Baseball's credibility again in question

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To those of us who believe that every home record since Ruth and Maris was boosted by a juiced ball and steroids, and once again with a juiced ball, the game has gone to hell.

It's too bad that these athletes need so much help to make ten times more in one year than most players from the past made in a career, and they're in the HOF.

Juiced Baseballs?
 
Yet the HOF voters won't give votes for obvious deserving players like Barry Bonds - who was HOF worthy before he bulked up. Obviously, Bonds/Sosa/McGuire/etc used steroids of some type - but they did it before the league made it illegal. But this is how our country now works - history is judged by how things are today, not how they were at that point in history; MLB knew what was happening, and loved the attention the game got from it at the time. Only after some people started complaining did they make PED's illegal - but at that point the horse was out of the barn.
 
I agree with both of you on this but juiced baseballs, which I think exist, are in place to mask so many other issues that face the game today. Attendance is down, ratings are down nationally and for the majority of local markets, failing franchises and labor issues. Not to mention alarming demographic issues. The game is headed for a strike / lockout and I hope the lords or baseball are not so arrogant that they think fans will flock back. The next 2-3 years will be a defining point in the game IMO
 
I don't know what the exact issues are or how to describe it, but baseball has become just insufferably boring. It's an epidemic across pro sports, frankly, but especially baseball.
 
rpiotr01 said:
I don't know what the exact issues are or how to describe it, but baseball has become just insufferably boring. It's an epidemic across pro sports, frankly, but especially baseball.
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I agree with this - it has become boring. Despite efforts by MLB, some games just drag along. NBA is next, with all the isolation and with many others just standing around and watching while on the court.
 
HowardK4 said:
I agree with this - it has become boring. Despite efforts by MLB, some games just drag along. NBA is next, with all the isolation and with many others just standing around and watching while on the court.
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I don’t think MLB has made much of an effort to be honest. Length of game and pace of play has got worse. Not sure and actually doubt a pitch clock is the answer. And I don’t know what the solution is. Maybe what they did in the ASG where you had players mic up, make the product more interactive with fans.

I also worry about the NBA except playoffs. NFL games at times fell dull also. I have become more of a college FB fan
 
It's been a long time since I got any enjoyment from watching the NBA. When I was a kid, we're talking early 90's here, I remember teams were much more physical, they'd beat each other up a little bit and I liked that. They got soft at some point and I haven't watched since. But you're right, a lot of standing around.

I'm a hockey fan but that game has also gotten tough to watch. Goaltending style has negated so much offense, it just feels like there's no room out there for those guys. I wouldn't mind seeing the NHL adopt the international rink dimensions but that'll never happen.

Baseball, I mean take your pick. Pitching stinks, pitching strategy stinks, there's less flow to the game than ever before. I remember even a decade ago a guy like Jim Thome was famous for striking out a ton but also hitting lots of homers. Now everyone strikes out a lot. How many teams are actually trying to win and not just tread water? Managers these days are absolute cookie cutter cardboard cutouts of each other, there's little personality there and it trickles down to the team.
 
MLB has been an absolute disaster promoting and marketing it’s stars. Mike Trout should have the name/brand appeal as LeBron but it’s not in the same galaxy. Part of it is demographics, median age watching at game is 57, NBA is 42. And again what has MLB done to address that ? Nothing but the NBA has done a very good job using social media to connect with fans.

And revenue is an issue as mentioned how many teams care about winning?
 
rpiotr01 said:
It's been a long time since I got any enjoyment from watching the NBA. When I was a kid, we're talking early 90's here, I remember teams were much more physical, they'd beat each other up a little bit and I liked that. They got soft at some point and I haven't watched since. But you're right, a lot of standing around.

I'm a hockey fan but that game has also gotten tough to watch. Goaltending style has negated so much offense, it just feels like there's no room out there for those guys. I wouldn't mind seeing the NHL adopt the international rink dimensions but that'll never happen.

Baseball, I mean take your pick. Pitching stinks, pitching strategy stinks, there's less flow to the game than ever before. I remember even a decade ago a guy like Jim Thome was famous for striking out a ton but also hitting lots of homers. Now everyone strikes out a lot. How many teams are actually trying to win and not just tread water? Managers these days are absolute cookie cutter cardboard cutouts of each other, there's little personality there and it trickles down to the team.
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The best thing that could happen to hockey is to adopt the international size rink. Been saying that for years, but how. It would be very very difficult to enlarge the ice surface if not impossible in a lot of places. But, NHL could require all new rinks to be international size.
 
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