Why Baseball Is On A Decline

Baseball is in a dark place right now from a business perspective. We live in a very instantaneous society where things are always moving 100 miles per hour and baseball is everything but instantaneous with your average game lasting 3 hours and some change. The MLB has plenty of excellent young players they could show nationally on a more consistent bases but rely to heavily on the tradition of rivalries that just aren't that compelling anymore. Attendance is at an all-time low, as well as national TV ratings. There are a lot of factors that go into that but most of it is baseballs fault. So lets take a look on why baseball is experiencing such a strong decline.

Social Media

Major League Baseball has always sold tradition as a core value of the sport is great but has failed to evolve in certain areas that would help the popularity of the game. Take social media for example, out of the 4 major sports in America the MLB is 3^rd in Twitter Followers substantially lagging behind the NFL and NBA. Trailing NFL by 2 million followers and the NBA by 5 million followers the MLB is social media friendly to a point but they could improve a hell of a lot more.

Take the NBA for example the growth of basketball worldwide can be attributed to its dedication to having a strong social media presence. If I lived in Europe and wanted to know the score to the Clippers game it wouldn't be hard to find because the NBA makes everything so accessible for the fans.

Not only that though the NBA realizes that a good majority of people who like basketball around the world will never attend a live NBA game so its important to be a presence so fans know whats going on. Baseball is solid in social media but if they want to compete with the NFL and NBA then its paramount that they have more fan interaction then both of those leagues. Once the MLB can improve on that then they can advance in growing the sport among its young people.

Tradition

Tradition is a great thing and I’m glad baseball does a great job of keeping it alive but why does it frown upon anything that’s different? Take for example this years all-star game, Yasiel Puig was on fire and it would have made a lot of sense to put him in the game but no that’s against the tradition of baseball. Puig's sample size at the time wasn't large enough for the MLB to put him in the all-star game and they missed out on a huge opportunity to draw in people who wouldn't normally be baseball fans to watch the game by selecting Freddie Freeman over him.

Instant replay was also something that took forever for baseball to implement. Of the 4 Major Sports in America baseball was the very last to institute a replay review procedure, which was put into place late in the 2008 season.

Tradition is great but baseball needs to modernize the game in certain areas to appeal with the internet generation of young fans or it will die out to the point where Soccer may surpass baseballs popularity in America.

TV

When was the last time you saw a game on ESPN or FOX and were anxious to watch? I know its been a very long time. In a recent SB Nation article the baseball overall struggle to attract fans was examined. It was reported the ESPN's once popular “Sunday Night Baseball” has hit an all-time low with ratings dropping 5 of the last 6 seasons. As of 2012 Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN has dipped below 2 million viewers per game.

The decline of ratings can be attributed to several things. Such as the following.

• Same match ups ever year
• Lack of variety
• Lack of big market match ups

Baseball has some great traditional rivalries but National TV relies way to much on the Yankees-Redsox rivalry thtat just simply isn't compelling to the average baseball fan anymore. People would like to see different teams such as the resurgent Pittsburgh Pirates or young studs such as Jose Fernandez and Matt Harvey. Change it up a bit and you may see some different results.

The 2% league wide decrease in attendence should be a wake up call to the MLB to modernize the game and make some changes that would appeal more to fans. Its a great sport with many talented players but if the product as far as fan interest isn't doing well then you have nothing.

Jose Fernandez Is The New Favorite For Rookie Of The Year

After his 2 starts this week, Jose Fernandez has become the front runner for National League Rookie of the year. For a Marlins team that has been horrendous this season, Fernandez has been a model of consistency. At the age of 21, Jose Fernandez has already put his name in the same sentence of elite pitchers in the game today.

Strength In Numbers

In his rookie season, after only pitching 1 year of class A-ball, Jose Fernandez is 3^rd in ERA (MLB) with an ERA of (2.30), behind only fellow rookie Matt Harvey (2.27) and Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (1.72). With a 10-5 win/loss record, the Marlins ace has a higher winning percentage of (.667) than Kershaw (.650). KJ In the category of strikeouts per 9 innings. Fernandez at (9.73) strikeouts per 9 innings is higher than Adam Wainwright (8.24) and Felix Hernandez (9.36). To go along with all of that his opponent batting average of (.188) is better than MLB strikeout leader Yu Darvish (.191).

