Without me and many like me, it's a shame but there are many other things to keep me entertained. For those of you still interested in the game, enjoy.

MLB will sell +/- 65 million tickets this season. They'll do just fine. Major League Baseball is back, alive and well everywhere..... except Cincinnati.

At one time Baseball was the American Pastime. Football passed it in the 70's. Basketball passed it in the 80's. Soccer will pass it in popularity in this country within the next 5 yrs. The number of inner city and black players continues to shrink. Baseball is back, but it's on a respirator. The average age of a baseball fan is 47. Once the baby boomers are gone so will be any remembrance of baseball being the #1 sport in this country. Alive yes. Well? Not even close. It's a dying game and missteps like this latest strike are indicative of the mismanagement of the game. That's both the owners and the union, neither side is bright enough to be in the positions they hold.

When I hear about the business of baseball, it's always reported that the owners are making money hand over fist on their guaranteed TV contracts; they don't actually need to win games or put ***** in the stands.

Who the hell is watching a baseball game on TV these days? Maybe if it's late at night and you need something to put you to sleep.

You know those guaranteed contracts are only guaranteed until they aren't, right?

I have no problem with owners and/or players making money. The problem is they are so steeped in history and tradition that it gets in their way of updating the game to attract new fans. The fact they wait until the last minute to negotiate the CBA because that's the way it's always been done and there is no sense of urgency until the deadline is imminent is ridiculous and archaic. They need each other and it's in both sides best interest to keep the games going. The fact they didn't realize this and are too busy trying to win the negotiations shows how baseball is no longer in touch with society and their fans. If/when the game ends, it will be of their own doing and there won't be any reason for them to weep. Those who don't learn from history, are destined to repeat it.

It's laughable that they are talking about expansion when they already have too many people that can't agree on anything or do what's in their best interest. The last thing they need to do is add more fools willing to donate $2 Billion dollars to join this group of idiots.

I grew up loving baseball and still do. I'll watch whenever there's a product to watch. I watched a pickup game in the Dominican Republic when we were on a cruise there...just a bunch of kids playing in the park. Everything that has been said about baseball being their own worst enemy and hurting the f=game is true and both sides share the blame. One things are rolling again, I really don't care about that. I enjoy it for what it is. I go to more AAA games than ML games because of where I live. This year my brothers and I are planning a trip to see a game in Durham.

Over the years, I've probably seen more minor league games than ML games, but when my wife and I travel, we typically make an effort to see a game (usually ML) wherever we go. We don't usually stay all 9 innings because my wife is not a baseball fan, but she knows it's important to me to see the different parks, so she goes. The better the food and the more there is to do other than just sit and watch the game, the longer we stay.

Favorite parks I've been to?

Camden Yards
Safeco Field
Wrigley (really just for the history of it)
Old Comiskey Park (same plus the food was to die for)

Parks I haven't been to but want to see?

Fenway (the history)
Yankee Stadium (saw Paul McCartney there, but not a game)
Chase Field
Oracle Park (I've seen it from the outside but there was no game that day)

Obviously got derailed there, but the people that love baseball will find a way to continue to love baseball even if MLB commits suicide at some point.

Another old guy, 56. Still love my Tigers' - Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on the radio, Tiger stadium. Players make too much money now, Free Agency, in my opinion, has changed baseball for the worse. But still love it.

“Lo, the Winter’s passed, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the Earth, the time for the singing of birds has come. And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.”

MLB is 2nd in sports revenue to the NFL. It isn't dying and MLS has no chance to catch it in my lifetime.

I'm 50 and used to be a Pirates fan. Buccos fans showed that they'll support a winner back in the early 2010's. The owner paid no attention and they've been a dumpster fire ever since. Last game I went to was 4 or 5 years ago. The last game I watched all of on TV- I don't even know.

Anymore, this game is the entirety of my interest in baseball.

With the Steelers' current trajectory, we'd better hope the Penguins can extend their success for a few more seasons. It stands to be a pretty rough few years here once Crosby and Malkin are worn out.

