How did Baseball go from the national past time to the most boring professional sport in America?
613420
Here's an analytical perspective. Baseball was THE SPORT of the Radio Age. Young Kids and their sports obsessed fathers sitting by a Radio listening to announcers describe "Towering balls hit by (Insert Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, etc. here) that could reach the moon" They'd sit there and even keep an at home scorecard. Everything was described BIG. Curveballs went from head to toe. Home Runs were 400 foot blasts. All these descriptions filled a lot of space.\n\nTo this day some folks listen to radio broadcasts of Baseball instead of watching the TV Broadcasts. I watched the Yankee games with the sound off and turned the radio on until Michael Kay went to TV. Now I actually listen to the TV's sound.\n\nThen came TV. And we got to see that Pitchers spend a lot of time scratching themselves between pitches. Curveballs don't go head to toe. Oh yeah and 400 ft. is from here to where I parked my car.\n\nThen came the Highlight reel. This actually helped baseball for a while.\n\nThen came the digital age. Games, PC's (Or Macs), etc. Things started getting faster. Basball didn't. (And no help from the Human rain delay Steve Trachsel mind you.) Football, Basketball, and Hockey (All very condusive to TV) get faster. Video Games of those sports rival the pace of the real games. Baseball's games. Well, to this day only one company has gotten a Baseball video game right. Acclaim's All Star Baseball (Now out of business no longer making that game because all their other games stunk.)\n\nBaseball is sort of an Athletic Chess. It's just a slower game. They've tried to incease Home Run output in hopes of increasing interest. However, I think they failed. For years, Baseball was the US's answer to Soccer. Our slow defensive game with a 3-2 score. The anticipation for the one big blow. The Home Run to ice the game had us captivated. The same way the rest of the world waits for that moment the announcer yells GOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!! But, Home Runs happen all the time now. \n\nSo now Baseball to the younger generation is a slow game with great highlight reels. Watching it for them is difficult. Some guy scratches himself a lot while the announcer tells you how great his record is when pitching in day games on the equinox if he's at least more then 450 nautical miles North by Northwest of Fiji.\n\nAll that said. I do love Baseball. So much.
549693
National league hitting is awful so the pitchers are going to look like Cy Young! AL players have more pop in their bats.
772864
I don't consider baseball the all American sport anymore. Rather watch football more then anything these days.
631609
Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime." \n\nAlexander Joy Cartwright (1820-1892) of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, devised the first rules and regulations for the modern game of baseball. \n\nBaseball was based on the English game of rounders. Rounders become popular in the United States in the early 19th century, where the game was called "townball", "base", or "baseball". Cartwright formalized the modern rules of baseball. \n\nThe first recorded baseball game in 1846 when Alexander Cartwright's Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club. The game was held at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1858, the National Association of Base Ball Players, the first organized baseball league was formed. \n\n1845: Alexander Cartwright published a set of baseball rules for the Knickerbocker Club of New York, and his rules were widely adopted. \n1869: The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first openly-salaried team and are thus considered the first professional team. \n1871: The first professional baseball league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, was established. \n1876: The first major league, the National League, was formed. \n1878: Frederick Winthrop Thayer of Massachusetts (captain of the Harvard University Baseball Club) received a patent for a baseball catcher's mask on February 12. \nThe History of Baseball - Alexander Cartwright \nBaseball was invented by Alexander Cartwright. \nAlexander Cartwright \nIn 1845, in New York City, the 25 year old Alexander Cartwright took various elements that were used in these different forms of early baseball and, adding a few wrinkles of his own, fused them into regulations that stand today. \n\nBaseball in 1845 \nIt was called the Knickerbocker game or the New York game, and yes, it differed in several respects from what we now know as baseball...but nevertheless it was definitely the basis for the game we play today. \n\nThe History and Evolution of the Baseball Bat \nThe evolution of baseball bats has provided spectators with a more exciting game by changing the sport entirely
989211
its not very fun at all. all u do is sit around and wait for a dum homerun or something like that
1017742
I've yet to understand the popularity of baseball myself but hey to each there own.  When I ask my family about world cup and I have to tell them it's soccer. They roll their eyes and yawn.  To those that never played the game it is rather boring and you can catch all the action on the highlight reel of the late night news.  When you get down to it, when one doesn't know someone that's actually playing it's hard to spark interest.  Baseball players, basketball etc...have become household names and hence an increase of popularity.
415609
Definitely not.  The closest I could surmise this to mean is that hoops has replaced baseball as the US's 2nd most popular sport... of course that tends to happen when you cancel a season due to a strike/lockout (look how it's hurt hockey), it always takes a while to get people who were huge fans before the season stoppage back.