Those stats would be impressive for anybody but for a rookie playing on a very offensively challenged ball club they look even greater. To appreciate how great Fernandez has been this season you have to really know how bad the Marlins offense is. So like I stated earlier, the rookie phenom has a 10-5 record, which is impressive playing for the Marlins. As a collective offense, the Marlins don't strike fear into the hearts of many opponents, ranking dead last in runs scored (415) and hits (997). We are in late August, heading into the last month of the season, and the Marlins still are the only team that doesn’t have 1,000 hits as a team yet. So the fact the Jose Fernandez has so little to work with from his offense and is posting the numbers he has, speaks volumes to what he is accomplishing in his rookie season.

Puig Who?

Last Monday against the red hot fellow Cuban rookie sensation Yasiel Puig and the LA Dodgers Jose Fernandez validated himself to the baseball world as the 2013 National League rookie of the year. Marlins Park was more filled than usual with both Cuban rookie phenoms facing off against each other, Miami's large Cuban community came to see which one would shine the most. Like most of the baseball world they came to see Puig but were left impressed with Fernandez as he shut down the Dodger order going 6 innings, giving up only 4 hits, 1 earned run and collecting 8 strikeouts in a 6-2 Marlins victory over the Dodgers. Puig went 0-4 against Fernandez with a strikeout, looking very uncomfortable. At times Puig didn't even look like a big league hitter. He even had more hits then Yasiel hitting a single to center field in the 3^rd inning. So against baseball's hottest name Fernandez dominated and proved against the media's favorite rookie why he is the real rookie of the year.

No Contest

Barring a massive meltdown in September, Jose Fernandez will be the National League rookie of the year. If he maintains this kind of consistency through the whole entire month of September, he may even get some Cy Young consideration. One series that could really do a lot for Fernandez as far as Cy Young consideration goes is the September 27-29 series vs Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers. If he gets the start, he will be taking on baseball's best offense in Detroit, which leads the league in runs scored at (615). Not to mention the best hitter on the whole planet Miguel Cabrera, who won the triple crown last season. If he has a start against them like he did against the Dodgers, then it will be tough to not get Cy Young consideration. As far as the rookie of the year award goes, he has already won it, he's been the most consistent rookie from start to finish. Plus I think it would be incredibly hypocritical of baseball to give Puig the rookie of the year award, when they didn't let him participate in the all-star game. As well as giving it to him over a guy who made the all-star team and has been here all year long. So it will be interesting to see if baseball can stay consistent as far as what they believe in. If Jose Fernandez doesn’t win rookie of the year then I believe that all this is fixed and they are Puig lovers.

Great Day For A Ballgame!

It won't be this crowded

Going to keep this short and sweet its Monday I got 1 week before college starts so this is a great time to take in baseball game. Don't go to that many Marlins game now compared to when they played at Dolphin Stadium but I think I picked a good one today.

The Marlins are horrible this year and don't have much going for them on offense but we have a lot of nice young pitchers. At the forefront of our plethora of young arms is rookie sensation Jose Fernandez who continues to prove why he is one of the best young pitchers in the game. Tonight he is tasked with taking on one of the hottest teams in baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Match up I’m really looking forward to seeing all night is Fernandez vs Yasiel Puig . Puig is the hottest thing going in baseball right now outside of Miguel Cabrera so to see arguably the 2 best rookies this season match up is interesting. Along with all that Fernandez has to attack the rest of the Dodger order with guys like Matt Kemp andAdrian Gonzalez. So hoping for a great game, a Marlins win and a few Hanley Ramirez strikeouts....LETS GO MARLINS!!

Jose Fernandez Is A Big Time Pitcher

The Miami Marlins are by no stretch of the imagination this year a good baseball team but like any struggling team they have a few bright spots and the brightest happens to come in the form of rookie 21 year old right hand pitcher Jose Fernandez. Here is some background Fernandez.

• Drafted 14^th overall in 2011 by the Marlins
• Never picthed above A ball before this season started
• Became only the 7^th player in MLB history under the age of 21 to record at least 8 strikeouts in his debut since 1916
• Named an to the all-star game at 20 years old
• Struck out Dustin Pedroia and Chris Davis at the all-star game.

So odds are you aren't familiar with Jose Fernandez but that’s ok because most of the baseball world is slowly but surely figuring out who he is. Prior to the season starting the Marlins had a shortage of arms in the starting rotation so they rushed Fernandez to the big leagues and named him as the opening day starter. I was very critical of that move because this was a guy who hadn't pitched above A ball and now he his the opening day starter against the New York Mets, it's a pretty big jump. Fernandez quickly put to bed any doubt of good he would be for the rest of the season with a performance of 5 innings pitched 3 hits, 1 earned run and 8 strikeouts.

