A great American pastime endures in pro baseball

For decades now, a great debate has raged on across this sports-loving land of ours: Can professional Major League Baseball still stake claim to its once iconic status as the American pastime?

What with the National Football League eclipsing MLB in attendance levels, net revenues and television ratings, many lament that the glory days of the quintessentially American bat-and-ball sport have gone the way of the dodo. Others, however, counter that its health is robust and its stars are rising.

Truth to tell, it’s not worth wasting much time over pastime semantics. Suffice it to say that professional baseball remains one of this nation’s and this region’s most popular diversions and amusements throughout the spring and summer seasons.

The passion and excitement of tens of thousands of fans attending home season opener games this week in Cleveland and Pittsburgh provide proof positive that the sport has retained its vigor more than 150 years after organized league play in metropolitan New York first dubbed baseball as “America’s pastime.”

Though pro baseball may no longer rule as the American pastime, it certainly ranks among America’s best loved diversions. Any rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated.

First, look at attendance. In 2015, for example, the fan base inside professional baseball stadiums increased over 2014 to 73.7 million to make it the seventh largest turnout in the long history of the sport.

Look at the action and competitiveness. Some argue that the on-field hitting, catching, running and homing is more fulfilling than the snappy plays of pro football. As Peter Handrinos points out in Errors and Fouls, “the average pro football contest has only about 12 minutes of in-play time (from the snaps that begin plays to the whistles that end them). The average major-league game, meanwhile, has about 25 actual minutes with the ball actually in play.”

Finally, look at the traditions. Not only has baseball reigned as a successful spectator sport, it also has become the destination of choice during the warm spring and summer months for a day centered around enjoyment with friends and family. Modern ballparks have become much more multi-purpose venues that host special events, concerts, fireworks and family-friendly activities.

FERTILE MLB GROUND IN VALLEY

All of those attributes and more hit close to home as Mahoning Valley baseball fans begin to cheer on their Cleveland Indians in the American League and the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League.

In Cleveland, hopes are high that this will be a year in which rebuilding efforts pay off with a trip to post-season play. Improvements to the ballpark, including new restaurants and a giant scoreboard, along with more seasoned talent should help to reverse the declining fan base at Progressive Field. Over the past four years, attendance has fallen significantly.

A public relations move taking effect this season likely will help quell controversy, raise support for the team and build more robust attendance as well. Club officials have decided to essentially retire the misguided and insensitive Chief Wahoo logo, which for years has been a thorn on the team’s side.

Across the state line at PNC Park in downtown Pittsburgh, things continue to look up for the Pirates. The team has enjoyed three consecutive years of trips to post-season play, and that is reflected in its fan base, which in contrast to the Indians has grown by about 500,000 over the past four years.

When not venturing to Progressive or PNC, Mahoning Valley baseball fans will have ample opportunities to enjoy pro baseball in their own backyard at the home of the MV Scrappers at Eastwood Field in Niles.

Now in its 18th season in the Valley, it has clearly outlived all other sporting franchises in endurance and popularity here. Unlike several other lower-echelon professional teams that have come and gone over the past two decades, the Valley’s Class A Cleveland Indians farm team has enjoyed an incredibly successful and sustained run on the baseball diamond with more than 2 million fans flocking to Eastwood Field.

So whether your personal taste gravitates toward the Scrappers, the Indians, the Pirates or all three, the time is right to take yourself out to the ballgame. If it’s been awhile since experiencing the sights and sounds of big-time baseball, go reconnect with its many sensory delights. You likely won’t be disappointed, and you may just adopt the sport as your own personal favorite pastime.