Off-Topic Forum

I agree with most of the points already made. I personally dislike the in game interviews. I have some thoughts on why this has happened.

Fewer kids playing baseball leads to fewer actual baseball fans.

"Long time fans" = fans who won't be around much longer. 20 - 40 year old fans are more profitable because they have more years ahead of them to spend money on baseball. Some might say they are less savvy about how they spend their money. 

A sharp decline in quality of play by play announcers and commentators, combined with less actual airtime to talk about the game. I would exclude John Smoltz here. Ever notice how many times errors are overlooked? It seems to be an unwritten rule - don't make negative comments about players performance. Years of this has resulted in fans who are less knowledgeable about the game and media advisors and marketing advisors who  don't truly understand the game spreading the misconception that baseball is boring. They either can't see or won't admit THEY made the coverage of the game boring.

There's more you could say but this comment is long enough already. Since it seems I don't belong to a demographic MLB is interested in, I will be very careful about how much of my money they get. I record the games on Fox and tbs. Then get anything else I want online. No subscriptions, period.

If you want to do something about it start by teaching your kids and grandkids how to play the game.

This really isn’t related to the topic, but since there seems to be nostalgia for how the game used to be broadcast, figured I’d post this YouTube channel I stumbled upon a few months ago here:

https://youtube.com/@ThisIsWhereYouFindBaseball

Thanks to the BS battle between DirecTV and NEXSTAR (which owns my local FOX station), I didn't even get to see the All Star Game this year! First time that I can remember not seeing at least some of the game live. I had to settle for highlights and was ticked that neither MLB Network nor ESPN aired highlights until over an hour after the game was over!!! MLB and the TV networks really don't seem to care about expanding the visibility of the sport.

BUT, have any of you seen the show "Carded" on MLB Network? It airs at all kinds of random times and new episodes aren't consistent. But I like the show. It's hosted by Amsinger and he has different players opening old and new packs of cards. He's even had players open packs with their sons. It's a cool show to watch, but I wish it had a consistent schedule.

TWIB was great.  There was a segment of the best arms in the outfield I wanted to watch and couldn't find it online.  I may still have it on VHS somewhere.

mlb.tv does have some decent offerings; I am able to watch a quick game if I missed one; showing the main outs/hits of the game.  And during the all-start game they had several old All Star games available to watch.   They also have the monthly Carded show.   And the top plays of the day/week in 1/5/10 minutes (or whatever format they have) is reasonable.  First year with mlb.tv and its gotten me back into MLB.  And the ability to listen to the audio broadcast is excellent.

Do I want more?  Yes

Do I find some of the programming garbage and a waste?  yes

Do I hate the blackouts? Yes

Do I wish I could watch the Home Run Derby on mlb.tv? Yes

But it could also be worse.