Does Baseball Need more Outward Emotion?

Baseball revenue has increased over 300% in the past 20 years.  It's doubtful that this trend will continue.  It becomes mathematically difficult to sustain such growth indefinitely.  But, organizations such as MLB (and Red Sox) will make every effort to continue this growth, that's what big successful corporations do.

Nothing players do in football or basketball bothers me.  I love it!  Even some of the video games include the celebrations.  I think younger people love it even more.  Sure some of it looks stupid and inappropriate.  I consider it a part of the game these days.  Though I always have respect for those athletes that do it the least.

 

Tiger Woods made the fist pump common in golf.  Nobody complains about Sharapova pumping her fist after a good shot.  In fact, she just kept getting more and more popular.

 

Baseball is different in many ways.  However it is very common to see a pitcher fist pumping after an out.  Or the guy that just hit a double fist pumping at 2B.  Game winning hits often result in half the team chasing down the guy that got the hit.  I think baseball players show less emotion at times because it doesn't have the amount of physical contact involved in basketball and especially football.  Contact leads to emotion in all sports. The word "humble" is more important in baseball than it is in football or basketball.  They say Michael Jordan was one of the biggest trash talkers ever.  Maybe that kind of talk works in basketball or football, but it doesn't make much sense in baseball.

 

Bryce Harper might be someone that displays the bat flipping and other things that young people supposedly like.  However, the face of baseball these days is another young player by the name of Mike Trout. Other than the obvious talent both players possess, they are as different as night and day.  You have to have emotion but it can be displayed in different ways.

 

What other sport comes closest in accepted player behavior to baseball?

 

Baseball is the greatest game of all, it is the one I love the most.  But I also love football and basketball!  Especially at playoff time.  Yes there are too many gestures and showing off, but I love the NBA playoffs.  The best in the world playing for keeps on one floor, that is fun to watch In most any sport. The athletic ability is amazing.

I get where younger people aren't watching games on tv but younger people are watching less TV period. Most of the 20 something's I know have cut the cord and Hulu doesn't show sports. They get the highlights on their phone and go on.

I would like someone to show me where youth baseball participation is going down. I know LL numbers are declining but travel numbers are growing. I don't see the decline in total numbers playing.

I have also sat at 14U tournaments every weekend for the past 6 weeks. Saw hundreds of kids, whom from my observation are the most emotional of any age group, and haven't seen but 1 kid act like an idiot for little stuff. It was a pitcher who struck out the 1 and 2 hitter and acted like it was a World Series ending K. Then the 3, 4, and 5 hitter went deep on him. When the 5 hitter was rounding the bases the third baseman yelled at the pitcher that's what you get for acting like an idiot. All the others kids have acted the way baseball players act. More pouting than I'm used to seeing but assuming it's a hormone thing but none of this fist pumping a strike or a single crap.

I keep hearing these arguments about young people not liking baseball, young people not liking the lack of emotion in baseball, and young people wanting baseball to be like the MBA, but I continue to see hundreds of young baseball players proving that wrong.

From a Wall Street Journal article in January 2014 titled Youth Participation Weakens in Basketball, Football, Baseball, Soccer, here are facts:

 

• Combined participation in the four most-popular U.S. team sports—basketball, soccer, baseball and football—fell among boys and girls aged 6 through 17 by roughly 4% from 2008 to 2012.
• During those five years, the population of 6-to-17-year-olds in the U.S. fell 0.6%.
• U.S. baseball-bat sales in 2012 fell 18% from 2008 sales in dollar terms, while football sales dropped about 5% and team-uniform sales for basketball and soccer were flat.
• From 2011 to 2012, total sporting-goods dollar sales rose 2.1%, half the projected increase.
• In recent decades, while some outdoor play—climbing trees, jumping rope, playing tag—faded as a childhood pastime, organized sports remained relatively strong. But that bright spot is dimming.
• While football still draws crowds to the TV set, participation in the sport in U.S. high schools was down 2.3% in the 2012-13 season from the 2008-09 season.
• High-school basketball participation fell 1.8% in the period.
• While high-school baseball participation rose 0.3% in the period, some data on the next generation of players presage a decline: Little League baseball—the biggest children's baseball league—reports that U.S. participation in its baseball and softball leagues in 2012 was 6.8% below that in 2008.
• Basketball participation fell 6.3% in the 6-to-14 group during that period.
• Even soccer, which has seen strong gains in recent decades, shows signs its numbers are stagnating. The high-school federation reports that soccer participation was up 7.4% in the 2012-13 season from 2008-09. But the United States Soccer Federation, which governs U.S. youth soccer leagues other than school-based leagues, says its youth soccer participation was flat between 2008 and 2012.

I say lose the xBoxes and PlayStations.

So HS baseball participation rose while football and basketball feel? However baseball should be like basketball to atract the young. How does this make sense?

