It has not been hard to see over the last few years that Major League Baseball is in serious trouble. Year in and year out fans, sportswriters and players alike talk about how the Yankees spend so much money. About how George Steinbrenner is constantly trying to buy a championship. Listen, I'm probably one of the biggest Yankee haters around, but in a major league sport where teams are allowed to spend absolutely as much as their heart's desire to win, how can anybody blame Steinbrenner for what he does? Perhaps the reason that so many people hate the Yankees as much as they do isn't because they win so much, or that they buy the best talent in the league to win, but that we are all jealous because the owner's of our own teams aren't willing, or don't have pockets deep enough, to do the same. The league is lopsided toward big market teams and teams with the richest and most eccentric owners.
Despite all of it's problems sitting in the stands at an outdoor baseball stadium with a plastic glass of beer and a hot dog topped with all the fixin's still feels like one of the most pure fan experiences in sports. Even if that outdoor stadium is indoors and the grass is plastic, there's something American about the experience.
A few years ago baseball looked like it had a chance to make a comeback. Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire battled in the late summer to see who would break the all-time season homerun record. It was quite possibly the most storied record in all of sports and the entire country was interested to see who would get it done. In the end McGuire ended up outdueling Sosa.
A couple of years later Barry Bonds beat the record set by McGuire. It was a bit anti-climactic when Bonds did it. It felt too soon, the ink of McGuire's name had barely dried when Bonds beat it.
With all the recent news of steroids and human growth hormone and creams and on and on and on, Bonds record looks like complete crap. Baseball already had a paper thin reputation with most of the country. The casual fans of baseball have been beat up for the past decade at least but the powers and money in baseball never seem to be concerned about the fans or the future of their sport. I just wonder if baseball will be able to recover from this latest set-back and win back some of the fans, like myself, who wonder if it still has anything worthwhile, and honest, to offer.
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5 comments:
jer, my friend mike went on a tour of a few baseball stadiums out east this summer. here is one thing he wrote about yankee stadium and our beloved metrodome. he also posted some stuff about wrigley and other stadiums. thought you might be interested. -cuz
oops. forgot the link. here it is.
http://www.manyhighways.com/travel/riding_around_america_minnesota_baseball.php
Iowa football rules!
Tim, get a life. Oh wait, you're married so there goes that idea. Ha! Tim I love you. Josh, your friend is an excellent writer but on his site did he really say he loves the Metrodome? Really? And he's seen other baseball parks? Outdoor stadiums? With grass? And seats that all face homeplate? Just wondering.
Jeff
A few things...
Tim, if you EVER say anything supporing Iowa football again I will summon the collective powers of all Gopher football fans to hurt you in a bad way.
Josh, I agree only slightly with what Jeff said. The Metrodome isn't that great. But your friend Mike is like us (Jeff is not). The Metrodome is the stadium that we grew up with. Until it goes away, it will always hold a special place in our hearts. That may seem wrong to everyone else in the country, but it's all we have. Just like we are required to cheer for the Gophers, the Twins, the Vikings and the Timberwolves (NO MATTER WHAT!!!), if we are true Minnesotans, we are required to hold a small piece of love for the Metrodome. We are. And we do.
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