Lost Its Luster?


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Published: June 4th 2023
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Many of you, including Gen Z, Millennial's, and such, have lost interest in the great American pastime, watching baseball during the summer. But growing up in the 50s and 60s, baseball was about the only activity we could enjoy and participate in. Long, hot summers in the Valley were punctuated by our youth baseball, and later with high school and college teams that traveled the Valley and State. But what I refer to mostly is the "great move west" by the Dodgers and Giants to the west coast. All of a sudden, we had baseball on the radio most every day during the long, hot summers. And soon, my Dad, brother and I would drive to LA or San Francisco on a Sunday afternoon for ball game. Needless to say, it was the highlight of our summer. We got to spend the day with our Dad, go to a major league baseball game, see the great Willie Mays, and have a hot dog and soda. On the drive home, we would often stop at nice places to eat, at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, or a rather upscale (at the time) restaurant on the main street of Tracy. So, why is baseball losing its audience? Are the Boomers like me are dying off, did we not pass the joy of summer baseball on to our children? Is it because the NFL, NBA, and college sports have become larger than life? Is it because baseball is relatively slow? Is there too much baseball on television and cable? Here is a rather controversial opinion about baseball. I think the plethora of good foreign players, many of whom do not speak our language, are difficult to embrace. Think of former greats, like Hall of Famer, Roberto Clemente, who became much more popular after he died in a plane crash. But I do hold out hope that a transcendent figure like Shohei Ohtani can change that! But I still love going to baseball games, particularly in San Diego where the weather is great. And I follow my Giants on TV whenever I can. I even saw an MLB game on TV in France!!! Talk about strange! Of course, nothing compares to the days when I went to the games with my Father. Or when I went with my son. We went to Spring Training, regular season games, an All-Star Game, and the World Series.

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