A Note Of Thanks

[TRay]

Just a quick thanks to all who have had the patience to answer all of my "newbie" questions.

Also, congrats to the fine folks who made OOTP. Even though baseball is no longer my favorite sport, OOTP is probably (in my opinion, of course) the best sports game ever. I am hooked!

[Gastric ReFlux]

The Major Leagues should pay OOTP some money. I've been watching more baseball again since I found this game.

[tcblcommish]

There is no bad question if you truely don't know the answer. Ask all the time you need something

[Granitestwarriro]

TRay's post prompted a certain amount of sadness for me with his off handed remark about the fact that baseball is no longer hs favorite sport.

I hear this way too often these days and I fear that the damage MLB players and owners have done to the GREATEST game will not be fully understood for some 10-15 years. Greed and infighting has turned many of us longtime baseball fans off in varying degrees but the single biggest mistake has been the failure to lure young fans to the game.

Growing up I remember bits and pieces about regular season games but the World Series and All Star games are etched in my memory. THOSE were the game that most excited me in my youth.

Do you realize that many of todays young people have never even seen a World Series or All Star game live via TV? Does that strike anyone else as sad?

Here's to hoping that MLB realizes it's mistakes...and begins immrediately to correct them....

[markprior22]

You hit it on the head Granite. I think another issue that plays a part in this is the speed of our society. Baseball is a "casual" type of game that moves rather slowly in comparison to other sports. People used to sit on their porch with lemonade and listen to the ballgame while they visited with neighbors, etc. Now the entertainment options available are endless. Also, kids have grown up in a "microwave" environment and want fast moving, instant gratification. I have a true love for baseball and it saddens me to see it slowly drifting behind other sports in popularity. It is the greatest game in existence (IMHO).

[IatricSB]

I agree that it's sad how far baseball is falling. I can remember how in Jr High, we'd all bring transistor radios to school so we could listen to the game every minute we could out of the class room. I lived and died listenting to the A's play the Tigers in the playoffs in one of their playoff runs (either 72 or 73).

[Granitestwarriro]

Absolutely I agree that the baseball's pace is a major issue with young people are seemingly all about the instant gratification thing.

If you want the clearest indication of the game's current status among the young, take a drive by a baseball diamond on your way home today. When I was younger you couldn't have found an empty baseball diamond if your life depended on it. Today you are more likely than not going to see an empty field.

How sad.

At the risk of sounding like George Will or Ken Burns, what this world needs today are more games (or any family activities for that matter) which unfold on it's own time, at it's own pace, unencumbered by the ever ticking clock.

[DreamTeams]

As a child football was my favorite sport. As a teen and through most of my 20's basketball became my favorite sport because of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and Dr J. Those were also the sports I participated in on weekends (rarely baseball) and so I still have a better feel for those games.

I was introduced formally to baseball in the 70's. My dad took me to several Dodger games. I really enjoyed the Steve Garvey years. And so it only captured my imagination and attention briefly. I was able to get a feel for the game, but never even realized how deep and rich baseball's history was. But, then came Magic Johnson and my attention became riveted on NBA hoops. Those were great times, too.

However, I was re-introduced to baseball and made it my favorite sport after the Ken Burns Baseball documentary series. Keep in mind that the documentary debuted in the fall of the last strike year. Still, I fell in love with the history of the game, and began to purchase books about the game. I began to educate myself about its history and also to follow the game, again.

Plus, I had hit my 30's and really began to appreciate the pace of the game. It allowed me to contemplate, reflect, imagine and enjoy the game in a way no other sport could. I began taking my son to one Dodger game a year. That was our special day and it has become a tradition for us. But, now we also go to several games out of the year as a family and even sometimes with friends. Most of the time, the pace of the game allows us to have full conversations with each other without missing any of the action. It's excellent family time. Also, I can fall asleep while watching it on TV, awaken and still know exactly what is happening. The pace is wonderful for me. And it's another tool I can use to teach my kids to slow down a little and just enjoy the moments. Baseball is a fine teacher that way.

