Same stuff, different year.
Major League Baseball is a mess. I say that to you as somebody that works in and has devoted a major part of my life to the game. It’s a disaster.
The sport that expects young eyes and ears to just attract themselves to it without any effort what-so-ever continues to dumbfound me. Baseball is like the kid in high school that peaked his sophomore year and continues to talk about the same accomplishments that they made at the 10-year reunion.
Baseball is in dangerous shape. That’s from financial, media, attendance, and talent perspectives. I will never question the intelligence of Rob Manfred. He’s made it to this position in life for a reason. But the decisions over the last year or so made by Major League Baseball are head scratchers.
Remember the summer of 2020? Feels like ages ago.
What did we have to start that summer? Tiger King, Tik Tok, taking walks on the forest preserve trail with your family, board games, and The Last Dance. Oh, and the random live UFC fight with nobody in attendance.
That’s it.
Instead of choosing to play baseball, and when the literal Player’s Association slogan was ‘when and where’, Manfred and the owners chose to keep baseball off of the national stage for months.
Then we got that weird 60 game sprint where the Chicago Cubs won the NL Central. (We’ll take what we can get). But hey, Marcus Stroman isn’t bad.
Baseball could have been the only thing on TV from May through the start of August. In April, we were on full lockdown. But May of 2020 was attainable. Imagine that Manfred. Your sport is literally the only live entertainment that over 350 million people could have had on their televisions.
Instead, you choose to sit on your butt and start in July; Where a month later both the NBA and NHL came back with their bubble tournaments. The NFL eventually rolled along, then college football. Where did that leave the MLB? Having the World Series getting beat in the ratings department.
Again.
So here we are; Entering a new work stoppage. Stop pointing fingers. This is on you both. Owner’s are cheap, and the player’s association continues to be bullheaded negotiators. It’s like two kindergarten kids arguing about who gets to use the big tire swing set at recess.
Hey, at least you guys can come to South Bend Cubs games and hang out with me next summer. 😎
Find a way to set aside your differences and make the smart move. The longer you wait, the more inclined people are to watching something else. These aren’t the 1990s anymore. Most people aren’t begging baseball to get back on the field ASAP. It’s baseball that will be begging people to fill the seats across the country.
That’s the scary part.
