How Baseball Can Get Back on Top.

Jeremiah Edwards
Nov 15, 2017
3 min read

This years World Series was nothing short of phenomenal, leaving the majority of baseball fans satisfied. This would make you think that Baseball may have finally been able to accomplish the one thing they have been trying to do over the past few years, appeal the the casual viewer. But alas it was not to be with many people claiming the the MLB has lost its tier 1 status in sports and that if the Dodgers weren't in the series no one would care. And as much as I hate to admit it, they do have a point. But the good news is there is a way to fix this this and I'll tell you how.

1) Eliminate All Meaningless Stats Including WAR.

One of the dumbest things the MLB has done in recent memory is the implementation of statcast. Listen I don't need to know the launch angle for every single homerun, or the spin rate of Clayton Kershaw's curveball.

This drives away potential new viewers partially because they don't want to be bombarded with meaningless stats, and partially because these stats are too confusing.

Also how in the hell is WAR still a thing? It's a stupid stat that is

completely made up and there is no accurate way to measure it.

Don't believe me here are three different websites and all three have different leaders in WAR.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/war/leaders (Joey Votto 9.56)

http://www.fangraphs.com/warleaders.aspx?season=2017&team=all (Aaron Judge 8.2)

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2017-batting-leaders.shtml (Jose Altuve 8.3)

All three of these are well respected sources for baseball information and stats and all three can't produce the same result for a quote unquote "mathematical stat". WAR and everyone who views it as a legit stat (Brian Kenny) can go kick rocks with open toed sandals and get the hell out of baseball.

2) Less Focus on the WBC and More Focus on the Olympics.

Outside of the World Cup, there is no other world championship event in any sport that can get a major network to show it's games. But the Olympics get national coverage from NBC, and as we all know nothing brings the country together like watching the USA dominate in sports. So why not try and get all the major players to play for their country during the Olympics on NBC, rather than in the WBC on the MLB network.

3) Stop Tinkering With the Rules

Over the past few years no other sport in North America has gone through more new rules than the MLB. Some have been good like eliminating the home plate collisions, but there have been some bad as well.

For instance this last season saw the MLB eliminate the intentional walk in a move that was panned by many. The change was made so that baseball games would move along quicker. But in reality this change saved maybe a minute on an average runtime and had little to no impact at all.

Rob Manfred the MLB commissioner is trying to appease everybody who doesn't care about baseball instead of focusing on the people that actually care. NASCAR is going through a similar phase now, where they have alienated their hardcore fanbase in favor of trying to appeal to suburbanites that could care less about them, and it's killing their sport.

4) Try and Make Your Stars More Marketable.

There's absolutely no reason in the world why Aaron Judge should not be pushed as the new face of the MLB. Not only does he smash home runs, but he's tall, good looking and plays for your most important team. So why is he not hosting SNL, why is he not promoting a national brand, why do more people not know who he is? It's time for baseball to grab the media bull by the horns and get their stars out in-front of the cameras to sell their sport. The NBA and the NFL do a great job of getting past and present players on TV and the MLB needs to follow suit.

5) Ease Back on the Unwritten Rules.

Listen, I understand why Rangers fans may have been a bit crossed with Jose Bautista this year. But I seriously doubt any Giants fans were mad at Bryce Harper. However, that didn't stop the village idiot Hunter Strickland from beaning Bryce Harper and sparking a mass brawl for violating these unwritten rules.

If it isn't written down than it isn't a rule, Jose Bautista can't be called out for flipping his bat no matter how much of an a-hole he may be. So stop complaining so much and learn to deal with your failures.

In short if you don't want to shown up after a guy hits a homerun, maybe you should pitch in a way that doesn't allow that to happen.