There is something fundamentally wrong with America’s Pastime opening in Japan. You’d be hard pressed finding somebody who loves baseball more than I do. Since last year’s World Series I’ve already seen six games in the Arizona Fall League, five Grapefruit League games, and seven Cactus League games. In off seasons gone by I can remember watching Winter League games in Spanish via a very fuzzy UHF signal.
The excitement surrounding Opening Day was unreal! Trying to get a radio signal from Cincinnati in Chicago to catch the first pitch was a yearly challenge. Somehow opening MLB in Japan seems surreal to me, especially while 28 teams are still playing exhibition games. It doesn’t seem right that I should have to wake up at 5:00 AM, and frankly it doesn’t seem worth it. There used to be something special about Opening Day when all teams started off equal. And don’t even get me started about advertisement on the uniforms, likening MLB to NASCAR is very disturbing.
A note to MLB, bring back our national pastime, bring back Opening Day, to America, to Cincinnati, where it belongs!
You are right. The commercialization is rampant. Somehow seeing ads all over ballparks in pictures and movies from the ’40’s and earlier never seemed to bother me but seeing them everywhere in today’s games is somewhat nauseating. They are passed off as creating revenue to purchase better player’s. Well then, why are pretty much the same teams in the playoffs year after year? Add in the fact that every pitcher change, pinch hitter, big play and even the most trivial stat “is sponsored by” is going way overboard in my humble opinion. Even all the jazz that goes on between innings at a game just lends to this circus type atmosphere that they seem to be trying to achieve. There was a tranquility about attending a ballgame in the past that is long gone now. I call this the “MTV effect”. Instant and constant gratification. Between innings was when you could talk baseball with the fans sitting nearby, get some different opinions and viewpoints, make some new friends maybe. Possibly this is cynical or pessimistic, but it seems to me that todays’ fan is more interested in bragging to his cohorts that he was at the game or getting drunk at the game than he is in just witnessing the game itself. Teddy Ballgames’ feeling about today’s Opening Day is just an outgrowth of this misdirection. I am sure Teddy would agree with me when I say, if I wanted to attend a circus I would go to the circus, not the ballpark.
you’re not the only one that feels this way, Teddy
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_088172038.html