Has anyone else experienced a major interest dropoff in baseball over time

[MSDawg34]

I grew up watching the Cubs on WGN after school and Braves at night and generally every Sunday Night tuned into ESPN for the game. Never would I miss a playoff game, as both of the 2003 LCS Series' are among the best sporting events I have ever watched. However the last few years (age 22 now) I have lost the urge to sit down and watch a ballgame. I may have seen a total of 6-7 innings this whole playoff season.

Many of my friends say the same thing and I wonder if its baseball or just me, because I have seen threads on here mentioning the overall national drop-off in baseball interest

 

[MSDawg34]

I grew up watching the Cubs on WGN after school and Braves at night and generally every Sunday Night tuned into ESPN for the game. Never would I miss a playoff game, as both of the 2003 LCS Series' are among the best sporting events I have ever watched. However the last few years (age 22 now) I have lost the urge to sit down and watch a ballgame. I may have seen a total of 6-7 innings this whole playoff season.

Many of my friends say the same thing and I wonder if its baseball or just me, because I have seen threads on here mentioning the overall national drop-off in baseball interest

 

[bulliegolfer]

I've never had any interest in baseball so it can't go any lower. I want MSU to do well and go to a game here and there. But never watch MLB.

 

[Hanmudog]

The only time I watch MLB is when a former MSU player is playing then I change it after he bats or is done pitching.

I might watch some of the World Series when it gets down to the potential final game.

 

[jb1020]

I can still probably name the Braves starting lineup from, pitching staff and all from 1991.

I bet I couldn't name 20 total MLB players right now, I'd at least struggle. Somewhere in the late 90's to early 2000's I stopped caring.

Still love college though.

 

[Sterling Archer.nafoom]

I'll catch an inning or two here and there, but mostly it's just highlights until the playoffs. When I moved to Texas four years ago I decided to at least get a new favorite team, so I started pulling for the Rangers, but it's not like I live or die by them. There are so many regular season games they just seem meaningless.

 

[Dawgzilla]

Maybe its Adult ADD or something, but I find it hard to sit through an inning anymore.

I was a baseball addict as a yute. Cubs in the afternoon, Braves in the evening. I would make a pilgrimage to Atlanta every summer to watch a Dodgers series. I played Strat-O-Matic baseball with all my friends (late 70s, early 80s -- computers were not an option, although we did play Atari and Intelivision baseball). I would listen to the playoff series on the radio while attending MSU football games.

My interest waned a lot once I got a job and was in the real world. But, even when I lived in Houston, my downstairs neighbor worked for the Houston Astros and could get me sweet seats anytime I wanted, so I went to a dozen games a year or more.

I guess I really lost interest when the strike came, but I had already lost a lot of interest before that. A former Braves fan, I barely kept up with the Braves' World Series appearances. I had to excuse myself from a restaurant dinner table just to watch the final out when the Braves did win.

These days I don't keep up at all. I live in Atlanta now, and a friend came to visit last May and wanted to go to a Braves game, so I went to Turner field for the first time in about 8 years. I am only vaguely aware of the playoff results because I watch Sportscenter every morning.

I really don't understand how baseball can afford these outrageous salaries.

 

[jb1020]

in the early 90's...I remember that.

 

[ckDOG]

I was 12 at the time. I breathed baseball and was pissed off. After the strike, I lost a ton of interest and was never more than a casual fan, at best. Of course, I'm sure a lot of kids as they get into their teens stop caring about baseball once they start developing other interests...

 

[jcdawgman18]

I think it is the fact that the games have slowed down so much over the last decade or so that has done it. When I'm busy, I just don't have the time to watch a baseball game. Having said that, I loved how the pace of college baseball games picked up last year with the clock rules. No need to readjust every piece of clothing and equipment you have one between every pitch. Just get back in there and go again.

 

[aerodawg.sixpack]

When I was a kid, the Braves were everything and I loved watching them once summer league ball was over. All of my friends were pretty much the same way with a few of them being Cardinals fans. Once I was about 13 or so, interest just fell off for all of us. The games seem to take forever, and none of the regular season games really seem to matter as much as any one game in any other sport until the last couple of weeks. Nowadays, I can't even sit through an entire game on TV. If I am interested in a game, I will flip it on once they are in about the 5th inning. I did enjoy watching the last 5 innings of the Phillies and Cardinals game 5. I didn't really catch any of the NLCS or ALCS games.

