Baseball was Born in 1876 in Cincinnati but wasn't very popular until 1940.  And in the years since Baseball's popularity has decreased.  In the last decade the most attendances in the league went down by over 10,000 people. Even though baseball's most watched team has 34,625 average attendances each game, the most attendance average in the NFL has 93,241.  Baseball deserves more than this.

As Mathew Wathers states, "Even the World Series attracts smaller audiences than the average “Thursday Night Football” broadcast…  Famous baseball player Mike Trout's $426 contract is getting paid for by millions of grandparents."  Although baseball might have young stars such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Fernado Tatis Jr and Juan Soto the fan base is declining.  And the Major League Baseball(MLB) hasn't made big changes to make the game better to watch.  College has done more towards this by adding a 20 second timer between pitches.  Coaches don't call a hit and run much and not nearly as many bunts happen now as they used to.  All players want to do is crush one over the fence.  So I guess it's not really a surprise that fan numbers are going down.  If the NBA only shot half court shots fans wouldn't want to watch games as much.

In the winter of 2021 I was in the car with my friend coming back from a trampoline park when I brought up how Baseball is the pastime of America.  They said, "No way!  It's football."  I took this further by searching it up and they still denied the fact.  This went on for a little and I still couldn't convince them.  There is a decaying fan base to the game anymore, but some areas have more fans than others.  For example the Colorado Rockies, a team that didn’t make the postseason had about 2 and a half as many fans as the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that made the Division Series.  The amount of baseball fans vary; but one thing is for sure, Baseball is unappreciated.

It's not all the fans and MLB owners though, it comes down to the future of the game, the newer generations.   Baseball fans have graying hair while younger generations stop caring about the game.  Little league coaches need to not care about the record, or care about errors, but rather help the players improve in a way they enjoy. But above all, make sure they have fun.

Nomatter the cause, make time to watch some baseball.  Or better yet, play it.

Works Cited:

Baccellieri, Emma. “Looking Back at All the Times Baseball Has Died.” Sports Illustrated, www.si.com/mlb/2019/08/29/baseball-is-dying-history.  Accessed on April 5th, 2022.

“2021 MLB Attendance - Major League Baseball - ESPN.” ESPN.com, www.espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2021.  Accessed on March 25, 2022.

Walther, Matthew. “Opinion | Baseball Is Dying. The Government Should Take It Over.” The New York Times, 6 Apr. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/opinion/baseball-nationalize.html.  Accessed on April 6th, 2022.