by Ann Marie Dwyer

Created on: April 23, 2007   Last Updated: December 20, 2008

The death of baseball has many unhappy facets. Media sensationalism draws the limelight onto some of the ugliness, but fails to shed any light on the issues at hand. With correct attention, baseball does not have to be a dying sport.

1. Scouting.

Fewer and fewer schools are focusing on baseball as a team sport. Preference is shown to football and basketball. In order to find talent, scouts must leave the United States. In countries with less focus on education, the American Dream of coming to America to try out for the Major Leagues is alive and well, and pursued with a singular passion.

As the National Pastime, America needs to return its focus to the parks around the country. Recreation centers across the United States have moved away from centering parks around a baseball diamond. Preference is given to climbing and gymnasium style equipment, which requires little or no maintenance and no organization or outlay of expense for participants. Scouts cannot sit in neighborhood bleachers to find raw talent in America, as they can in Latin America.

2. Ethics.

Although we teach our children that all men are equal, we point fingers at players who are of other ethnicities as infringing on the American pastime. As the "Melting Pot", American baseball should be embracing the multicultural aspect of the game. The Major Leagues represents the cream of the talent crop. Ethnicity should have nothing to do with the rating of talent.

America is forgiving of sports celebrities when they break the law. This detracts from the role model status which sports legends should have. Children see no reason to take up a sport that requires a massive commitment of time, when cutting corners is just as profitable. Further, it does not take a multi-million dollar contract to gamble on games or participate in the drug trade.

Parents are attending Little League functions and are being arrested for brutalizing coaches, other parents and umpires. Living vicariously through their children, parents are teaching those children that talent is not as important as dominating those who would critique their performance. Silencing detractors has been given priority over teaching fundamentals.

Cheating, gambling and steroids are sensationalized by the media to give the appearance that they are the rule rather than the exception. The truly talented are inducted into the Hall of Fame without fanfare. Those that are denied the Hall of Fame, despite their performance, are deified in the denial.

3. Stamina and Specialization.
Athletes

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>