by Brad Martin
Modern baseball is missing the charm it once possessed. The recent baseball strike, which has been "temporarily settled," has only fueled the fire. Americans have shown their discontent with baseball by turning to other pastimes and giving the impression that they do not care about baseball any more. The owners and players are not helping matters by giving everyone the impression that they are self-centered and money-hungry. The change in the fans’ and players’ attitudes toward the game, and the ways the players and owners have dealt with the recent baseball strike have been the key factors in the sudden demise of this once great game.
For decades baseball flourished in America because beyond boasting great hitters and pitchers, the game possessed an assortment of characters. Not only was Babe Ruth a great player, he was a jovial "bambino," a homer run king who chatted easily with reporters, happily guzzled hot dogs and dedicated home runs to sick children. Besides having character, these players also showed a deep love for the game that is, for some reason, missing today. Buck Weaver, of the 1919 White Sox, said it best when he said, "I would’ve played for nothing." The players played the game because it was what they did best and they enjoyed it. Their intense love for the game made baseball our "National Pastime."
Today baseball has little truck with characters. Players look at the clubhouse as their office. They regard the media with undisguised contempt, and most of the media loathes them for it, leaping at the opportunity to portray the players as immature, insensitive, spoiled brats. Players like Vince Coleman do not help matters by tossing firecrackers at young fans in a stadium parking lot, as he did two seasons ago as a member of the New York Mets. Today the idea of team first is abandoned by players; they now look out for themselves first and foremost. Raising their stats to raise their bargaining power, come contract time, is their primary focus.
This impression that today’s baseball players are out mostly for themselves is reinforced when a player like Atlanta Braves first baseman Fred McGriff, who hit a key home run in last year’s All-Star Game, responds this way to a question about how he would have felt if the game had been canceled by a strike: "It turned out good for me."
The changing attitude of the players has led to the fans change in attitude toward the game. Fans have become disenchanted by the acts of players such as Vince Coleman. Fans are no longer looking to baseball as an outlet. They are more likely to go to a basketball game or perhaps a movie. American idols are rarely baseball players. They are more likely the Michael Jordan’s and Shaq’s of basketball. Bar conversation used to revolve around baseball; now even hockey is a bigger topic.
Only nine years ago things were much different. I can remember the elation in New Yorkers’ eyes in 1986 when the Mets won the world series. The city was on a high that lasted for weeks. We felt that we had won too and were proud to be New Yorkers. That was what baseball was all about to fans and players alike, the feeling you had when your team won. Last year the baseball season ended without a world series due to the strike shortened season.
Sadly to say, this feeling of winning had left the game of baseball. The recent baseball players’ strike has had a damaging effect on the game. This squabble is symptomatic of a game that has become so obsessed with money that it has all but lost its seductive charm. We can hardly sympathize with baseball’s owners who are so eloquent in describing their impending financial ruin and then are so defensive with concerns to their bookkeeping. Yet the players have displayed an equally grubby venality. The average salary is $1.2 million, while the lowest blue-collar player earns about $100,000. Most Americans would consider this to be a phenomenal annual income. The owners may treat the players inappropriately, but to hear millionaires pleading poverty is a bit much.
We, the fans, watch baseball for the mixture of stunning athleticism and compelling personalities that take us away from our everyday life. So while it is ludicrous for ballplayers and owners to argue over spoils that come from our wallets, it is also unwise, because it diverts the game from its real strength- fielding attractive personalities to whom Americans can become attached. Baseball has lost its vision and so it is losing us. As a lifelong baseball fan I find it hard not to enjoy watching baseball games. But in recent years I find myself more inclined to watching the Knicks game. To bring the game back, the players and owners need to win back their fans by turning on the charm. Anyone can see that a game without personality will soon be a game without fans.