Can Baseball Win Back the African-American Community?

[BXKingPin82]

I honestly believe that if the next baseball commissioner can have a conversation with the players and managers about stopping all this unwritten rules nonsense and encouraging players to hype up the crowd during downtime it would lead to a more entertaining game. Imagine an outfielder waving his arms and telling the fans to get up when his pitcher has 2 strikes on a hitter or imagine a guy who it a double stands on second and starts motioning to the crowd to get up to drive him in. Those kinds of actions alone would make the game much more exciting. Crowd atmosphere even more so than pace is the biggest reason why a lot of people find baseball boring. Take football for example, a lot of people will say oh football is much more exciting and action packed then baseball. In reality studies have shown that there's really only 11 minutes of action in an entire 3 1/2 hours of football.

Anyone whose been to an actual game knows that there is plenty of downtime in football. I mean every play follows a situation where the team huddles, they get walk into their formation, some time passes the play happens, a player is tackled the, referee comes by spots the ball the team gets back up to huddle and the same process repeats. Thats not even counting the plays that are constantly interrupted by flags and the fact that the refs have to make an announcement of each penalty that just happened which takes away from the game as well. People don't notice as much because the atmosphere of the game is always electric because of the fact that the games are so meaningful and the players hype up the crowd on every play.

As a dominican watching carribbean series baseball the atmosphere and the showmanship make the games that much more electric and exciting because baseball like football is a sport where a lot of the fun is based on the anticipation of action. There is a stark cultural difference in the way white people (especially older ones) and black people perceive these kinds of celebrations. White people see it as arrogance and selfishness and a lack of professionalism and respect. People of African origins (i say african origins cuz i'm including latinos in this) we value extroverted celebrations. You can look at religion as one example of this. You got christian denominations like catholicism and other puritannical forms of christianity practice their spirituality by valuing humility. African and Native Americans before they were colonized largely practiced their brands of spirituality through dance and celebration. Once they were conquered and had christianity forced on them they took these elements of dance and celebration and implemented them towards their own brands of Christianity and today you see a stark difference in the way two races of people choose to worship one God.

So in turn, baseball's gotta be more open to allowing a more festive atmosphere to their games even if they do play 162 games.Baseball allows less teams into its post-season than do the other sports so there is a higher premium to making the post-season so regular season games are much more critical than they are in the NBA and NHL despite having twice as many games. The teams should try to hype of their fanbases more during games as it would make the games on television that much better and remove some of the negative "old boys club" perception that a lot of young black kids have of baseball today.

Excellent post

 

[kingofnyc]

Lol good point. I know Matt kemp and Jose Reyes eat though

yeah yeah... they do ... but i think u either missed his point or it went over ur head




u brought up kemp & reyes
-2 superstars / most known / face of franchise (well... atleast one time in their careers)

while he mention brandon jennings, nick young & jr smith
-hope u now, see the differences

 

[Ohene]

they do ... but i think u missed his point or it went over ur head

u brought up kemp & reyes -2 superstars / most known / face of franchise (well... at one time in their careers)
while he mention brandon jennings, nick young & jr smith - u see the differences

like i said...i see his point breh he's right. The same way Matt Kemp is eating...I'm sure a dude like Jason Heyward probably doesnt get as much play save for the fact that hes tall and deezed

 

[1thouwow]

As a young black american, baseball is wack as fukk. I even turned the updates off on my app

. Like dude said I'd rather us get into soccer. My lil bro plays it now

 

[kingofnyc]

Soccer? WTf is that? @kingofnyc do you know what soccer is?

I'm talking about football, the most popular sport in the world. That's where the money is at. MLB money is reserved for the superstars. Go on a slump and your ass is back to the minors and you will probably never see the light plus hispanics are taking over that sport.

why u soccer stans so insecure... this thread is about blacks & baseball kick rocks

 

[superunknown23]

why u soccer stans so insecure... this thread is about blacks & baseball kick rocks

For real, you don't see Americans crying about Euros not embracing football or baseball.
It's almost like they need our validation

 

[tremonthustler1]

I honestly believe that if the next baseball commissioner can have a conversation with the players and managers about stopping all this unwritten rules nonsense and encouraging players to hype up the crowd during downtime it would lead to a more entertaining game. Imagine an outfielder waving his arms and telling the fans to get up when his pitcher has 2 strikes on a hitter or imagine a guy who it a double stands on second and starts motioning to the crowd to get up to drive him in. Those kinds of actions alone would make the game much more exciting. Crowd atmosphere even more so than pace is the biggest reason why a lot of people find baseball boring. Take football for example, a lot of people will say oh football is much more exciting and action packed then baseball. In reality studies have shown that there's really only 11 minutes of action in an entire 3 1/2 hours of football.

Anyone whose been to an actual game knows that there is plenty of downtime in football. I mean every play follows a situation where the team huddles, they get walk into their formation, some time passes the play happens, a player is tackled the, referee comes by spots the ball the team gets back up to huddle and the same process repeats. Thats not even counting the plays that are constantly interrupted by flags and the fact that the refs have to make an announcement of each penalty that just happened which takes away from the game as well. People don't notice as much because the atmosphere of the game is always electric because of the fact that the games are so meaningful and the players hype up the crowd on every play.

