Of the four major North American sports leagues, Major League Baseball (MLB) is arguably mocked the most. Critics deride the sport’s slow pace of play, seemingly low-level skill requirement, and its several abnormally sized athletes, looking past it in favour of basketball or football.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for those who love and enjoy the sport, especially after seeing other leagues skyrocket in popularity while MLB seemingly sputters and stalls. For some, this can be chalked up to the sport itself, with common rhetoric being the sport is too boring, and not fun enough to watch.
In some respects, this surface level assessment of the game isn’t far from reality. The league is governed by a commissioner backed by owners who fail to conform to trends and public desires that have led to growth for other leagues.
Underneath baseball’s surface lies a game full of stories, emotions, and heart-palpitating moments that could engage even the most casual fans. Baseball is steeped in tradition, with a century of history for the new generation to chase and live up to, yet the MLB has failed to cater to younger fans by only recently addressing pace of play, and marketing athletes’ names.
Just this past season the league implemented a pitch clock rule that limited the downtime between at-bats, leading to a 24-minute decrease in average game times to two hours and 40 minutes. The league has recently increased base sizes to make some of the most exciting parts of the game, such as stealing bases, more common.
Recently, Shohei Ohtani, the best player in baseball, entered free agency, with the chance to join any team of his choosing. With any other major sport this would have been plastered over mainstream media, however his decision occurred without fanfare on Instagram. Only the value of the contract, and not the sport associated with it, made headlines worldwide.
A comparable deal would be when basketball player Lebron James entered free agency in 2010, meaning he gained the freedom to sign with a new team. James’ impending decision was publicized everywhere, causing a buildup that would culminate in 10 million people watching him announce his selection live on primetime television.
Athletes give individuals additional reasons to enjoy a sport. Sports are no fun if the joy in them is found in teams winning at the end of a two hour and 40-minute wait.
Baseball should give casual fans more to cheer for. Stolen bases are a good start, but marketing the stories of those playing the game is the next necessary leap.
When a sport is so resistant to change, the product gets boring as the landscape around it changes. Baseball isn’t a boring sport but requires better marketing to make that clear to the average fan.
Herbert is a third-year computer engineering student and The Journal’s Senior Photo Editor.
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