Why does baseball not fit in today?
It’s been said a lot that baseball and our current society/culture don’t really mix. The usual take is that people don’t have the attention span for it anymore, since baseball games are really long, and there’s so much dead time between pitches and at bats and so on. Most of the game is spent waiting, and now everyone wants everything right away. There’s obviously some truth to this, but I think the real reason is something else—I think baseball was at its best and most popular when American life was bountiful and hopeful, but now when everyone’s struggling, baseball just seems weird, out of place, and wrong somehow.
Baseball was invented in the mid to late 19th century in America—a very hopeful time and place, where the future was looked toward as something full of possibilities. Life was hard then, but new things were always being invented to make life easier. Baseball got really popular around 1910 or so, give or take. The first World Series was in 1903, and the first baseball superstar, Ty Cobb, debuted in 1905. So by 1910 I think the sport, and its star, were well-established. This was a very hopeful, bright time—the first World War was still years away, and times were good.
Then baseball reached an even higher level in the 1920s, after World War One—the era of Babe Ruth. This golden age of baseball was carried along by iconic stars like Ted Williams and Joe Dimaggio in the 1940s and 50s, and Mickey Mantle in the 60s, and a few others (but those were the big ones). This postwar period was also very hopeful, dynamic, and future-oriented—Americans had good reason to feel like everything was going to be alright.
Baseball got a bit less popular in the 70s and 80s, times of stagnation, inflation, and malaise. The big stars from that era were Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt…not on the same level as previous decades. Then I feel like baseball picked up again in the 90s/00s, with Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, and on and on. The 90s were also a hopeful time (this ended somewhat in 2001).
And now here we are in 2023. Most people have felt, correctly, that things are declining, in social, cultural, economic, and political ways. And baseball just keeps getting less relevant. Shohei Ohtani, probably the most talented baseball player since Babe Ruth 100 years ago, signed a $700 million contract to play with the Dodgers—the biggest contract in sports history. That was a big story, but he won’t have the same cultural impact that Babe Ruth had (and not just because he isn’t American. Ohtani’s former teammate, Mike Trout, has had a career as good as just about any baseball legend ever, and he could walk down the street in any city and not be noticed).
So yes, smartphones and social media have messed up our attention spans, and baseball is a game that requires attention—but more than that, baseball goes along with hopeful, forward-looking American vibes, and those are gone and ain’t coming back, so baseball feels really out of place.
If you have the MLB app you can watch the condensed game and you don't even have to listen to any of the commentators and its usually under 10 mins, but If you were doing the commentary i would watch the whole game.
A bit of a dismal assessment of baseball, but I don't think matters are quite that grave. Woody Allen is quoted saying, "I love baseball. You know, it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just very beautiful to watch.” I share that sentiment. I am also a Dodgers fan, so I'll check the calendar dates for when to catch a Dodgers game and hopefully see Ohtani play. Apart from just enjoying the game, it's definitely possible to look at baseball in a very analytical way. I just returned from a department meeting where the guest speaker was talking about the amount of data in baseball. It's staggering, and you need a computer to understand it. Whether our attention spans are responsible for a decline in baseball is somewhat debatable. A big reason you see a drop in attendance is the killjoy owners who try to preserve their star players as though they were bone china ornaments reserved only for World Series games. I think managers are starting to permit their best players to perform in your city more frequently and not two or three times a year. And you will actually see them play — none of this “load management” nonsense where managers charge hundreds of dollars, and then whoever it takes a rest day in his team’s only appearance in your city that season.
More risks and more of what made the game great. Movies like The Natural, Bull Durham, Moneyball, For Love of the Game, and The Sandlot are emotional to watch because they remind us what we love about games, which involve tension, star players, risks, and luck.
Stars from the 20s, 30s, and 40s were captivating because their managers and the team owners understood the audience and knew how to sell and market their teams. That era gave people what they wanted, which is a show. So, if the killjoys would back off and let showmanship back into the game, we'd see roaring crowds again.