With that said, baseball is a game that is 1000 times better watching it live at the park. I am not completely sure if there is a national trend other than less people going to see them live because of the economy. Maybe once the economy picks back up and more people can take their families to the games, interest will rise again if it has really fallen.

 

[Sterling Archer.nafoom]

[No message]

 

[Coach34]

and watched them religiously- now, I may have watched 10 games this season.<div>
</div><div>Cowherd said this morning that 35 million watched the WS in 1975- but only 14 million in 2010- thats a staggering drop...baseball needs to make some changes if it wants to survive 25 years from now</div>

 

[MaroonedNdaRock]

Played the game my entire childhood. Watched the Braves on TBS religiously. Followed the Braves closely through the glory years of the 90s. But this year, I haven't watch an inning of post season. Don't know why. Usually I will flip over with intentions of watching but find myself flipping channels shortly after catching the score. I will tune in tonight because it is the Cardinals.

 

[Seinfeld]

but now that American born players seem to be making a comeback, I still find that I just don't care. I've watched about two innings of the playoffs this year, and I have no plans to watch any of the world series. 20 years ago, I watched baseball tonight every night and I'd have friends over any time the Giants were on tv. Like another poster, I could call out 90% of the Giants' roster from any season between '89 and somewhere around '95.

Now, I'll go to a baseball game any time I'm invited, but I'd rather watch bowling than pro baseball right now. I've got no hate for the sport, but I just don't care. I feel like they're playing for absolutely nothing 99% of the time.

 

[coach66]

prospect to watch them more. I grew up a huge baseball fan and would watch the game of the week on NBC on Saturdays with Joe Gargiolia, loved it. Now I just watch a few playoff games and some of the world series. <div>
</div><div>I also think too much TV exposure with too long of a schedule has hurt the game. 162 games made more sense when it was the National Sport but it isn't close to being the National Sport anymore.</div>

 

[Seinfeld]

When you think about it, on nearly any given night these days you can either watch baseball or you can also watch a live football game, wrestling, soccer, an old NBA or college football game, hunting, etc.

Back when I was a baseball fan, though, ESPN and a nightly baseball game or two was about all you had until Saturday each week. As sports fans, we really didn't have much choice. Now that there are so many other options and channels out there, we can pretty much watch anything we want these days and it seems like most people would rather watch something else.

 

[cldawg]

I have almost lost all interest in baseball. The Braves started their run when I was in college, so I had time to watch and was soon able to afford to go to a few series a year in ATL. We rolled into Atlanta the day the strike started for a week of baseball. I thought I would never care about it again, but the next year I was hooked again.

Like several of you said, I grew up watching the cubs in the afternoon. I also have great memories of watching the Jackson Mets. I don't know why but I have probably only watched nine total innings of baseball this season. I never watch baseball tonight anymore. Until a few years ago, I could tell the Braves batting order and their average. Now I can't even name half the players.

 

[davatron]

I would say a shorter season for starters. Its hard for me to stay interested for so long. Also, once football season starts I totally ignore baseball. 100% of my sports attention span goes to football come August.

 

[studentdawg87]

I'm not even sure I would watch a game seven of the World Series.

Baseball needs to revamp almost everything about the league. 162 games is entirely too many. Reduce the length of the regular season.The minor leagues should be significantly cut back as well. There is no need for low A, high A, AA, AAA and whatever other rookie leagues that exists. People enjoy keeping up with rookies and their favorite college players in football and basketball, and that is extremely difficult to do in baseball where a rookie may be 27 before he ever gets called up. It would lower the quality of play, but people would care a lot more if they could actually keep up with who is on the team. Also, the MLB draft has no f'ing business being 50 or so rounds. Cut that **** back to 15 or so.