399604
MLB was National only in its inception... When are you counting the start of major league baseball?  If you use 1901, the 1st year of the American and National Divisions the teams are as follows:  \n\nAmerican - Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Milwaukee Brewers\n\nNational - Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves
481302
baseball does not require anywhere near the degree of athletisim that sports like basketball, football and soccer do. What makes the game interesting is the matchups and strategy that you come to see only when you have a good grasp of the game. The most important of these is the pitching. How the pitcher mixes and chooses the placement of his pitches and the types of pitches he throws. I can understand how someone wouldn't like baseball its an aquired taste
26070
BASEBALL...it takes more skill, and intellect.  People say it's boring, because it's too slow, but I find football boring and slow.  It doesn't take much skill to run and jump on each other...and talk about slow... They run, then they tackle each other to the floor, then you have to wait for them to get up, and adjust their package, and gear, to then walk to formation.  Then they form their tactical lineup (the only smart thing they do, which someone else comes up with the master plan), then you wait for the quarterback's hut, then you start the crap all over again.
1001819
Boring!  I like American Football much better!!
251591
Main article: History of Baseball \nBaseball is thought to be a direct descendant of cricket, rounders, and town ball (which was much like rounders). The first explicit references to baseball appear to come from England. The earliest known mention of the sport is in a 1744 publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book by John Newbery. It contains a wood-cut illustration of boys playing "baseball" (showing a similar set-up to the modern game) and a rhymed description of the sport. Also, a British letter dating from 1748 by Lady Hervey describes how the then Prince of Wales diverted his time playing baseball.\n\nAnother early mention of the game can be found in an 1886 edition of Sporting Life magazine, in a letter from Dr. Adam Ford of Denver, Colorado, formerly of St. Marys, Ontario, Canada, who details a base ball game played in Beachville, Ontario, Canada, on June 4, 1838 -- Militia Muster Day.\n\nAlexander Cartwright had a hand in compiling and publishing an early list of rules in 1845 (the so-called Knickerbocker Rules) to meet the demands of the already popular sport, and today's rules of baseball have evolved from them.\n\nProfessional baseball began in the United States around 1865, and the National League was founded in 1876 as the first true major league, quickly producing famous players such as Honus Wagner. Several other major leagues formed and failed, but the American League, established in 1901 as a major league and originating from the minor Western League (1893), did succeed. While the two leagues were rivals who actively fought for the best players, often disregarding one another's contracts and engaging in bitter legal disputes, a modicum of peace was established in 1903, they began playing a World Series that year.
216037
golf or baseball. They are both boring
1005193
The first professional league was called the "National Association", and it was just that...an association of players, rather than a League of "Clubs".  This Association lasted from 1871-1875.\n\nThe Association gave way to the National League in 1876, and the N.L. is considered to be the first "Major" league.\n\nOther organizations that were considered "Major Leagues" during the 19th Century included:\n\nThe Union Association 1884\nThe Players League 1890\nThe American Association 1882-1891\n\nThe 20th century saw the emergence of the American League in 1901 (it actually existed in 1900).\n\nAlso, the "Federal League" operated in 1914 and 1915, and this is also considered to be a major league.... \n\nThe statistics of players who played in these leagues are all included in their career totals, and recognized by Major League Baseball, with the exception of the National Association 1871-1875.\n\nThe National Association had a very erratic schedule and because it was really not operated very well, and good records were not really kept, present-day Major League Baseball does not officially recognize the statistics of players who participated in this league. Cap Anson was probably that League's biggest star.\n\nThe status of the Union Association as a major league is also questionable, due to the fact that there was only one good team (St. Louis) and the rosters were pretty much a revolving door, with players moving freely between teams....contracts apparently didn't mean much to these people.\n\nAlso, whole teams dropped in and out of that league...  It was not a well run organization at all
299648
It will never be our national pastime, however, it is far more popular.  The baseball season is too long to keep people interested.
315274
Becasue back in the early 1900s, the U.S. was the only country in which people were playing baseball professionally and in competitve forms.  The champions back then were actually the best in the world.  So when they named it, there weren't thinking hmmm....100 years from now people from Japan and Latin America will be playing the sport and importing a lot of our best players.\nNow people from other countries play the sport, but I don't think there's really any reason why to change the name from the "World Series" to the "American Series".
353350
Women's basketball is absolutely the most boring thing I can imagine. The WNBA is a joke and should be done away with!!!