I'm going to go against the crowd here and say we have actually had TOO much deviation from the old days.  I had a conversation with my father shortly before he passed in 2012, he LOVED the game of baseball, he didn't play in college or anything he just loved the game.  He basically told me:

 

"There was a time when no respectable ball club, no matter what talent they saw, would have employed players with foot long beards, hair below their collars, or any other distinguishable characteristic.  There was a time where you couldn't tell the difference between a Major Leaguer and Military Personnel.  By allowing everyone to have their own flare and styles they are killing the game that use to be pure, it use to be called The Gentleman's Game, I haven't seen many Gentleman in recent years."

 

 

I see nothing wrong with a fist pump here and there after a clutch hit, strike out, or inning ending play.  No different than a high five or an "atta boy." 

 

As for attracting kids, I don't really see any MLB player being marketed like the NFL and NBA (I could be wrong).  Some of these MLB  players need to get shoe contracts.  Lebron, Kevin Durrant, Derrik Rose, etc. all have "new" models of shoes released all the time.  The kids salivate over the "latest and greatest."  Apparently there are websites for buy/sell/trade. 

Golfman25,

 

Mike Trout actually does have a shoe contract with Nike.

 

I'm sure it is worth a lot of money, but nothing like Lebron or MJ.

 

Basketball shoes can be worn at school or most other places.  Hard to go to school with cleats on.

This sums up why it erks me... "What's wrong with all of you? Since when is winning not enough? Since when is playing hard not good enough? NO! You have to humiliate your opponent and taunt them. What gives you the right to take the game that I love with trash talk and taunting?" Enjoy... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEbi5GEmElY

Most drafted players with agents get contracts or equipment deals. Reebok or Nike. Once you make the big league you get all types of endorsements.

I should have said Nike makes the Mike Trout Cleat.  I remember when nearly every young person was wearing Air Jordan's whether they played basketball or not.

FYI, this is not a rule.  Next time ask the umpire to quote the rule, they can't, and I have been told this by the CIF assigned umpire.  They can only ask that you stay out of the dirt.  Found this out this year and have challenged it twice and both umpires relented.

I would give this a fist pump if I could.

A little extreme to compare the Cav's and Hawks and the emotional intensity of that game, with a bunch of trash-talking losers.   Did you actually watch Cav's vs Hawks game 3, to get what I (or actually my son)  was talking about in terms of emotional intensity?  We're not  talking cheap celebrations at all. 

 

 

I know.  But they have to wear something off the field, no?  Think Jim Palmer's underwear. 

You missed the whole point of the "Look at me!" and "I did that, that was all me!" mentality. Like my earlier post of James Hardin's "look at what I just did!" pitiful celebration after hitting a two pointer in the middle of the game. Disappointing and uncalled for at best. Had that been the game winning shot? Sure! Mix it up all you want. Until then, "Look at me! Look at what I just did! It's all about me! ME! ME! ME!" That's all these celebrations are about. Emotional intensity? More like emotional insecurity. I understand it's a dying mentality, but some people still feel T-E-A-M is pretty important concept.

 

Add: With all that being said, when will golfers start going all Happy Gilmore after a solid drive? Or doing the bull dance and feeling the flow after sinking a birdie putt on their 4th hole of the day? Does this mean they are lacking emotional intensity?

I don't see any problem with a fist pump in a big game, big situation as long as it's pure emotion. I don't like to se continuous celebration all game, all season for routine successes. I also don't like premeditated celebration.

I agree. Now, that's where a lot of the post-game interview celebrations in baseball get to me. Chocolate syrup? Ehhh... I watched an Arizona walk-off hit the other night, in extra innings. It was great! Team ran on the field chasing the game hero. It's great to see. What happens in post-game interview? Two AZ players come from behind with two full double bubble buckets and dump the gum on his head. It doesn't bother me much, but at that point it seems too "showy". As posted on this site--A few weeks ago an Angels player throws a baseball and drills Jered Weaver during post-game interview. If looks could kill... Enough is enough and too much is too much.

I still don't get the beards. Guys making $20m plus a year look like they're homeless.

Dang you Duck Dynasty!!!

I can see having trimmed beard. But I don't get the Grizzly Adams look. It must be hot in the summer.

I too don't get the lumber jack trend in baseball. In my area, we have a lot of long hair, beards and flannel. It's how hipsters dress. Just not sure when that became the new baseball look.

I agree but its based upon superstitions.  Son has gone weeks without washing socks or underwear and will never step on the foul line.  

I hear Justin Verlander eats Taco Bell before a game.  

So its the same with showing emotions! Certain times its ok for a pitcher to on fist pump, never when you hit a homerun. Strange but most ballplayers are strange in some crazy way.

Pitchers like to look different, crazy, intimidating, dont know why but they work hard at ig, think Brian Wilson.