MLB lifers decry the state of the modern baseball: 'Unwatchable'

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Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is the latest to express his fury at the baseball gods, but he’s at a decided disadvantage as opposed to the rest of disgruntled baseball lifers across the nation. He is required to sit and watch these games. But as for the likes of Hall of Fame pitcher Goose Gossage, all-time hit king Pete Rose, and former World Series champion manager Lou Piniella, they certainly have a choice. They can change the channel. “I can’t watch these games anymore,’’ Gossage said. “It’s not baseball. It’s unwatchable. A lot of the strategy of the game, the beauty of the game, it’s all gone. “It’s like a video game now. It’s home run derby with their (expletive) launch angle every night.’’

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All anybody wants to do is launch the ball,’’ Piniella said. “They’re making the ballparks smaller, the balls tighter, and all we’re seeing is home runs. “There are no hit-and-runs. No stolen bases. Nothing. “I managed 3,400 games in the big leagues, and never once did I put on a full shift on anybody. Not once. And I think I won a few games without having to shift.’’ Said Rose, who produced 4,256 hits and struck out 100 times only once in 24 seasons: “It’s home run derby every night, and if that’s what they want, that’s what they’re going to get. But they have to understand something ... Home runs are up. Strikeouts are up. But attendance is down. I didn’t go to Harvard or one of those Ivy League schools, but that’s not a good thing.’’

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League-wide attendance is down about 800,000 compared with the same point last year. The final 2018 attendance – 69.7 million – was MLB's lowest figure since 2003. It's not just the bad teams, either. The first-place New York Yankees are on pace to see about 160,000 fewer fans walk through the gates compared to last year.

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