Yesterday and Today

A couple of years ago in this spot, it was mentioned that we are living in the best time to be a fan of Major League Baseball. With instant access to games, statistics, analysis and commentary, everything is right there for the Fan. But is it really better? Let's take a look at some major areas and compare eras.

The Game: It would be easy to say that the game was more pure in the past. There wasn't the big money. The players were less athletic and so on. Money was just as much a part of the game in the 60's as it is now. The teams with more money then could keep their great players. Those without the money traded their second tier stars to keep one or two franchise players. The Senators didn't have money. Other teams did.

The top athletes of the 60's rival those of today. Cesar Tovar was as athletic as Alfonso Soriano. Injuries occurred then as now with no less frequency. The one major difference is that pitchers can get Tommy John surgery when they blow out their elbows. That allows pitchers to hang on longer than in the past.

Other than that, the game is mostly the same. There are still nine innings and the game's strategy ebbs and flows just like before. The biggest changes since Harmon Killebrew played are:

1. The closer. A starting pitcher was expected to pitch nine innings then. Advantage today? Not really. The starter was a better pitcher in those days than anyone in the bullpen. The bullpen was full of guys that weren't good enough to start. Now they have blow-them-away-for-three-outs specialists. The results are the same: The losing team makes a comeback, or doesn't. It's a wash.

2. The Designated Hitter. It's been quite a while now since Ron Bloomberg (Yankees) collected the first hit by a designated hitter. Before the DH, there was a weak hitter in the eight hole who barely got anything to hit and then the pitcher. The pitcher, if a good hitter, might have a batting average of .167 and would either strike out or lay down a sacrifice bunt.

Now, there is an extra bomber in there swinging the bat, meaning higher run production and careers for those all hit and no field kind of players. "Purists" will claim that the DH is unnatural and removes strategy. That may be so, but the Fan's 45+ years of watching baseball qualifies him as a "purist" and the Fan would much rather watch David Ortiz rattle a baseball off a wall than watch the manager go out to the mound, pull the pitcher, remove the left fielder, sacrifice bunt, pinch hit and all the other semi-boring "strategies" the DH nay sayers enjoy so much.

Advantage to the present.

3. The Umpires. The umpires are much more aggressive now and will show up a player and instigate arguments. That never happened in the past. Plus, the strike zone is more like the twilight zone. Today's strike is from the top of the knees to the top of the belt and from two inches off the outside of the plate and two inches in from the inside edge. The strike zone is terrible and it has changed the game. In order to prevent a walk, a pitcher has no choice but to put the ball in most player's happy zone. As a Fan watching...as a "purist," the strike zone is not enforced correctly.

Advantage: The past, which makes the game a wash.


Television: ESPN has changed the landscape. The highlight shows in the evening are a godsend for the happy fan. At first it was good enough to get baseball game highlights in between the other sports on SportCenter. Now, there is Baseball Tonight with highlights, lively banter and commentary.

Plus, you can watch three or four games a week on ESPN, four or five from TBS and, if your cable company still gets WGN, four or five Cub games. This is great except, if you are a fan of a home town team, free television used to carry every game of the season. WPIX in New York showed every Yankee game from the start of the season to the finish. That's gone with the advent of cable. You can pretty much watch a team's every game, but it's going to cost you.

Camera angles and instant replay from several angles have been major improvements. The biggest improvement? Color television. Oh come on. Some of you watched the games in black and white.

The broadcasters seemed to be a bit better back then. Phil Rizzuto wasn't polished, but he was much more fun than the slick and secure Mr. Buck on Fox broadcasts. The analysts are better prepared now and seem much less hokey than the old days of retired players collecting easy paychecks.

Advantage: Today.

The Writers: There are good writers today. Peter Gammons is the star among stars. The Internet gives you instant access to many baseball writers but there doesn't seem to be the substance there used to be. All the writers are either trying to find some statistical analysis made possible by mass databases, or they are trying to be flashy and cute.

There was nothing like getting the Sporting News on a Friday and spending three hours reading the best writers in the country. They talked about the game and the players and what it all meant in personal terms and with exciting depth. Gammons is the only one today who comes close. His new blog means he is writing more and that's manna from heaven.

On the other spectrum, Buster Olney fills his blogs with links to other articles all over the Web. Who wants to click here and there and resize the window to read someone else's small article. What do YOU think, Buster? That's what we want to read. It was better to turn the page.

It was also better when some of the dirt was left under the rug. The writers respected the player's privacy and wrote about the game. Now, there is the infernal rush to be first to expose a star to shame. Thanks, but that isn't fun for the Fan. But you can't blame today's writers. Watergate opened that floodgate.

Advantage: The past.

Statistics: The Internet is such a huge factor for the statistical junkie. Up to the minute statistics are at the fingertips at bat by at bat. With a few clicks, you can sort leaders for hits, doubles, RBI, ERA, BA, slugging, OBP, saves, wins and many others by player, by position or by team. How good is that!

In the past, you had to wait until the Sunday paper, or the Friday arrival of the Sporting News. But there was something fun about following those long lists of stats in the paper as one looked for favorite players. Maybe it's hindsight, but it seemed a bit more magical then.

Advantage: Today (you just can't beat having all that information instantly)


Going to the Game: First of all, going to the ballpark was a safer experience back in the 60's. There was crime, but not the fear that is walking today's city streets. Plus, for $3.75, you could get in the bleachers and buy a soda and snack. That made for an everybody type of crowd. Blue collar, white collar, blacks, whites, urban and suburban, we all became one at the ballpark.

Today's prices have closed out the game to most of the middle and lower classes. Going to the game is more of an event or a privilege and not the experience gained by the everyman. There were no cell phones. The ballpark wasn't filled with only the Docker crowd and SUVs. The ballpark was a bonding experience. Now it is more of an experience the more well to do can experience.

Of course, once you are there, the experience is the same, with the stir and the excitement. There is still the anticipation, batting practice, watching the infield dampened and raked. It's still pretty darn special.

Advantage: The past.


The Ballparks: MLB has done a great job at going back to making distinct and wonderful ballparks. The trend of the past toward cookie-cutter, astro-turfed and sterilized parks is going away for good. There is much concern about losing older parks such as Tiger Stadium and soon, Yankee Stadium.

Advantage: The present.

The Players: For those of us who have to work for a living, the players needed more say in their careers and their future. The ownership of the past were slave laborers and revenue sharing should be somewhat equal between ownership and the product.

As the players have become richer, however, it is harder to identify with them as those of us who had dreams of youth that came true. They aren't us anymore. They are more like movie stars with pimped up rides and fancy clothes.

Since so much money is at stake, the players are more concerned with their conditioning and that had the side effect of the steroid issue. After all, the temptation to take steroids are much greater if it can mean a five year, $40 million dollar contract.

It seems that ownership and labor have gotten the message and are working together at cleaning up the game. Once accomplished, the fans will have more faith and trust in the product they are watching.

But still, it all comes back to the money, which means that the average fan can no longer relate to the players they are rooting for.

Advantage: A wash.

Let's tally the score. There were a couple of washes, a couple of the pasts and three votes for today. The final analysis is that today's Major League Baseball is a slightly better product than in the past.