"[Baseball] owners don't do anything to promote their players. [Red Sox slugger] Mo Vaughn--he's a gem," Skwar said. "Everything that's good about an athlete, Vaughn personifies. But I don't see the Red Sox going out there to promote him."

One audience member suggested that with "an incredible sports saturation," it has become "a zero-sum competition between sports." Baseball has lost the competition to other sports, he said.

King said continuing to support the game in areas with a strong baseball tradition and fostering a love of the sport in youngsters can help baseball remain our national pastime.

"Baseball has got to re-commit itself to urban areas," he said. "Demographically, first-generation Latino-Americans comprise the largest support group [for the game], and the League should be aware of that."

In addition to supporting community involvement in the game, the speakers and audience members discussed the reinstatement of a league commissioner as a way to boost the game.

The panelists pointed to basketball commissioner David Stern as the type of leader baseball needs.

Player-manager relationships also need to improve in order for the game to move forward, the group said.

"[Baseball is] at a critical point and [is] going to have to do something either to awaken the sleeping giant or put it to rest once and for all," Skwar said.