Disenchanted with MLB? Yeah I’m A Lost Man, too

This post has been brewing for a while now, but I must admit I was just not that excited or motivated to write it.

Will it get better?

Not excited as I have been a long time baseball fanboy.  Not motivated as I am not usually the curmudgeon type.  I’d rather focus my energy elsewhere.  But alas due to contractual obligations to CubicleGM, I find myself in front of my computer, yet again bored by baseball.

These posts started in early September, when I found myself spending more time wondering if MLB would be more exciting if the Yankees and Red Sox played in their own division (I still contend, yes) than on the games themselves.  Later in September I pleaded to be woken up when September ends as MLB was exceedingly boring during its penultimate month.  As a distraction (an effort to disillusion myself from the reality), I posted my 6 Best Sports Rants (worth bookmarking if you are a fan of laughing) during baseball’s final week, rather than actually writing about anything playoff related as there were no storylines of interest.   During the actual playoffs, I put out an astounding 2 posts.  One post was actually about the World Series and the other article reminiscing the days of when baseball was fun.

Well the series is over and it wasn’t all that exciting.  The Phillies lost the game that I wondered why they didn’t start Cliff Lee, found themselves down 3-1 and were finished off in game 6.  The Yankees spent a fortune in the offseason on guys that for the most part are neither likable nor dislikable, and rode their spree to the championship.

Normally I’d be eagerly awaiting Spring Training and Opening Day – an annual changing of the seasons that ushers in Spring and Summer here on the Eastern seaboard.  The Winter wheelings and dealings traditionally add great intrigue to the baseball offseason.  Yet for some reason I don’t find myself yearning for pitchers and catchers to report to Florida and Arizona.  I don’t find myself excited to see where the Free Agents (Lackey, Holliday, & Bay are the best free agents!!!!!) land, and am not checking ESPN by the minute for the latest trade gossip.

Why? Why? Why?  That’s what I am trying to figure out.  Is it simply a cyclical thing?  After 10-15 years of excitement and intrigue was it just a matter of simple regression to the mean for a few years?  Is it an unforeseen consequence of the steroid era?  After years of unprecedented homeruns and glorification, was a letdown inevitable?  Is it bad karma for baseball owners that made millions while turning a blind eye to needles in muscles?  Is it me, not baseball?  Am I growing up, no longer the kid that dreamt of playing MLB (I think that happened 15 years ago, but maybe not)?  Am I becoming bored by the marathon that is the MLB season, in favor of the intense gratification that is an NFL Sunday?  Is MLB’s Have’s vs. Have Not’s issue making it suck?

I don’t have the answer yet, but that’s my goal for this offseason.  Hopefully come mid December I will be looking forward to seeing Youk and Pedroia in Fort Myers; Greinke in the Royals throwback babyblues; and Felix Hernandez continue his inevitable march towards a Cy Young award.  In the meantime, I’m off to watch the Squared Sevens play the Ming Ding Xiong, aka 49ers vs Bears, for those that aren’t huge TMQ fans, one of the better weekly NFL columns.

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