They play 162 games, ncmusician and the stadiums hold twice as many fans as basketball or hockey stadiums (yes I know many are used for both). Soccer's popularity is growing, baseball's is waning. They choose to do nothing to change with the times, instead they bicker over the distribution of funds. Should it be more equitable, yes. Should they benefit from an anti-trust exemption, no. Neither party will change fast enough to save the game, instead they will rush to add more teams giving owners a share of the $2billion per franchise paid and the players more ML jobs. Pittsburgh is a dumpster fire, so are the Mets unless this latest spending spree rights their ship. Oakland doesn't have a home that can support them and neither does a very well run Tampa team. There will never be revenue sharing, players will want a bigger piece of the pie, owners will do everything they can to squeeze every penny, and nothing will change. It's a mess and those that should care most won't align their common goals to save themselves.

I've been meaning to comment on this for awhile. I'm hitting my 30th birthday this year, so I feel like I was in one of the first generations where Baseball wasn't the most popular sport among my friend group. Having someone as passionate about the sport as myself was a bit of an outlier. Somewhere in the late 1990's/early 2000's it seems like baseball lost some of it's general popularity. My favorite example comes from my 8th grade history class. We did trivia questions every day, and one day it happened to be a baseball question. Immediately the class shouted "Sammy Sosa!", 'Mark McGuire!", as if those were the last two players to play baseball (neither answer was correct haha).

I read all the time about why baseball is losing popularity or why it's dying, etc etc. and have thought about it more than I would like. I'm sure there's some mismanagement, and some people to blame, but honestly I feel like a lot of it is outside baseball's control. It's a hard pill to swallow, but Baseball has more and more competitive disadvantages with the change in the consumer and the consumer experience. For one, consumer's have less of an attention span. It's harder for fans to pay attention to a whole inning, let alone a game. Could there be more balls in play? Sure, but I don't think that's the difference in grabbing the attention of a 14 year old who is used to instant gratification of social media.

I think the biggest thing that happened to Baseball started with the internet, but really gained steam with social media, smart phones, and the growing world of streaming. Consumers have more control over the content they want now then ever. There's just more options, simple as that. Baseball is a great form of entertainment because it's probably one of, if not the most played sports of the youth. It's not too difficult to pick up the basic rules, so at the end of the day it's a a great option to please a lot of people. However, I don't think it's nearly as many people's first choice. So while back in the day, maybe people chose to watch Baseball because it was the best option available, they now turn to other forms of entertainment.

I saw a couple mentions of the NFL's & MLS's success. Ask yourself - what advantage do those sports have over the MLB, and even NBA/NHL? They both play games only once a week. It is so much easier to follow along then other sports. Part of the romance of Baseball is seeing the different story lines play out, it's what drew me in. But in a world where there's so much competing for your attention, it's easy to get backed up and give up on following along. It was much easier when you could get your review of baseball by reading the box scores and a few stories with your morning coffee. While there's still a million places to check box scores, you now have to make that choice to find them, rather than it being literally delivered to your front porch. This only compounds when you take into account Fantasy Football, which is a vastly lower time commitment than Fantasy Baseball, and the popularity this brings to the sport.

Does it suck that Baseball is losing popularity? Yes. But to me, it's not really on the players, managers, owners, etc etc nearly as much as it's just a result of the change in business. Industries all over are more and more segmented. Take music for example, there are far less "stars" coming out nowadays, which is directly a result of consumers being able to pick their choices more often, leading to more niches and sub genres. Have you ever asked yourself "why is there no good music coming out today?". The answer is you are more responsible than ever for finding it.

Anyway, that all to be said, I was able to go watch my Redlegs in Atlanta twice this weekend. And you know what? It was a blast, I loved it just as much then, as I did in college, as I did coming home from school and turning on a game. I got to see Hunter Greene throw 100, got to see Joey Votto hit an RBI. It is what you make it. Still a beautiful game as far as I'm concerned.

"Where else are you going to go?"

for the first time i can remember there is no local mariners broadcast in portland

i have to go to the roku / audacy / 710 seattle

which is not really portable to the garage the back deck or the car

for the first time in living memory i am considering the purchase of a $1000 $100 a month device

Posted by redmike on 4/13/2022 8:07:00 PM (view original):
"Where else are you going to go?"

Kill me lol. I will say, during the 9th inning of the Saturday game, I sported my "Sell the Team Bob" shirt (After taking off my 1975 World Series Jacket, Joey Votto Jersey, and 1990 World Series Sweatshirt).

Pray4Pro, Phil Castellini has a warning for you; "Be careful what you wish for!" You know, like wishing for (or expecting) a championship or pennant or 82-win season.

When I heard reports of the ChiComm's warning their citizen prisoners to "Control your soul's desire for freedom," I wondered if Phil Castellini authored that propaganda?