6 years, 9 months ago Mike Moyers
America went out of its way to miss the Fox coverage of the All Star Game
Did you watch the 2017 All Star Game? I tried, but couldn’t get past the first couple of innings.
The All Star Game isn’t the big deal it was back in the day. .Sure, the baseball purist can complain about Joe Buck, Fox Sports and the like, but it’s more than that. It’s the over analyzation of the game and the fact that baseball, with the added rules and video challenges, the strike/ball box, interviews live from the on-deck circle, have turned the game--into a game-show. Gee, can we just watch the game?
And tell me; what does the average baseball fan have in common with today’s player? Nothing. Can you relate to a guy making 6 million a year and hitting .229? No? I thought so.
When I was growing up guys like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron weren’t their own brand. They were tattoo free and loving it. A kid could watch a guy like Bob Gibson and see the passion he had for the game; the passion he had for winning. It wasn’t all about the money like it is now.
Today’s players are rock stars. Period.
The game is no longer the game. It’s entirely different. There was a time when a “the big inning” consisted of 3 singles, a couple of doubles, maybe a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt. Now a big inning is a solo home run, followed by two strikeouts followed by another solo home run and another strikeout.
Try this on: in 1985 the St. Louis Cardinals won 101 games while hitting 87 home runs as a team. Jack Clark was the big bomber leading the team with 22 dingers that year. However, the Cardinals stole 314 bases with Vince Coleman swiping 110 and Willie McGee pilfering 50. Give me some Whitey ball.
Compare that to last year’s Cardinals. In 2016 the Birds won 86 games and hit 225 home runs. Nine Cardinals were in the double digit category with 6 hitting over 20 homers. But the 2016 team stole just 35 bases. Kolten Wong and Steven Piscotty shared the team lead with 7 each. That’s right, 7 stolen bases.
So, give me a cold beer and the game on the radio. The announcers for both the Cubs and Cardinals are fine. Baseball on TV? You can have it.