I too, will admit that OOTP has helped me to cultivate a deeper enjoyment of baseball. I love playing OOTP while watching a game on TV or even more listening to it on the radio. I never used to listen to baseball on the radio. But, since I began playing OOTP several years ago I now listen to baseball on the radio regularly and enjoy it very much. I'm even thinking of picking up a transistor radio to get that real classic flavor.

Anyway, baseball may be losing fans, and that's sad. I have no idea what they can do to win over the hearts of the young or old 'instant gratification' set. But, the game has made a fan out of me. And if I can use it to teach my kids a valuable lesson about enjoying the moment, perhaps they'll keep following the game as fans, too. Perhaps.

[markprior22]

I live in a town of about 100,000. I was driving down a street a couple of weeks ago and saw about 8 kids in a vacant lot playing baseball. They had small pieces of concrete laid out for bases. I suddenly realized that was the first time in YEARS that I have seen kids gathered together playing an unorganized game of baseball. Haven't seen em since.

[TRay]

Wow! You've all nailed it! I remember
running home from school to catch
the start of the playoffs once a year.
It always seemed to be KC/NY and
Philly/LA. Oh, man. I'm going back
in the time machine! The longest
day of the year was always the day
of the All-Star game. No matter what
I did, the day couldn't go by fast
enough. Waiting for that game to
start was torture. Last year, my kids
had a baseball "itch" for about a
week, but it passed and now they're
back to Transformers and Gamecube.
Damn. Anyone know if they're
working on a time machine?

[Crapshoot]

Its funny, Im the most atypical of the fans who has posted here, but here goes- Im an Indian, and I used to visit the states because my uncle lived here. Well, other then wondering about cable TV and watching all the damn time (at this time in India, all we had was the goddamn state run channel showing farming techniques), I started watching baseball. Slowly but surely, I became a big fa, teaching myself everything I know about it (same with football, btw)- I saw that the Giants were good, the Dodgers were scum, and so forth. Ive become a pretty big fan- but here's the thing, Im 20.
I understand the appeal of the x-box and the gambeoy or whatever you cite as an example of the times. Don't take this the wrong way, but I find it somewhat arrogant to argue that today's kids don't have the patience or any such thing. You guys got into baseball for entertainment, and because it had limitied medium's to compete with at the time in your life - today, it has to compete with far more mediums that are (like it or not) fun and gratifiying as well. People talk about instant gratification as the favorite buzzword, but is it really fair to fault people for entertaining themselves ? People will always be drawn to the game- just understand that baseball cannot and should not be able to compete for the entertainment quotient on its mystique alone.

[Rasmuth]

Boy,

some very valid honest posts here. I'm 40 years old...spent the 70's and 80's a diehard Dodger fan. I truly felt I bled Dodger blue...but in recent years I don't follow them anymore. I don't have an allegiance to any team in MLB....I just love the game and will watch any game that is available on the tube.

My relationship with baseball has changed...not for the better but I still love the game itself. The revolving door that free agency has created has destroyed my love for the Dodgers but I still watch the "game".

I don't know...it's hard to properly convey my feelings for something I care so much about, but its different now. I'm valiently trying to get my son's to love baseball but the jury is out as to whether I'll be successful. Most kid's just don't seem to live for the game like when I was young.

It's just not as fun as it used to be...maybe it's because I'm older now but I don't think thats it...because I still enjoy it. It's just not as fun.

(OOTP has made it more fun...thanks!)

[TRay]

Rasmuth, you're right. It's not as fun. Maybe the exposure because of cable tv is too much? I dunno. I'm just guessing. I also used to look forward to Monday Night Baseball. I don't know about the age thing. I still love hockey and football. The free agency in football though is
getting old, and I'm afraid that my
interest will go the way of baseball, plus the upcoming lockout in hockey in a couple of years...Eeesh. Am I gonna
have to take up reading or something?
Yikes!

[dougk62]

Monday night baseball. That used to be the thing didn't it? I'm sure anyone that remembers watching remembers Al Hrbasky and Mark Fidrich. They both were pretty good players, but their performances on Monday night put them in the spotlight.

The sad thing about baseball right now is that it has been changed for the worst by free agency. I can still name more players from the 1969 Baltimore Oriole or 1973 Oakland A's team than I can from any current major league team.

