The Yankees made the playoffs for the first time since 1980. The Cleveland Indians are in the playoffs for the first time since 1954, winning 100 games in the process. The Colorado Rockies and the Seattle Mariners made the playoffs for their first time ever. The question is, does anyone out there care?
Despite being a dedicated and loyal supporter of the national pastime, I have finally begun to give heed to the warnings that have been floating around since late last summer: Baseball might very well be dying. The question is: Why is this happening?
While the strike did betray the confidence of the public, all sports have suffered similar labor difficulties. The NHL endured a lockout last year, the NBA narrowly missed one this year, and let us not forget the NFL strike of 1987. Has football suffered since then in the same way that baseball has faltered? Perhaps initially, yet not nearly to the same extent. No one cried that football was dying, because it was not. Therefore, baseball's problems must run deeper than the greed and pride behind the strike of 1994.
Many critics note the relatively slow nature of the sport as the cause for baseball's apparent downfall. There is no action -- or so its detractors say -- so fans opt for the excitement of the NFL. I can even see this argument taking form on campus, with a roomful of students in the television lounge at Thayer Dining Hall watching a college football game on tape delay. Would anyone watch a baseball game on tape delay? Would anyone watch a baseball game period?
This phenomenon can even be seen in terms of attendence at sporting events at Dartmouth. Football games regularly come close to packing the home bleachers, the men's basketball team had Leede Arena busting at the seams for last year's game against the Penn., and even the men's hockey team played to a few capacity or near-capacity crowds last season, despite their disappointing final record. Meanwhile, the baseball team, which finished a mere game out of first place, often saw but a few handfuls of supporters in the stands. Though it is sad for the sport, the facts remain: People just are not watching as much baseball and are turning to other sports in its place.
There is, however, some hope. With all of the potential excitement of the playoffs over the next few weeks, baseball has the opportunity to win back its once loyal following. Will Albert Belle continue on his torrid home run pace, or will the Boston Red Sox finally solve the infamous "Curse of the Bambino" and avoid their annual choke routine? Can Greg Maddux keep his near perfect regular season form and finally lead the Atlanta Braves to an elusive championship, or will the upstart Rockies get in the way? The answers will all unfold within the next month, and I, for one, will not be too stubborn to forgive the game of baseball for the folly of last year.
The excitement has already begun, and there are signs of baseball life on campus. An Indians hat here, a Yankees shirt there, and even the television in Thayer was tuned into the one-game playoff between the Mariners and the Los Angeles Angels, when the winner of the game made the playoffs and the loser went home.
Had the television not been tuned to ESPN that late afternoon, being that it was the first such game in seventeen years, then I would be leading the cries of the detractors that yes, baseball is dead. However, much to my relief, I was not alone in watching a few innings of what became history: The day the Seattle Mariners finally won a pennant, much less finished over .500.
Even though I am the most diehard Yankees fan outside the city of New York, and even though I now want the Mariners to get whipped in the first round of the playoffs, I think it is good for baseball that they finally made it. And those are the eyes through which we should enjoy our national pastime, cheering for our favorite team, while simultaneously appreciating what a marvelous and exciting season it has been -- and still promises to be.
