Dear Baseball,
You need to listen to me.
I have been engaged with your sport on a daily basis since 1977.
Last night, the Mets were 2.5 games out of a playoff spot. The game was tied. The game was also in its FOURTH hour, so I turned it off.
Baseball, if you can’t get me to care about a playoff-chase tied game on September 17th you have a problem.
Part of the issue is the product you hand in, and let’s not blame the pandemic. You seem to favor Alonsoball, which is a lot of inaction (mostly strikeouts) punctuated by the occasional home run. It’s very boring. I would much rather watch Whitey Herzog’s Ghost play small-ball with all the tension that comes with it.
Now, some in the baseball mafia will say I’m old and complain and all that’s fine – but when you lose “me”, who are you replacing me with? Do you think my teenager is watching this? You picked up a few millennials that got addicted to whatever that was you handed in around 1998 – and a Yankees dynasty stoked a generation in New York – but your sport is going to die with Generation X.
That hopefully gives you another 50 years, and the people in charge now won’t give a hoot what happens in 2070.
Last night’s time of game was 4:12. Both teams used six pitchers. Every night teams seem to use six pitchers, mostly no-name interchangeable middle relievers. You might as well switch over to pitching machines.
Call me old, cranky, negative – that’s fine – but I’m not watching. You can answer for yourselves if you care or not.