If it were up to me, which baseball purists are glad it isn't, I would do away with the minors altogether, shorten the draft, and force teams to play with their rookies like NFL and NBA teams do. I guarantee such a system would make the game more interesting to the average individual. Make U.S. players go to college and turn college baseball into the minors. It would benefit both college and professional baseball as people would follow their school's former players once they reached the majors.

 

[Cornhole.sixpack]

I grew up watching the Braves everyday while I played in my local league, but I became less interested and completely stopped watching after I stopped playing ball, (and picked up on hockey), and I only began watching again last year because it was Bobby's last year. Even so, I still only caught a few games.<div>
</div><div>I do usually pay attention in October, but by that time the hockey and football seasons have started, so I'm more disinterested.</div>

 

[shsdawg]

excrpt I almost never watch it or even keep up with it anymore.

 

[EAVdog]

wouldn't know, don't keep up with it at all anymore.

 

[dogfan96]

College baseball for the most part sucks and is barely even real baseball (I say barely now.. before it just wasn't baseball before they changed the bats)

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Nothing like the ping of the bat to get you going. I watch maybe one game of college baseball a year.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Especially in the South. It's not because the product is any different, it's because general interest has just changed over time and there is even a reflection of that in how its covered by media. It's football all the time. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's just a sign of the times.

 

[Sterling Archer.nafoom]

when I lived there. Though that was as much for the people watching and BBQ nachos as the baseball itself.

 

[1dawgfan09]

I've never been a baseball fan. I watch State play some, but other than that, I don't care for it as a sport. I am not a good gauge on this I guess. my wife played softball, and she likes baseball occasionally, other than when State plays and if she is watching it (rarely) it is never on in our house.

 

[DAWG61]

I watched more this year than I ever have. I strongly encourage the baseball fans out there to join a fantasy baseball league. Best $20 I ever spent and next year I'm buying the MLB package cause I will watch even more. Also if you are a fan watch the MLB Network.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

The last strike did me it. Then when WGN quit broadcasting all the Cub games and TBS stopped showing the Braves, I could not find the interest to watch a weekly game between teams I had no interest in.

The steroid scandal didn't help thing either.

Not to mention the season is too damned long and has too many inter-league games. We are almost in November during the heat of College and Pro Football and no one wants to watch a World Series with snow flying.

They need to drop the season games total and have fewer rotating games.

 

[woozman]

I used to watch every Cubs game on WGN up until the late 90's. Then I watched the big games for a couple years, then stopped watching until playoff time, then stopped watching until the World Series started, then stopped watching period. It's been 3-4 years since I have watched more than 4 innings of a baseball game. I was in Baltimore in June to see U2and went to an Orioles vs Reds game - that was a lot of fun.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

as my childhood heroes (Clark and Palmeiro) and the stars of the 80's and 90's (Gwynn, Ripken, O. Smith, McGwire, etc.) retired one by one. The strike burned me, but the HR race by McGwire and Sosa really made it fun to watch again.I have just never been able to connect to a certain team since. I enjoy watching the Red Sox if they are on tv and watching State alums, but I just can't sit and watch an entire regular season game.

I have always enjoyed following MSU baseball, and last year was really the first year since graduation in 2001 that I have been able to get back to campus for multiple weekend series.

 

[hatfieldms]

.....

 

[hatfieldms]

How can you love baseball, but not watch the play offs? especially game 7? That makes zero sense

 

[The Peeper]

rosters kept changing so much. Also, when the players became bigger than the team and the game, I quit watching. Robbie Alomar spitting in the face of an ump and still playing while it was appealed and ultimately going to the Hall of Fame is good example.

 

[GratefulDawg.sixpack]

I used to watch the Braves all the time back in the '80s, even when they sucked balls.<div>
</div><div>Colorado is my team, and I try to keep up with them. However, they usually suck, so my interest has waned. The run-up to the 2007 World Series sure was fun, though.</div><div>
</div><div>I think soccer has taken the space that I used to have for baseball (and hockey). There's much more action.</div><div>
</div><div>Living in New York, I'll go to a Yankees or Mets game if someone gives me tickets, but otherwise, I don't really keep up. People do care about it up here, though.</div>

 

[hatfieldms]

......

 

[anon1751035439]

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