All of that created an ambience which dominates the sometimes insignificant action on the field. Every game is not of not of pivotal importance--there are 162 of them in a season. But people are drawn to the stadiums despite a seemingly endless schedule and a 427 winning percentage.
In the course of a game, the bleachers of Tiger Stadium in Detroit become a community Rich or poor, the beer-drinking and fun-loving people sitting there know what the sport is about. These faithfuls toss beachballs to and fro, expecting that it will eventually fall into center field with Glenn Wilson there to recover it Wilson will usually tip his hat to the fans. So would Mickey Stanley. And Al Cowens, too.
Easy Ridin'
None of the other major sports has this type of atmosphere and appeal, which enables completely diverse populations to gravitate to the inner city each day of the summer. An almost undefinable attraction stems from baseball's inability to maintain an exclusive group of only four teams that compete in the playoffs. People will come to a baseball game no matter what. But hockey has to allow a field of 16 out of 21 teams to participate in minors post-season play in order to keep spectator enthusiasm stable throughout the 80-game season. Basketball is almost as bad. And most football teams--because they play only 16 games in a season--aren't out of contention until December. So most people remain interested in a team's performance until late in the season.
Formance until late in the season.
Baseball has served as a monument of consistency. Consistency breeds tradition. And tradition breeds devotion. It has changed very little over the last century. But now, salary escalation, free agent compensation, the infamous strike and those sophisticated electronic scoreboards are said by some to have begun to threaten baseball's purity. So people begin to complain about the sport as a whole.
Intellecfualism and higher education do foster dissatisfaction and faultfinding. Whether that dissatisfaction is manifested in political activism, watching too much T.V., or baseball, the discontent in all of these has similar roots. Perhaps baseball isn't popular at Harvard--at least this is my contention--because those roots are especially prevalent here.
Sure, it would be nice if the Houston Astros got rid of their polyester, multi-colored and buttonless uniforms. But, still, baseball hasn't changed that much. Everything that I've seen indicates that there's still a lot more to appreciate than to criticize.
People don't go to Yankee Stadium just to watch a baseball game. They go there to be at the baseball game. That will never change. Even if Steve Kemp is making a million a year.