Cause and Effect Essay

Masih Farooqui
Mrs. Hornik
Senior Reading & Writing
19 October 2010
Baseball: It’s Time has Passed The balance of power in sports has shifted. Baseball, America’s grand old game was introduced to America bringing joy to the faces of men during a time of civil unrest. That brought this small game into the hearts of many Americans as the best sport in the nation. Now, things are different; baseball has been hit by some major questions plaguing the game today. Like most sensations that burst onto the scene, the glory days do not last forever. It is obvious baseball is no longer America’s national pastime because it’s time has passed for a variety of reasons. The baseball season is far too long, the sport is extremely slow and boring, and the steroid era has disfigured the game’s image. The baseball season is longer than any other sport and too long for most to stay tuned. The season, lasting 162 games from April to October, starts and ends at two exciting sporting seasons outside of baseball. During the beginning the NBA playoffs are going on and towards the end the NFL season starts, two better viewing options than the MLB. Baseball starts too early because the leftover effects of winter are still felt in April with snowed out games and in October fall nights cause very low temperatures. Fans also are upset when they’re teams are already out of the playoff chase half way through the season. A sign that points to the non competitiveness of the MLB; the season always ends with the same teams in the playoffs and getting better and the bad teams getting worse. This gets people frustrated knowing that your team in the MLB has not much of a chance to turn their fortunes around like the other major sports. Baseball’s lengthy season results in losing the viewing completion with other sports and the season’s not the only dreadful part but each game as well. Baseball games also lack action and they face a rising controversy on the speed of the game. Baseball games are about three and half hours on a consistent basis, longer than any other major sport. That’s not the point, those three and a half hours are of no interest to viewers today. Baseball is not at all comparable to basketball and football in the amount of emotion from great plays, athleticism and physical brilliance. Baseball essentially is a pitcher throwing and a batter hitting because that is where all the time is wasted. In basketball and football you are guaranteed satisfaction on many plays in one game. I think part of the reason the speed of the game is so slow is there is no clock. The speed of the game has recently become an issue because pitchers as long as they take in between every pitch and hitters with the time they get to prepare are always complaining wanting more time. The umpires give them the time and these are the same umpires who blow numerous calls constantly. Now the MLB has implemented instant replay to further slow a terrible game in order to fix umpire mistakes. Baseball’s dreary games don’t appeal to most fans because there are more quick moving and entertaining things to watch. The biggest problem however, lies in the honesty of the players. The presence of cheating in Major League Baseball has changed this sport forever. A sport that once captured inspiration and admiration at unbelievable stats and great natural talent has lost the trust fans had in the game. Now days, people do not take hits and home runs seriously because all signs point to an issue looming over the game; steroids. Fans knew what was coming when they first saw those hitters being accused of taking banned substances and clearly denying it in front of the nation. They were right one by one all the bigger named players went down under investigation by the MLB for illegal drugs. Fans were pushed over the edge, most finally had it with baseball. Baseball’s records and milestones were among the most recognizable among all sports but now that doesn’t matter baseball is tainted. Memorable moments like Sosa and Mcgwire making a run at the single season home run record was a hoax and none bigger than Bonds breaking the most cherished mark in all of sports, the all time home run record which was also fake. Even more recently baseball’s biggest slugger, the guy who the remaining baseball fans thought would be the next clean home run king; confessed to the media about his use of steroids. Even baseball players admit that performance enhancing drugs are being used by a vast majority of players. Baseball is full of lies, a game where players will go to any extreme to get an unfair advantage over others. It is a fact whether or not people want to believe it; baseball has sunk into the land of the lost and isn’t coming back. Once a symbol of American pride and nationalism is now no more than a unnoticed side event to other sports. Several factors caused its demise; the most notable being: the season that seems to never end, the individual games that don’t excite and the scandal that has put an everlasting shadow on the integrity of the game. Now that baseball is no longer the national pastime, has America found a new one?