As a dominican watching carribbean series baseball the atmosphere and the showmanship make the games that much more electric and exciting because baseball like football is a sport where a lot of the fun is based on the anticipation of action. There is a stark cultural difference in the way white people (especially older ones) and black people perceive these kinds of celebrations. White people see it as arrogance and selfishness and a lack of professionalism and respect. People of African origins (i say african origins cuz i'm including latinos in this) we value extroverted celebrations. You can look at religion as one example of this. You got christian denominations like catholicism and other puritannical forms of christianity practice their spirituality by valuing humility. African and Native Americans before they were colonized largely practiced their brands of spirituality through dance and celebration. Once they were conquered and had christianity forced on them they took these elements of dance and celebration and implemented them towards their own brands of Christianity and today you see a stark difference in the way two races of people choose to worship one God.

So in turn, baseball's gotta be more open to allowing a more festive atmosphere to their games even if they do play 162 games.Baseball allows less teams into its post-season than do the other sports so there is a higher premium to making the post-season so regular season games are much more critical than they are in the NBA and NHL despite having twice as many games. The teams should try to hype up their fanbases more during games as it would make the games on television that much better and remove some of the negative "old boys club" perception that a lot of young black kids have of baseball today.

The unwritten rule shyt is really just players policing themselves. What you find is that many players play with a stuck up their ass and catch feelings easily. That's why the showmanship that you see in other places get frowned upon in baseball. Think about it. When's the last time you saw someone get thrown out for excessively celebrating?

As for getting the crowd hyped, that's kinda up to the crowd. There's too many moving parts in baseball to be worried about the crowd's attention. Many fanbases do their own thing to get themselves involved. The players can only be so visible since they're in dugouts, this they're not seen by everyone the way benches are in other sports

 

[Dat Migo]

If they don't like it then they don't like it, no need to pander. MLB still getting money from fitted hat sales.

 

[Oville]

The unwritten rule shyt is really just players policing themselves. What you find is that many players play with a stuck up their ass and catch feelings easily. That's why the showmanship that you see in other places get frowned upon in baseball. Think about it. When's the last time you saw someone get thrown out for excessively celebrating?

As for getting the crowd hyped, that's kinda up to the crowd. There's too many moving parts in baseball to be worried about the crowd's attention. Many fanbases do their own thing to get themselves involved. The players can only be so visible since they're in dugouts, this they're not seen by everyone the way benches are in other sports

I'm not saying that the league is the one enforcing these rules, I know its part of the clubhouse culture. I know pitching inside or hitting someone with a pitch is a grey area and its hard to enforce. What I'm proposing is that the commissioner should meet with the players about the benefits that can from loosening the culture. Hell Andrew McCutchen got a fracture in his spine because the diamondbacks were mad that there star player Paul Goldschmidt had been hit even though he was hit unintentionally. Now even though they didn't hit McCutchen for celebrating or showing anyone up it shows an example of how the unwritten rules have gotten to far. Players are to damn sensitive about getting their feelings hurt. Why can't more players react the way trout and pujols did to rodney by using his own signature thing with the bow and arrow against him?


Obviously the crowds are going to react most of the time when they want to. But you see in other sports how fans react when their players are trying to hype them up. That level of energy towards the crowd plays well on tv. How do you want people to care about watching a game from your sport when you have a culture where anytime someone hits a big home run or a great play, the common criticism is "act like you've done it before" or "its a long season calm down". How can you expect people to garner passion for your game when the culture of the sport is designed to take it away. There's plenty of time within a baseball game to at least do a little clap or a little arm waving for the crowd before a pitch. Or to pound your chest at the crowd when you make a good play.

 

[mannyrs13]

Good article, browsed thru it mainly. Good to see there are youth leagues out there encouraging black kids to play. The thing is that baseball may not be popular in the black community but that shouldn't stop anyone from enjoying the game and it's rich history. Aaron, Mays, bonds, all three are black men who are some of the greatest hitters of all time yet don't get as much love as Jordan, kobe, or LeBron. Yeah you can make point that basketball is easier to play. But most these kids aren't gonna become athletes in any sport. The popularity of baseball may be declining but that doesn't mean someone has to follow the crowd. I see some posters on here are baseball fans. Not many but some enjoy. People should feel free to enjoy any sport regardless of racial makeup of league. Hell, most nhl players and fans are white, yet i still enjoy watching playoff hockey and it's excitement. Same with soccer and the world cup. If you like baseball, cool. If not, cool. oh and about the team's making games exiting, I see what you mean but i doubt it's the league banning that. The players can create excitement themselves. But i don't think many do.

 

[FaTaL]

show them the contracts

 

[Kings County]

game is boring as fukk

 

[Ohene]

shyt even in gym class playing baseball all nikkas wanted to do was hit. sitting in the lineup just waiting and waiting hoping that the dude before you gets a hit so you can get one in before class ends because its only like 10 mins left.

the sport is just type boring.

 

[kingofnyc]

like i said...i see his point breh he's right. The same way Matt Kemp is eating...I'm sure a dude like Jason Heyward probably doesnt get as much play save for the fact that hes tall and deezed

breh -are u sure u got the point... cause u keep bringing up matt kemp -which dosnt support the OP comment

best analogy is rih rih & iggy -both chicks dating ballers

rih rih was fukkkng with kemp when he was an allstar, 30 30, MVP runner up, face of the dodgers franchise etc. etc.
iggy fukking swaggy p who is a career back up

PS
rih was even fukking jr smith at once
kim k was fukking with kris hump


-point is... females deem basketball & football players as the highest trophies in all

 

[Miggs]

I hate how MLB acts like they are doing all they can to grow the sport in the black community while at the same time treating real nikkas like Barry Bonds and Milton Bradley like garbage. The NFL and NBA embraces the hood/hip-hop-generation (to an extent) while MLB wants nothing to do with it.

I wouldnt say the NFL necessarily embraces it...when i see Country acts doing all the tv ads and SB shows...
They definitely prefer to cater to a hillbilly country white element...