World Series: Is Major League Baseball Dying a Slow Death?

Baseball was the game of my youth. From the time I can't even remember until I was at least ten years old, I didn't care about anything but baseball, Legos and G.I. Joe.

Growing up in Connecticut, it was all about the Red Sox. I remember crying when the Sox traded my favorite player, Scott Cooper. I remember being angry and not understanding during the players strike in 1994 that cancelled the World Series.

Baseball was all that really mattered.

It wasn't until my family moved to Ohio around the Cleveland area when I was ten that I was introduced to the rabid fans of the Cleveland Browns and Ohio State Buckeyes.

That was also around the height of the Cleveland Indians' dominance and I got wrapped up in Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton and all those guys.

While I began to get into the other sports, which included watching every minute of the expansion draft for the Browns in 1999, baseball remained king.

When Manny signed with Red Sox that brought me back to my roots, and I enjoyed the wild rides of 2003 and 2004. Baseball was the king indeed.

But somewhere in between the Sox breaking an 86-year curse and now, things have changed.

Baseball no longer reigns supreme in my life.

I care more about the Browns, Cavaliers, Buckeyes football and UConn basketball far more than the Red Sox or Indians, but I really don't know why.

Both the Sox and Tribe had good years despite floundering down the stretch. But I've been more content to write about teams whose leagues were locked out than those who were battling for the playoffs.

I can't say for certain that just because my love for baseball has waned increasingly that the same can be said for the national consciousness. But it just doesn't seem like there is any buzz for the World Series this year, or the playoffs in general.

On Saturdays and Sundays my phone blows up with Twitter updates. I don't even have to turn on the TV to know who's winning or doing well.

But last night, the tweets were eerily silent. I had no idea what was happening in Game 1 between the Cardinals and Rangers.

I work the second shift, and on Sunday and Monday nights I can always be found watching football on my break. But last night the thought of flipping on the Series never crossed my mind.

And on sports radio all day yesterday you'd hardly know that the Series was about to start. There was more talk about the NBA lockout and Carson Palmer being named the starter of the Raiders after being retired 48 hours ago.

On Tony Kornheiser's radio show, he spent more time talking about lions, cheetahs, camels and other "exotic" animals on the loose in Zanesville, Ohio.

As I listened to that I was struck with the question, "Is Major League Baseball dying a slow death?"

Even last year's Series didn't garner as much media attention as one would think with stars like Josh Hamilton, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, and Brian Wilson.

I don't think I watched a single pitch.

It seems like fan bases still get charged up when their teams are doing well (Milwaukee and Detroit haven't been that enthusiastic about the Brewers and Tigers in years). But when their respective seasons end they turn off just about any notice of baseball.

I don't profess to be a ratings expert, but I'd venture to guess that Game 1 did not get as good a rating as the big regular season football games will this week.

I can't really say for sure why baseball is dying. Could it be the lack of big numbers that the steroid era enjoyed? Possibly.

Could it be that the pace of the game is painfully slow (I tried watching a Sox game on my 30-minute break and didn't even get to see a full inning)?

A very likely answer.

Whatever the reason, I fear that the game I grew up loving will be lost on the next generation. Maybe we're the ones to blame. If we care about baseball being loved by our children, then it might be on us to bring it back.

With that said...who exactly is pitching tonight?

You can follow me on Twitter @ClevelandFlack.