Photo credit: wbur.org

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

There is little doubt that big money paid by television is responsible for some of the changes in major league baseball. A few years ago Time Warner (now Charter Spectrum) in Southern California paid the Los Angeles Dodgers $8.35 billion to carry their games for the next 20 years.

There are other big deals in other media markets like in 2012 when the Guggenheim Baseball Management Group bought the Dodgers for $2.15 billion for a record sale for a franchise. MLB Network pays a fortune for the rights to all games every day and night. I think they do a great job for all baseball aficionados who like to follow all the teams, not just their home teams.

I believe many of these moves and the big money by TV is driving the changes on today’s game. Earlier this season, YouTube and MLB announced their partnership in an attempt to offer fans other ways to watch baseball.

Games are also now broadcast live on Facebook. Someday, the bases will be electronic, which would mean no need for umpires, and the bases will respond to a “safe”or “out “call in this format: If the base lights up red, the runner was out; and if it lights up green, that runner is safe. It’s that simple.

Basically, traffic lights would be at each base, and the poles in left and right field will  also be the same, as there will be no umpires. This way, the game will go even faster, as there will be no need for replays. And, of course, the accuracy will be 100 percent. Keep in mind computers do not make mistakes.

I get it, they want to appeal to the younger audience and there is nothing wrong with that, but baseball used to be a game of strategy like chess. Managers’ arguments with umpires were usually fun and isn’t that what we want–fun for all? Today, there is little strategy, as it is all about the sabermetrics, launch angles, home run distances and strike outs. Few players try to hit the ball to the opposite side of the infield, where there is nobody standing with a glove in hand, and everybody wants to hit the ball in the air. It is players hitting .220 with 25 to 40 home runs every year. You can steal 30 bases during a full season and easily lead your league. Rickey Henderson doesn’t like that. You might see a “run and hit” or “hit and run” once every full moon. The bunt is extinct, which is fine with me because they do not even teach it, so why expect the players to execute it?

Today, we also have what they call the “millennial areas” in baseball parks around the country. These areas have the purpose of bringing more fans into the stadiums, as a patio area sets the scene for millennials to socialize, eat, drink and watch the game.

All businesses needs costumers. If your park is half empty, you just do not give tickets for free, just like a restaurant doesn’t give free food to people if it’s empty. MLB is about business first and the game second. It is also hilarious how the MLB has banned Pete Rose from the Hall of Fame due to gambling, yet they advertise Draft Kings, a popular destination for daily fantasy baseball players of all skill levels. They advertise Draft Kings to fans with the idea they can win millions of dollars. So they are encouraging young and old fans alike to bet on baseball and make money. I know the fans are not managing the games like Rose did, but it’s hypocritical to tell folks to make money betting on games, while preventing a man with the most hits, who is the current record holder with 4,256 hits to enter the Hall of Fame, is a mixed message to say the least.

But that is our culture right here. A lot of things are upside down, and like my father used to say, “Common sense is not common anymore.”

So I wonder about people who say they want their privacy, yet they go on different social media outlets and tell everybody what they are doing, where they are, what they did, what they are going to do, what airport they are headed to and so on; but they ask for their privacy. Like the song by the great Ray Charles, “What a Wonderful World.”

Listen to the A’s games in Spanish on KIQI 1010AM/990AM Bay Area, Sacramento, Stockton and the Valley. Also, listen on the A’s television network on the SAP line.