of humanity in general but I guess that's my issue to deal with.

Fuck them both!  At this point i guess besides Jerry Garcia night on 8/18 i'll get tix to the final game next Fall 2024 and wreck havoc on the final one. I'm sure I won't be the only one.

I'm giving up baseball when they move to LV.

John Fisher incarnate:

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-has-best-sunday-attendance-since-2008?partn...

terrible hot take

Now the word is 2028 season before they play their first game in the new stadium

somehow I just can't see the A's surviving that long without an ownership change

poor kotsay 

ahhhh

DeadCo is playing at Oracle...sacrilege

I'm never going to see a Giants game again...