Reality: Ervin Santana decided on a team, and it wasn’t the O’s or Blue Jays, but the Atlanta Braves.
Perception: Dave O’Brien from the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweeted this morning that the Braves will announce the Santana signing at Champion Stadium.
The Braves needed to do something, as they were suffering through injuries to Mike Minor, Kris Medlon, and Brandon Beachy, as well as a known issue with new acquisition Gavin Floyd. So they went all-in on Ervin Santana and ripped him away from the Orioles and the Blue Jays.
So it appears the Orioles will now go with who they have. It appears their starting 5 will be: Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, and probably Bud Norris. That leaves Suk-min Yoon in the pen along with Zach Britton and Kevin Gausman. That could change if Tommy Hunter faulters as the closer, as Norris or Gausman could get a short to replace Hunter.
They have plenty of options for the bullpen, so a trade could still happen, but I think the Orioles will stick with who they have.
Santana passed up on a pretty sweet offer from Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, who offered Santana 150 crabcakes if he signed with Charm City.
Guess he’s not a seafood fan.
Reality: The MLS has equaled MLB in popularity with kids
Perception: According to an ESPN poll, the MLS is tied with MLB for popularity with 12-to-17-year-olds. But it doesn’t say much for either sport, as they both claim just 18%. The NFL leads with 39%, and the NBA, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball all had more than 23%.
Major League Soccer (MLS) has grown in popularity since its inception in 1996. Soccer is the world’s most popular sport, but it’s never been a big sport in America. Young people have been playing soccer in huge amounts for years, but it’s never translated to success for soccer as a major professional sport in America… until now?
I’m not sure if it says the MLS is growing in popularity or if it’s really showing the Major League Baseball (MLB) is struggling with the younger generation. I tend to lean towards the latter.
Baseball has a problem. In this ADD generation of quick highlights, and fast moving play, the deliberately slow pace of baseball is a major issue for a younger generation that gets bored quickly. Yes, the average length of time for a baseball game and a football game are very similar (the average NFL game in 2013 lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes, while baseball averaged 2 hours, 58 minutes).
But the problem is the pace of play. In the NFL you have lots of hard-hitting, face-paced action, spaced out by instant replays of the action and commercial breaks. In baseball, you have a pitch, and then a player steps out and does a lot of nothing, while the pitcher walks around the mound, before throwing a second pitch. It’s a very slow game, even if the overall time of the game isn’t that bad. With the lack of face-paced action, it’s hard to keep the younger generation involved in the game. Plus, with Instant replay this year, it may help the game, but won’t help the time of play.
If baseball wants to grow in popularity, they will have to look to make some serious changes. A lot of older traditionalists won’t like it, but if they don’t, baseball may not be around after those type of people pass away.
