America's Pastime or America's Waste of Time?

On Sunday, I went to Detroit to watch my favorite Major League Baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles. This was the second Orioles game I was able to go to this year and it was fun, even though they have lost both of the games I went to. I went with parents, brother, sister and some family friends, so we had a good time. 

Even though the game was a Sunday afternoon with amazing weather, there was not as many people there as I thought there would be. Granted, the Tigers aren't the best team, but there's usually a pretty good crowd at weekend games. This got me thinking about how many people don't enjoy going to baseball games anymore, especially because many people think the games are too long. I am a sport management major so, obviously, I love sports. My campus job is literally just watching and writing about sports. So, for me, sitting through a three-hour baseball game where nothing seems to be happening doesn't seem like a waste of time, but many people think it is. Less and less people are attending baseball games, so the MLB had to make some changes. For the 2023 season, the MLB implemented some new rules whose main purpose was to improve the pace of play and increase action on the field.

The first rule they implemented was a pitch clock. There is now a 30-second time limit between batters, a 15-second pitch clock when the bases are empty and a 20-second pitch clock when there are runners on base. Pitchers are also limited to two disengagements from the mound, per plate appearance. A disengagement either a pickoff attempt, which is the pitcher trying to throw one of the baserunners out, or the pitcher just stepping off the mound. Batters, meanwhile, must be in the batter's box and ready for the pitch by the eight second mark or they are charged with an automatic strike.

The next rule they implemented was bigger bases. Each base has been expanded from 15 inches on each side to 18 inches. The primary reason for making the bases bigger was safety, giving the fielders and baserunners more room to play without colliding, but another reason was to help baserunners with stolen-base attempts. This will encourage more baserunners to steal bases, which will increase the action and excitement in the game.

The dissatisfaction with baseball games has only started within the past five years or so, so what caused it? Are people just not enjoying baseball games anymore, or do they just not have the attention span to enjoy a baseball game anymore? There have been many studies conducted on the effect of social media on our attention spans and the results are just what you would think. This has especially been evident in the past couple of years, since TikTok has become big. It is very easy to get sucked into the mindless scrolling on TikTok, especially since the videos are very short. Consequently, people's attention spans are continuing to get shorter and shorter, especially the younger generation who don't know anything other than social media.

Social media has been changing many things, but it is now starting to have an effect on things that have remained unchanged for a long time. Baseball has been considered America's pastime for years, but now, people would rather scroll aimlessly for three hours instead of watching a baseball game. Will social media start to have the same effect on other sports too? Or, more importantly, will going to live sporting events even be a thing in the future?