When Baseball Was Actually Enjoyable
Today's game doesn't have the same feel as it did back in the day
Many of us baseball fans, including me, remember a time when baseball was fun to watch. If you search any game from the 80s or 90s on YouTube, many of the comments would say that they were watchable and also capture their attention. Also, the essence of the game made it ten times more fascinating. I'll share three reasons why the game of baseball today seems lackluster and mundane. I love watching my team play, but the game itself is not up to my standards.
Players Who Didn't Have Large Egos
In today's game, many of these players, while they love playing in the league, they are too entitled and egotistical. Remember, I said many and not all. The enormous contracts these teams offer to their players are ridiculous. I don't care how popular a player is. No one is entitled to be paid $500 million or even close to a billion dollars, regardless of the sport. That screams entitlement and selfishness. I'm not against people wanting a pay raise, but it has to make logical sense, and they have to show why they deserve more. Also, we hardly see any player or players being humble and actually being nice to fans. If you're an MLB player and you display have an entitled, disrespectful attitude towards me, I'll automatically lose respect for you. Stop being rude to your fans and be nice to them and also, interact with them. Many of these players are entitled, overpaid assholes. Sorry to say that, but it's true. I respect players such as Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson because they were actually humble and grateful. Finally, if a player is more concerned about being famous on TikTok or worried about keeping up an image, then they're in MLB for the wrong reasons. Yes, I'm talking to you, Austin Wells. There's nothing wrong with being on social media. I'm saying if an MLB player's main focus is to be social media famous, then again, they're in the league for the wrong reasons.
The Lack of Playing Small Ball
I ran into a video on YouTube that was nearly a year old and former MLB player Corey Kluber asked Hall of Famer Chipper Jones what his thoughts were about today's game. One point Chipper made was spot on: having a man on third and less than two outs, not hitting a single to bring the runner home. I do have to disagree with him about hitting the long balls, when Chipper was part of that era, so he was being a bit hypocritical on that claim. We love seeing home runs. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd love to see teams playing small ball. I like a low-scoring affair every now and then. I like Chipper, but I disagree with him towards the end about the long balls.
All-Star Game and Fan Voting
I'm no longer a fan of the mid-summer classic. I did make an exception to watch it in 2024, because the Rangers were hosting that year's event. It was my first time watching an All-Star Game in years and it was great. The All-Star Games of the 1990s and earlier were considered as real baseball. Meanwhile, today's All-Star Game is nothing but pomp and circumstances, which I'm not a fan of. Sure, there's the introduction of players and the National Anthem. What I meant by that was I prefer the All-Star Game to be like any regular season game but keep the introduction of players and the National Anthem as is. All the extra stuff is not needed. No celebrity buzz at all. Finally, let's talk about the fan voting for the event. A majority of baseball fans, myself included, have griped about seeing the process as nothing but a popularity contest. It always has been that way for years. It's the worst idea ever and the biggest cancer, because people vote for players based on their popularity rather than their stats. Also, it's overly biased towards certain players. Last season, several players from a team, which I won't name, were selected to the All-Star Game, some I didn't think deserved to be there. This publicity stunt showed how biased MLB is toward this team and also, they show favoritism. We've seen players being chosen for the All-Star that didn't deserve to be there, while others get snubbed. There should be a committee that gets to decide on which players actually deserve to be in the mid-summer classic, not based on a player's popularity but stats alone. No agendas, no playing favorites, and no bias. Also, I believe that up to three players per team should take part in the All-Star Game, to avoid any bias or favoritism. Until some changes are implemented to the All-Star Game fan voting, I'll continue to skip watching the annual event.
About the Creator
Mark Wesley Pritchard
You can call me Wesley. Former cosplayer, retro gaming fanatic, die-hard Texas Rangers fan, and nostalgic freak. Need I say more?
Threads: @misterwesleysworld
Instagram: @misterwesleysworld
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