Future Looks Best For Baseball

It seems that every time I listen to or read sports media these days all I hear about is how good the future is for most of the major sports except baseball.

Quite frankly, I’m shocked no one else has realized how competitive baseball has gotten over the past few years.  There have been several surprise teams each season along with the usual powerhouses.  In order to see this all one would have to do is look at the extending standings of all MLB teams.

In fact, with the exception of NASCAR, it’s not a stretch to say baseball has the most potential out of any sport in the future.  I know this is really long, but please really take the time and read through it.

For football, the time is in the present and they have almost reached their peak in terms of popularity. That popularity is no doubt very strong, but there are not many more fans to tap into because almost every sports fan already watches football.

Most of the time I could sit down and watch any football game regardless of who my favorite team is, a feat which is exclusive for any sport most of the time. 

In football most of the teams are fairly balanced from top to bottom. There are teams which are much better than others on paper, but somehow on any given Sunday any team has a chance to win. It could be the best balanced sports league because the region between great and terrible is huge. 

The playoff system is done right with some different teams making the playoffs every year. The image of the NFL is getting better with the help of the new commissioner Roger Goodell’s zero tolerance policies. Players are constantly getting into trouble with the law, and Goodell is doing as much as he can. He still doesn’t have enough power to fix all the league’s players though.

I have nothing bad to say about Goodell, but again the NFL has already peaked.    

Hockey obviously has potential because of a big fallout from a strike, but there weren’t nearly as many hockey fans at any point compared to some other sports.

Hockey is never going to become a big sport to play in the south because of climate conditions. This past season happened to be the first year where I actually sat down and watched hockey games since the strike.

The team I watched most of the time was the Dallas Stars mostly because I absolutely hate watching games on versus and NBC for many reasons. 

Even before the strike I didn’t consistently watch other teams mostly because I just simply don’t have any interest. I still may watch the occasional young star in the NHL like Sidney Crosby, and no I don’t want to sound like every other person in saying that’s why I watch the NHL.

The truth is, the NHL doesn’t have that many young players or stars I can get behind. Most of them are international, which isn’t a bad thing, but I simply can’t enjoy it as much. Hockey has nowhere to go but up, but there is a lot of work to do, starting with a new TV deal.

Basketball is stuck in mediocrity for the near future unless something is done to change its image. The Dallas Mavericks happen to be the only team I care enough about to watch on a consistent basis. At least some of the players on every team usually have a bad image.

The NBA doesn’t seem to care about its image as much either. It’s the only sport in recent years where players have gotten into fights with fans on a fairly consistent basis.

Part of the reason very well could be because of their own rules about eligibility. The NBA only makes a player go to college one year before being eligible to play in the NBA, a feat which does not help players’ maturity and personality.

In football, it makes a big difference with an extra two years. Baseball and hockey get away with it because they have developed minor league systems for players to mature.

The NBA’s version has a long ways to go. Most of the teams don’t even use it for their star players because the real talent pool is so small in the NBA. 

Another strike I have against the NBA is the recent allegations against fixing games. I always suspected it, but I as a fan refused to believe it until I had more evidence. Tim Donaghey is obviously not the best witness, but he still has enough power to influence me.

The Western Conference continues to be a big problem for the NBA, at least during the regular season. The disparity between the two conferences is just mind-boggling. No team should make the playoffs with a losing record in any sport. Last season there were two: the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers, in the Eastern Conference.

For comparison there was one team in the Western Conference with a winning record that didn’t make the playoffs. In some ways, basketball has the most upside right now, but they are in no way trying to help themselves.   

I don’t have much to say about NASCAR because everything is going right for them, mostly because they are doing the right things. 

I heard something on the radio the other day that is very true. A lot of the vending machines have a NASCAR theme to it these days. Something about racing cars is just appealing. The Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 are just a handful of sports events I try to plan around every year.

If you asked me if I thought NASCAR was a sport, I would have to say no because of the engine. I still watch it on a consistent basis, though. I use the term sport quite frankly because there isn’t another way to call it except motorsport.

That doesn’t seem quite right either to me. Whether the drivers are athletes is another argument for another day. NASCAR has many more fans they can reach in the northern United States. It’s easy to see NASCAR is growing by the races they have each year in the North. NASCAR only lacks baseball in my mind as being a sport with the highest potential. 

Baseball has been either the top or near the top in popularity every year for good reason. They have an established minor league system to put out quality players at the major league level. 

There is very rarely an issue if you think of it with a major league baseball player having character issues. The minors allow a player to not only to play well on the field, but to be good off the field as well.

In baseball you have to have a good farm system to be successful on the major league level. There are plenty of teams to prove this. Every team, with the exception of the Yankees and Red Sox, has to build up because they don’t have the money to go buy all the free agents. Fans love pulling for the young prospects trying to become the next big star.

Baseball does play 162 games in a regular season over the course of six months, but that still isn’t the longest season. Basketball plays eight months including playoffs. I don’t know many sports fans who would disagree with a baseball playoff game being like anything else.

I often have hard times agreeing with people who say they can’t watch baseball because it’s too slow. Football games on TV get longer each year, lasting sometimes around four hours.

Baseball has cut back on game times to average around three hours a game with no sometimes annoying halftimes. Plus, if your team plays in an outdoor park you get to enjoy the nice summer nights outdoors in an atmosphere no one can match. 

One can’t forget about the international market of baseball. Baseball players literally come from all over the world. Some of the league’s best players have come internationally.

I would be lying and biased if I didn’t mention baseball does have a few problems though.  Baseball was late in realizing its steroid problem, but they finally have made the right moves to correct the game.

Baseball players do tend to make way too much money. A salary cap would benefit baseball greatly in the long run, but currently there isn’t a need. Baseball has a huge range of teams that are neither good nor bad this year. Currently there about 10 teams within six or seven games of a .500 record. 

Home field advantage is surprisingly huge this year as well. Only a handful of teams have a winning record on the road, and some usually bad teams have been playing well consistently. Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Toronto, and even Kansas City have shown positive signs. Kansas City has an incomparable record in interleague games. They have only lost four out of 15 games.                   

Although I am not denying the future of other sports being around, I just don’t see the potential being as strong as baseball.

Baseball has established itself as from top to bottom with few major problems if you think about it in the long term. Baseball plays during the best time of the year and outdoors.

It provides a nice atmosphere that almost anyone can enjoy, even if you’re not a baseball fan. There are few rules in baseball compared with the other sports.

Also, I just want to mention to watch out for soccer in the future. If things go right it could very well become a mainstream sport before long.    

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