When you watch him pitch Fernandez does a great job establishing his fastball command and sets up his secondary pitches very well. Many baseball experts have compared Fernandez to Seattle Mariners all-star Felix Hernandez. People who aren't familiar with Fernandez might disagree but if you watch both of them pitch they have a lot of similarities. Fernandez like King Felix sets up hitters very well and can bury you with multiple pitches. He can thrown it by you with his fats ball or paint the outside corner with his curve ball. The Comparison is valid.

Statistically when you look at Jose Fernandez he is even more impressive. He has an 8-5 record on the worst team in the national league. The Marlins are not an offensive juggernaut in fact its hard to get run support when the whole team collectively has scored the 363 runs the entire season which ranks them dead last in baseball. So to be 3 games over 500 as a pitcher for them is impressive. Recently in the last few weeks he did something very historic. In his July 28^th and August 2^nd starts he faced 2 quality teams in the National league leading Pittsburgh Pirates and then then Cleveland Indians who are in the playoff hunt. In his start against the Pirates he has a very good outing going 8 innings giving up 2 earned runs on 5 hits with 13 strikeouts for a win. You think to yourself “ wow he can't pitch any better then that” well your wrong. Very next start against the Indians he goes 8 innings only allows 3 hits, collects 14 strikeouts and shuts out the Indians. So do the math 14+13=27 Jose Fernandez in 2 starts struck out 27 hitters. Thats just ridiculous for a guy his age to be doing that. In doing that he put his name in some elite company (see tweets below).

Jose Fernandez is the 4th-youngest pitcher with consecutive 13-strikeout games since 1900. Check out the list: pic.twitter.com/vNtAP655jj

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 3, 2013

As you can see Fernandez put his name in same company with some former all-stars but he also has his opponents in aw of him. Rays manager Joe Maddon who is one of the best in baseball praised Fernandez.

— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) May 31, 2013

 So the word on Jose Fernandez is finally getting out and if healthy it looks like the Marlins have an ace for years to come. The only question is how many years before he gets traded?

5 Players To Watch In The 2013 MLB All-Star Game

It's once again that time of year, mid summer classic time as the MLB's elite talents square off in the All-Star game. Everybody regardless of what team they play for is a tremendous talent but some guys might be a bit overlooked so here are a few guys you guys will need to watch out for in this years All-Star game.

#5 Adam Jones (Baltimore Orioles)

Although Adam Jones is starting in center field once again for the American league he may be overshadowed by guys like Miguel Cabrera and his teammate Chris Davis. Jones is one exciting player and a 5 tool one at that he has the ability to make some Tori Hunter type plays in the all-star game if given the chance. He is having a good season thus far for a good Baltimore team. Don't sleep on Adam Jones if you watch the All- Star game.

#4 Jason Grilli (Pittsburgh Pirates)

If you aren't to familiar with the national league leading Pittsburgh Pirates and why they have the best record then you will quickly find out in the All-Star game. Jason Grilli the Pirates closer has been nothing short of a shutdown closer converting on 28 of his 29 save opportunity’s while collecting a 2.15 ERA. In the game of baseball you need a reliable guy who will get you those very tough last 3 outs and Grilli has been doing that at a high clip for the Pirates this year. Expect him to challenge any and all hitters who face him.

#3 Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona Diamondbacks)

The Arizona Diamondbacks are playing plus 500 baseball and a big reason for that is because of young slugger Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt has tremendous power and might be in the homerun derby but god forbid he get a hold of any type of pitch he can drive or you will see why he has 21 home runs and 73 RBI's with a 305. batting average. For fans who don't know about the young first baseman it will be good for them to watch.

#2 Jose Fernandez (Miami Marlins)

If there was one word to describe Jose Fernandez's stuff its “Electric”, this guy is a rookie sensation but not many people are paying attention due to the Marlins record. He is top 10 among all pitchers in ERA and hitters are only hitting 193. against him. Who ever he faces will get challenged and if they come out whiffing don't be surprised.

#1 Mariano Rivera (New York Yankees)

It's his last of many All-Star games and baseball as well as the midsummer classic will definitely miss Mo- The greatest closer baseball has ever seen.