[KurtBevacqua]

I can remember being let out of school a few minutes early to get home to watch that 78 playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox, and I lived in Ohio. Our school let us out early for a game our home team wasn't even involved in. All the big games were on in the late afternoon when kids could watch/

So what is popular now, football. Isn't it just so ironic that the higher lords of baseball swear they have to have post season games start close to 9pm to get ratings while the Super Bowl starts at 6 and gets way higher ratings. You'd think there would be at least one dumbass in baseball in a position of authority who would get it.

I haven't watched a WS game since the Indians played the Marlins in 97, and that was only because I am a huge Indians fan and happened to be on the West Coast at the time when the games would be on at a reasonable hour. With my work I cannot stay up late enough to watch the games.

[Trebor]

Great thread here, it truly is a shame what is happening with MLB.
The strike had a huge impact on the game itself. Whats worse is most kids today love the NBA and I thinks its one of the most boring sports to watch on TV

[Steve Kuffrey]

I remember when I was in 6th grade or so that they let us watch the baseball all-star game on TV. It was in 1968, Tiger Stadium....wow the memories. This was part of class that this happened, how times have changed.

[mh2365]

The game definitely has it's problems but in my eyes it's still the best game out there .... there is no strategy in Pro Basketball, Pro Football has come a hell of a long way.... but IMO nothing can compare to the stories that can unfold during the 3-4 hours of a baseball game .... I have been a Red Sox fan since 1975 ..... I grew up in Indiana ..... when I was a child I was a Reds fan because my dad was ... I even went to the Reds- Braves game on April 6th, 1974 .... it was the last game of Aaron's road trip and he had tied the record the day before ... tickets to the game were my b-day present, he didn't hit a homerun that day but he played .... alot of stars today would of sat out .... anyways he hit the home run two days later on my b-day and my dad got me out of bed to see the replay .... The following year I was 7 y/o when my dad let me stay up to watch every game of my first world series, and I rooted for the Reds up until game six ... when Fisk was waving that ball fair my whole world changed and I have been a Red Sox fan ever since ...... I've been a Colts fan since they moved to Indy in 1984 ... I've been a Pacers fan since I was in the womb ..... considering a can remember watching Darnell Hillman dunk in front of a sell out crowd of 3700 during the ABA dadys, it pre-dates my Red Sox fandom .... I'm loyal to my teams (note a total of zero world championships and three appearances in my 35 years of exsistence) but nothing inspires my craze like the Red Sox ........ For years the Rocket was my guy, I was everything Roger, I still rolled with him in Toronto, but then he put on pinstripes ... anyways I can go on forever about the evil empire .... but what I really wanted to relate was about my son, he is 13 now and two years ago when the D-backs and the Yanks played in the series we watched every game, it was the first World Series he had watched, he lived with his mother until he was 10 and now I have custody ... he's a little sports freak and really was only about football ( starting 7th grade QB, did okay passing the ball but had two 60 yd TD runs, it was all I could do to keep off the field and jumping on top of the pile), now he's slowly coming around to college basketball and since he watched that Series he's been into baseball .... he doesn't really play OOTP only because of the lack of graphics but he loves all the sports games on PS2, we love Madden and Ncaa series and I think our favorite part is naming all the college players .... oh well what was this thread about???? I just hope one day he looks back on his first World Series as fondly as I do, only because it was the first one we watched with our dads

[TRay]

Great, great stories! I didn't expect these responses, but it looks like we're all in the same boat. Maybe someone should print out this thread and FedEx it to ol' Mr. Selig.

[dougk62]

Originally posted by mh2365
... I even went to the Reds- Braves game on April 6th, 1974 .... it was the last game of Aaron's road trip and he had tied the record the day before ... tickets to the game were my b-day present, he didn't hit a homerun that day but he played .... alot of stars today would of sat out ....

My memory may be going bad (it is the second thing that goes when you start getting old, unless I'm forgetting the exact order), but I'd swear the Braves had every intention of holding Aaron out of the game and the last comish with any nads ordered them to play him that night. He used the "not in the best interests of baseball" clause like it was going out of style. I'm pretty sure the owners have taken that clause and the power that came with it out of the commissioners hand.