Baseball Fan Petty Rant

[Jon Grider]

I like MLB. I'm a lifelong St. Louis Cardinal fan but enjoy watching baseball whoever's playing. Now that I'm retired I watch a couple of games or a portion of several games per week on the TV.

What bugs me is watching fans that buy the best seats in the house in back of home plate and then ignore the game while they gawk at their phone for 9 innings, or

have a continual conversation with their buddy or buddiette with no clue to what's going on in the field.

Seems like a waste of 200-300 bucks or more with food.

Yes it is their money and they are free to spend it anyway they want but that doesn't prevent me from thinking they are just there to get there mugs on MLB network.

OK, I fell better now.

[Ole Anderson]

Makes me wonder too. Smart phones have changed our lives more than any other development in the last 100 years, and not always for the good. Not watching much baseball this year, with the Tigers playing as they have. But my pet peeve is that the TV producers would rather point the camera at a player standing in the outfield than focusing on the excitement of a fan that just caught a ball in the stands. Or watching the bat boy at work occasionally. (I have three young friends, all brothers, that were Tigers bat boys at the same time. And another of their friends, also a bat boy, that did get some air time when he stuck out his glove while sitting in his chair on the third base side and caught a line drive foul ball). There is a lot of interesting things that go on besides the players themselves. The game is often boring as it is, but there are many opportunities that are wasted to keep the TV audience engaged. Often caught on camera, but ignored by the guys in the TV trailer.

[Myk Rian]

But my pet peeve is that the TV producers would rather point the camera at a player standing in the outfield than focusing on the excitement of a fan that just caught a ball in the stands. Or watching the bat boy at work occasionally.

They do both of those all the time.

[Günter VögelBerg]

I moved to the united states as a teenager, so I came to baseball late enough that I missed the strike but got to watch the home run (steroid) era of the 90s. I never played it much but I do like watching it, at least passively. I find it makes great background in the shop or when I am otherwise engaged. It is rhythmic, a little slow, but there is always something happening, even if it is not frenetic action.

My pet peeve is when the broadcasters spend an entire half inning talking about anything but the game. This is especially grating in the local broadcasts (since none of them are local to me), where you hear no announcing for three outs because they are talking about freeway construction or the buffet at their hotel.

My other pet peeve is how MLB is fiddling around the edges with pitch clocks and mound visits and such when the real culprit of four hour games is the 5 minutes of pickup trucks and ED medication twice an inning or three times if there is a pitching change.

[Jon Nuckles]

My pet peeve is when the broadcasters spend an entire half inning talking about anything but the game. This is especially grating in the local broadcasts (since none of them are local to me), where you hear no announcing for three outs because they are talking about freeway construction or the buffet at their hotel.

I agree with you completely, Günter. It is particularly bad if the announcers think they are funny when they are not. The Cubs often, though less often than in past years, have quasi-celebrities come in to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch. Most spend a half inning in the radio booth and another in the TV booth. During the radio booth visits, it is hard to tell that a ball game is still going on in the background.

[Günter VögelBerg]

I agree with you completely, Günter. It is particularly bad if the announcers think they are funny when they are not. The Cubs often, though less often than in past years, have quasi-celebrities come in to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch. Most spend a half inning in the radio booth and another in the TV booth. During the radio booth visits, it is hard to tell that a ball game is still going on in the background.

This is only acceptable when Bill Murray does it.

[Jon Nuckles]

Bill Murray is one of the few "guest conductors" that might be more interesting to me than the game. He has sung on rare occasions, but I haven't seen/heard him in the booth in a long, long time. Most of the celebs are there to promote a project. I guess he doesn't need to do that.

[Jamie Buxton]

If anybody just wants to watch the game -- football, baseball, whatever -- they can usually watch from their easy chair. They get a better view, with long-distance lenses and instant replay, and it costs way less. I think the reason fans physically go to games is the social interactions with the fans around them. The "conversations with their buddy", as you put it, is why they're there.

[Jim Koepke]

For me watching the game has been more enjoyable in the four MLB ballparks in three cities than watching the game on TV.

It rained beer in the center field seats when Mike Ivy hit a grandslam against the Dodgers at Candlestick. It was a great game even though to the best of my memory the Giants still lost.

Watching the Cubs beat Houston was a great way to enjoy some great seats at Wrigley even though our tickets were SRO.

Being in a location without good radio reception to here a baseball game, very little of my time these days spent on the only sport of much interest to me.

What kept me on the edge of my seat wan't the teams or statistics. It was no matter what, the very next pitch could be the fuse to light off something big.

jtk

[Pat Barry]

Baseball games can be pretty long and boring.

[Jon Nuckles]

I love baseball and the Cubs. I go to a game or two per year at Wrigley, but prefer the better view that television provides. My complaint is that many broadcasts pay far too much attention to things that are not the game on the field. I don’t want to see the fans, the announcers, nor any “human interest” stories. Baseball is interesting on its own, and broadcasters who try to make it more interesting by focusing on things not on the field do a disservice to the game. The people they are trying to draw in are never going to like the game. ESPN is the worst. All of the Cubs’ games are on TV and I dread the ones that ESPN chooses for their coverage, preempting the usual outlets. That’s my rant!

[Jon Grider]

I love baseball and the Cubs. I go to a game or two per year at Wrigley, but prefer the better view that television provides. My complaint is that many broadcasts pay far too much attention to things that are not the game on the field. I don’t want to see the fans, the announcers, nor any “human interest” stories. Baseball is interesting on its own, and broadcasters who try to make it more interesting by focusing on things not on the field do a disservice to the game. The people they are trying to draw in are never going to like the game. ESPN is the worst. All of the Cubs’ games are on TV and I dread the ones that ESPN chooses for their coverage, preempting the usual outlets. That’s my rant!

ESPN is the worst, agreed. The Sunday night crew seems oblivious to the game sometimes. The camera spends so much time in the broadcast booth the game becomes secondary.

[Rob Luter]

My bride and I enjoyed a game last night at our local minor league park. Great seats (right behind home plate). I've been to three games in the last week and a half and didn't last through the 6th inning in any of them. Good thing the tickets are cheap.

[Stan Calow]

You can make the same complaint about concerts.

[Paul McGaha]

I love watching Nationals games, right up to the time when the Nationals bullpen gets involved.

I go to 3 or 4 games per year. Mostly I watch them on TV. We have really good guys doing the TV work (MASN). Easy to listen to.

PHM