Baseball Talk: Hitting, Pitching, Catching Strategy

Baseball, except for the 3-run homer doesn't fit into the 30 second sound-bite that has become the main source of information for most people. As such it is under-appreciated for what it is.

If you don't understand a game, you aren't going to watch it. Yes, MLB is loosing the battle - but baseball isn't - while the MLB is struggling and the networks are trying to figure out what to say about it, it's becoming one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

Yes, it's loosing popularity in the US - no, everywhere else, it's gaining.

editted by me - I liked my soap box Braves!!!!!!

 

NCBBallFan, if you say 'if you don't understand the game you aren't going to watch it' , does that mean less people understand the game today than they did in the 70's?

 

I think that is true - there are too many distractions in life and learning to appreciate baseball takes time, but not for all.

My youngest taught himself how to read by taking the sports section to the tub when he was still in kindergarten. He could read every team name and every player name and knew what the batting averages meant. Needless to say, he got "hooked" early.

 

I'd agree that more young'uns now, understand it less or certainly have less appreciation of the game

 

Up and In i agree,
the minute a pitcher drops his head, he might as well get off the mound. Pitcher's almost have to be cocky on the mound, if someone makes and error, they must look at it as an opportunity to pick up their teammate and be a leader. The mark of a great pitcher is being able to win when you dont have everything behind you, wheter it be location, velocity or defense.

 

welcome aboard statefan

state/up&in

That mental toughness to shake off defensive lapses and the poise to bear down is priceless to a team.

It's interesting, we listed all these tools, physical skills and it's the mental attibutes that everyone is focusing on.....The mental atributes define leadership to me.

 

Well, I can tell you this. We will have several games this spring that will outdraw basketball. 3 games in particular will draw around 2500 fans. So in our area I don't think the popularity is fading. A very successful Babe Ruth program has helped create excitement to where the community follows these kids from a young age.

 

personally, i think people dont watch MLB for the reasons you've all listed, but heres another one to ponder.

There are so many people losing jobs and the economy is in the toilet right now, why do people want to watch a bunch of guys argue over whether they are gonna make 1 mil or 8 mil.

I kinda hate that teams change from year to year, but i guess players now are showin more focus on money than ever before.

 

I believe the Major League game is losing popularity for many reasons. The game is too long now, and played by millionaires that nobody can relate to anymore and who don't realize where they came from anymore. The players are arrogant and only last year realized just how close they were coming to destroying that golden egg laying goose. The owners and players don't trust each other for good reason and take the fans for granted. I'm not saying that everyone is like me, but I just don't care for the MLB game anymore.

Now, I like minor league ball, particularly A ball. The motivation is different, the players are accessible and likeable, the games are a reasonable length, relatively inexpensive, you can get close to the action, and there is ample opportunity to be a part of the ambience of the game. One of my favorite things to do is to try to spot the young women trolling for ballplayers at the minor league games. I saw a mother/daughter team once that was pretty good. Sorry for the digression, but I had to smile thinking about it.

So is baseball losing popularity? I don't think so from the low minors down. Major league? Definitely.

High school ball is kind of iffy for me right now and may be the aberration in my popularity opinion. High school ball is wildly popular among the participants and their families, but not much beyond that in many places. I don't recall seeing many students at the games unless it was a girl watching a boyfriend or watching a boy and hoping for a boyfriend. Although the boys from Glen High School in Kernersville during the summers have a posse of girls after them that you have to see to believe.

Baseball is probably the most popular among the really young kids where the motivation is different and it is still fun to play and dream. Later on the dreams seem to bust and reality sets in. Just a very humble opinion.

One more comment and I'll quit. I think if we want to keep baseball popular, we need to ease off just a little bit. Playing from February to November without a break year after year gets old for kids with interests outside of baseball. My son knows the game and appreciates the game, but won't play anymore. He started much of his soph year 2 years ago for the varsity and did not play Jr or Sr year. Burnout was among the reasons along with others. People tell me he was/is very good and should be playing. He is just as happy not playing and doesn't seem to miss it. My son had other interests to go along with baseball but it had become a job that he wasn't getting paid for, and I don't mean money. I'm afraid of sports becoming year round specialties at a young age because the pressures eventually have to take a toll and when that toll is paid, the game as a whole is bound to suffer.

Sorry to be so long winded.

 

No..that was a thoughtful post.

I think most would agree that MLB is suffering...and their marketing of the game is atrocious. One small segment (well, maybe not that small) of baseball that hurt was Sports card collection. This was something most kids did...and they would use their extra non-star cards on their bike wheels. Leave it to the grownups to ruin this endeavor. By making this into a lucrative business, the MLB players wanted a piece of the pie. So autographing came with a price....and if the players didn't sign, they left with a terrible marketing black eye.

The problems with MLB has filtered to all levels of baseball, even Little League. With Daddy pressing his child to excell at a very young age, enrolling him in expensive instructor camps and signing up in expensive Travel teams places most kids in a precarious position. Either they flourish in this environment or fail to live up to Daddy's expectations and loses interest in baseball because he determines he can't meet those expectations.

There are many, many other areas to discuss about this topic, but this will do for now.

But, let me end with a question. If baseball is losing popularity, why are there more people attending MLB games then ever?...and why are there more youth teams across the country ( AAU, AABC, LL, Travel teams, Showcases, Connie Mack, Babe Ruth....)