As sad as it is, America's pastime is quickly becoming just that—past time. In an era of action-packed entertainment dominating TV and movie screens from Bangor, Maine to Imperial City, Calif., the national affection for the grand old ballgame has simply gone by the wayside.
Sure, every decent sports nut remains a fan of the game, devoted to their team and willing to sacrifice a first-born child for a World Series title (especially for Cubs and Indians fans). But the attention paid to the game is on a far more passing level than ever before. Until last year's invent of MLB network (in my eyes, the single greatest TV network ever created), the game simply disappeared from sports television coverage at the first sight of NFL training camp.
While the season remains 162 games, baseball's status as a major professional sport only applies to the period between the Final Four and training camp. Once that pigskin shows up on the bottom line, pennant races are about as important to the national consciousness as the world eating championship or ESPN's favorite, the World Series of Poker.
As a diehard baseball fan, I have to admit that this season's pennant races really haven't been that exciting. While the race for the NL wild card and NL West titles are destined to come down to the wire, the lack of a threat to the Yankees playoff hopes and the virtual exhibition status of Yankee-Red Sox series' last weekend has given baseball nothing of national significanceto take away any attention from the all-important NFL.
Despite having to compete with a national broadcast of the Yankees and Rays, a series that would play a large part in determining the AL East winner, the Monday night game between the Saints and 49ers drew a 9.4 rating, the highest for any cable program this year to date.
While we still call baseball our national pastime, we as a nation are clearly focused on football whenever possible. NFL Live is on ESPN year-round while Baseball Tonight can only maintain an off-season presence for the week of winter meetings, only to disappear again for the months leading up to spring training.
The growing divide between the two major sports in the college ranks adds fuel to the fire. Nationwide, college football is a business. Its profits drive each and every athletic department and make possible funding for non-revenue sports such as rowing, gymnastics and—oh yes—baseball.
The recent decision by the University of California to cut their baseball program in response to a budget crisis is indicative of a growing tide toward investment in football and men's basketball and a corresponding de-investment in baseball—the sport that got American sport to where it is today.
At UW-Madison, we've known this since 1991 when the program was cut in response to similar issues. Numerous attempts to bring it back in the years since have never gotten past the rumor stage. Sure, spring weather in Madison can be ugly, but the weather hasn't seemed to have caused a movement to abandon softball, and isn't that essentially baseball on a smaller field?
I know that UW baseball isn't coming back, at least in my time here. But as a purist, someone who thinks a well-executed hit-and-run is as beautiful as a bright sunny day at the terrace, I cannot help but cry out when I see this beautiful game going down the tubes.
Say what you want about the season being too long, the games being too slow, or the ticket prices being too high, baseball is still America. A summer evening isn't the same when spent at an NFL preseason game as opposed to a battle for the AL Central title. America isn't America without baseball. Football may be our national obsession, but baseball is the game that continues to make America what it is today.
Love baseball? E-mail Max at max.sternberg@yahoo.com
