Here’s a spin on an old rhetorical question for you.
If a life-threatening disease falls in the forest, does it make a sound?
The answer is yes, but it barely registers. This rhetorical came to pass this past week, as approximately 17 members of the Miami Marlins roster and staff received positive tests for COVID-19.
Let me preface by saying that, obviously, my thoughts are for the well-being of the Marlins staff. This killer of a disease has done enough damage across the globe, and nobody wants to see it infect anyone.
That being said, the national reaction to this story brings into light baseball’s fall from that “America’s pastime” grace of the 1900s. Had this happened to any NBA or NFL club, it would’ve been national news, not just on the sports channels.
But, it’s just the Miami Marlins, right? Which brings up an interesting question. If I were to say “it’s just the [fill in team here],” how many MLB teams could that apply to? I would say about half of the majors, which is a major problem.
Yes, the Yankees and Dodgers are still big enterprises. The Astros have done a bang-up job of getting extra attention on themselves. Besides the tippy-top tier of teams, though, nobody seems to care about anything that happens.
I grew up in the waning years of when baseball meant a heck of a lot more, the early 2000s period headlined by Jeter’s Yankees, Papi’s Red Sox and Pujols’ Cardinals. Unfortunately, I was a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, and we never really got anywhere. Because the game itself was still popular, though, the tide of baseball lifted all boats, and I still cared about 75-win Pirates squads.
That no longer applies, as I only know approximately six players on the Bucs roster this year. We still suck, but we didn’t suck any harder than before. I still like baseball as much as I did then. So why has my enthusiasm changed? I come back to that tide of baseball popularity, which is at an all-time low.
The biggest problem, for me, is something I look at a little deeper as a former Communications major. This league has a serious awareness problem, and it all comes down to public relations and marketing.
For example, let’s look at how recent rule changes have been marketed in three major sports, comparing the NFL, NBA and MLB.
The NFL’s rule changes in the past 10-15 years have mostly benefited the passing game, allowing for a more wide-open, exciting feel. Similarly, the NBA removed hand-checking rules before the 2004-05 season, allowing for more offense.
The MLB’s twist on excitement comes this year with new extra-innings affairs. To begin each half-inning, the hitting team will receive a free runner on second-base. This rule was introduced in the minor-league level at first, with fans giving it almost unanimous approval while I was covering a squad in the Cardinals system. If the fans are for it, I’m for it, as the goal is to save the sport.
So, all three sports have introduced rules to increase scoring and excitement, yet the MLB hasn’t done much to market theirs. The NFL immediately put its marketing chips into quarterbacks more than ever, to great success. The NBA began to favor marketing guards over big men, another success. The MLB has had no plan for marketing their actually-exciting rule change, another misfire in an era full of them.
Part of the reason that the MLB had no desire to market this change, or the popular “opener” pitching strategy, is that they continually refuse to market individual over team. Yes, Aaron Judge is the “face” of the Yankees, but you’ll see 100 Yankee caps on the street before you see one Judge jersey. I suppose that’s how the owners and league like it, but the fans don’t.
Fans want to see superstars. If the NBA stuck to a team-oriented marketing model and failed to capitalize on Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the early 1980s, the league would’ve ceased to exist. If Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz didn’t become big names, UFC would’ve never sniffed a decent profit, let alone shows at Madison Square Garden.
The funny thing is, MLB has these ready-made stars. As a Pirates fan, I hate the Cubs, but I know Anthony Rizzo is quite the personality. Mike Trout is the best player I’ve seen since the heydey of Pujols, but is a much lesser star.
So, how does MLB fix this? They can’t kick out owners of bad teams simply for being cheap, so there needs to be an alternative solution.
First, If I was the MLB, I would be more frightened by indifference from a massive audience than squabbling from a vocal minority.
Minor offenses of “The Code,” such as bat-flipping, are taken as life-and-death scenarios by some, when those moments are what propels a superstar. Jose Bautista’s flip in 2015 was perhaps the most exciting moment of the past 10 years, had everyone talking, yet MLB was so scared about old-time fans defecting that they dropped the ball on its promotion. Baseball’s superstars need to be marketed as such, period. If attitude and minor code infractions are part of that marketing, so be it. You can’t argue about the morals of a sport that’s dead due to lack of popularity.
As for how to market so that all 30 teams seem important, not having half a league full of Miami Marlins? To that, I use an old adage from professional wrestling mastermind Paul Heyman. The league needs to accentuate the strengths and hide the weaknesses of each given ballclub.
With my Pirates, for example, owner Robert Nutting will always be cheap, and will do anything in his power to keep the team from longterm contention. But, we still have a gorgeous ballpark and a storied history. Focus more on that, and maybe fans will show up in 2021. Accentuate the strengths, minimize the impact of the weaknesses, and you have a best-case marketing scenario for each squad.
If the MLB doesn’t want to listen to me, that’s fine. I mean, it’s only the future of baseball at stake.
No big deal.