[TidesHoss32]

LWC, I believe the reason baseball is declining, is because of a few reasons..again, these are just my opinions..
1- Whether anybody will admit it or not, people liked watching baseball during the steroid era much more than today. Ill be the first to admit, I was glued to the set every night in 1998 when McGwire and Sosa went at it during the most fun season Ive ever witnessed (still)..Yes, it was cheating, but it was much more fun watching 15 people crank 40+ homeruns every season than now, when one or two will win the HR crown with 37 or so..
2- Baseball flat sold out, because they tried to keep up with the NFL and the NBA. Baseball was special once because the only way you could make the playoffs was to win your division. Thats gone, and now with all this nonsense talk of expanding to 12, youll be able to win 84 games, finish 3rd in your division and compete for a title..Purists dont like it, and although I wouldnt exactly consider myself a purist, I liked the "win the pennant or go home" days much better..
3- Lets admit it, baseball right now, just isnt very good. The pitching isnt that good, the hitting isnt very good, the fundamentals have been long gone for awhile..
4- Why does everybody feel the need to build bigger and better (?) ball parks, instead of fixing the ones they have? The new parks all run nearly a billion dollars, which drives up ticket prices, food prices, and theres no wonder fans cant attend games anymore like they used to. $1200 for a seat behind home plate in Yankee Stadium? If Im not mistaken, seven or eight years ago, that seat was around $200. None of the ball parks have the mystique of the parks of old. Everything is "too" modernized. Dont get me wrong, Cincy has a beautiful park, but what was the first thing you thought of when you walked into the old one? The Big Red Machine.

I love baseball. I always have and I always will, no matter how cruel it has been to me the last 20 years. However, it is in need of a big change. I would love to see Bud Selig gone, for one.