has baseball changed?

sure, there has been enormous change in the game (and certainly society in general) since that '61 season.

With free agency, escalated salaries, expansion of teams (including the move west -Dodgers and Giants didn't come to the west coast until '58), influx of players from all over the globe etc. etc. The advent of the DH and evolultion of the bullpen and the closer role.

As of '61 the Red Sox and Cardinals (who just happen to come to mind) hadn't even integrated until the '58 or '59 season. I recall the Red Sox being the last team to do so in '59 I believe.

Plus a huge difference in how the media covered the game from then to now. The "antics" of players were shielded and typically not reported. Today half the sports page is like a police blotter.

Most ballparks now are dedicated to almost everything but the game (with swimming pools, restaurants, kid's arcades, fireworks etc. - it's almost like the game is secondary)

It's still 3 strikes you're out, but in many respects a whole new ballgame.

Yes baseball has changed........but not so much as the world has......

Baseball has subtle changes along with the culture to be sure....just take a look at 70's baseball cards....but all in all, its still the same game the Cobb, Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Clemente, Jackson and Ripken have played......

Which, in my opinion, is part of my love for the game.....

piaa_ump:

Right on target. Baseball has changed but not as much as the world around it. And even with the DH, relief pitching, closers, more teams, more diversity, steroids it is still, for me at least, the one game that when seen live, connects me to the past; to my father, his father, my mothers father, and even to the now deceased perfect strangers who marveled at Tinkers, Evers and Chance and Cobb and Ruth and Paige and Gibson.

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Gotta' be said...

quote:

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.

44

quote:

People use to get dressed up to go to a ball game.

BD:

We are a much more casual society today than we were back then...People almost never get dressed up to go anywhere these days. Not even to church...Once upon a time, if one wore jeans they were denied admittance to many, many places...Now I rarely wear anything BUT jeans...And one would NEVER leave their home without a hat...

People behave differently depending on what they are wearing. That is one of the reasons that school uniforms have become more popular in public schools. And even if they don't have a uniform policy, there is at least a dress code. "Casual Fridays" have given way to dressing casually every day, but now the trends are slowly going back to dressing more formally. Maybe behaviors will improve, too.

Everyone looks so much nicer dressed up, don't you think?

Other than the DH (which I still regard as an absurd experiment), baseball hasn't changed. A reincarnated Ruth or Cobb or Paige could still step on the ballfield and play the game. Inside the white lines, baseball is, indeed, constant.

Everything else is cultural changes, with counterparts (for good or bad) in the rest of our society.

The game has not changed--the people involved have

Obsever44:

Thanks. Much better said by by the voice of Darth Vader in Field of Dreams than I could ever say it. I could even hear that beautiful Baritone as I read your post. Thanks again.

I think the pitching part of the game has changed quite a bit. One reason is because I think that hitters are more patient with the reinforced value of the BB.

I think it takes more work to get batters out as a rule (more pithces?) because of that patience, but the relief pitching roles today are more elaborate.

The complete game is not that common compared to the old days .

The game has certainly evolved and all of these posts point to why.

Jayson Stark just posted a great article on ESPN.com about the biggest influences to MLB over the last 25 years.

Of course whatever the big boys do usually trickles down.

When I first looked at this topic I thought it should be titled "has baseball evolved". Then I when thinking that evolving in the true sense means for the better I think BD2579 word "changed" fits much better.

Next question. Have the changes been for the good of the game, or the good of the market?