When I was young, I think there was nothing more exciting than going to a Baltimore Orioles game with my dad. I looked forward to baseball, I looked forward to going to the game and being part of the crowd, a part of the excitement, and most importantly a part of the tradition filled culture.
I was excited when Ken Griffey Jr. turned his hat backwards and when Nomar adjusted his gloves. I was excited when Larry Walker wrote 'I'm hitting .400' in the sand and when Joe carter jumped for joy. I looked forward to Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak and watched in awe when he hit homers on back to back nights, when tying and breaking the record.
But somewhere along the lines that excitement I felt for the game has changed to an expectation of disappointment. Maybe I'm jaded, maybe it's just been a rough few years, but since Roger Maris's record fell in 1998 nothing good has come to the game.
With the news breaking today of the Nats prized prospect being a phony and a liar, it only capped off what has been a stunningly disappointing week and a half of baseball. This season has yet to begin and already three scandals have hit the news wires. Former Oriole star Miguel Tejada may be going to jail, the hope of the game Alex Rodriguez is a cheat, and now one of the hopes of the Nationals is an apparition.
It has come to the point where I just expect the worst from the best. I cringe at the thoughts of stars like Albert Pujols or David Wright being caught up in a scandal. I worry that inspirations like Josh Hamilton will be ruined by something, anything, that stands for the opposite of the hope they bring.
It doesn't help that the commissioner, the so called leader or figurehead of our game is a buffoon. The man seems to make the wrong decision on everything, and under his watch all of this has happened. Worse than Bud Selig making the wrong decision is when he refuses to make one at all. Too often do we see him say the words, 'well I'm not going to say that,' or 'it's something I'll have to think about.' The man who is supposed to guide the sport can't even decide what do think or say.
I hope that this is just the fallout of an era that was corrupt, and not a trend of the future. The game has been infused with money, and we know what that has historically done to all institutions. I pray that the game cleans up and I hope that one day I can look forward to opening the sports page, and not dread inevitable disappointment.
4 comments:
Wow, Willy what has happened? I cant believe i'm left to actually DEFEND baseball, while i think you're right that the game is going through some tough times, it will survive because baseball is sewn into the american fabric and a-rod, bud, and the rest can't destroy the feeling one gets when walking into a big league park. It's not the american pasttime for nothin, baseball has stood the test of time against a lot of foes and will continue to do so in the future.
Or you can just convert this to a DC United blog and move on with your life...
I love baseball more that most things out there, but the notion that baseball is sewn into the American fabric is fairly ridiculous now-a-days. Baseball isn't what it was, and it probably never will be. It breaks my heart to say this, but from the strike to steroids, baseball has just seen too much crap in the past 15 years to bounce back with any serious strength.
All you need to do is look at youth baseball and youth interest in baseball. It's virtually non-existent. Enrollment in youth leagues is down dramatically, youth viewership of games is pitiful, and MLB really doesn't do anything to help the cause. The slew of bad news and press, doubled with games that don't end until 10 in the regular season and anywhere from 1-3am in the post season is just killing interest in the sport. Then you get a new steroids scandal each week and it's just downhill.
I'm not saying baseball is dead or dying. I'm just saying it's going to take a lot more than the age-old James Earl Jones speech to bring it back with any strength.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
Yo Willy, you are back! The Nat's front office should all be fired. What was interesting when the prospect is 16 is not so good when he's 19.
And for A-Fraud, just one more reason to hate the damn Yankees, who I've been hating for 50 years.
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