In 1998 Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine came up with the idea for Nike’s iconic advertisement, “Chicks Dig the Long Ball.” Full of the sexual innuendo that would be extended with Major League Baseball’s foray into Viagra marketing, the spot was an unfortunate reminder of the void that haunts baseball history from the late 80s through the early 2000s.
The steroid era was on full display in 1998 as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa squared off in a “historic” battle for the National League home run crown (and the single season home run record). It turned out, like so many chapters in sports, to be a complete fraud. In 1989, when the wall came down in Berlin, athletes in the United States ballooned into cartoon characters. Clearly, the Eastern Bloc had the edge in steroid technology. Glasnost brought down the wall between the East and the West, and the real and unreal world of sports physiology.
Whatever. History is what the eyes tell us it is. Anyone can watch ESPN Classic, or any other 70s or 80s highlights – from any sport – and realize that something is amiss. The problem with baseball is that true fans measure the performance of MLB players by the numbers. The NBA and the NHL, for some reason, get passes. The NFL; well, we know what has been going on for decades.
Finally, real baseball has made a comeback. No matter what happened in Game 7 of this year’s World Series the best baseball team won. They won because (as a century of baseball has proven) pitching, defense, and base running win games at all levels. Of course you have to hit with power. But, in tense games with pitchers with nothing left to lose, it is the minimization of mistakes that determines the winner.
The artificial power surge provided by steroids diminished the acuity of managers as they strategized. Bullpen decisions became increasingly irrelevant in the ungodly swings that produced upper-deck and opposite field home runs. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It is ironic that San Francisco built such a spacious new baseball park in the midst of Barry Bonds’ fraudulent march to MLB’s home run throne. Now, the Giants’ pitching and excellent outfield defense served them well as they stood on the cusp of three rings in five years. Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium is one of the ultimate tests for an outfield defense. The way the Royals patrol it is more than intimidating.
It is not the bunting or the stealing, which can be legitimately questioned by sabrmetrics. It is the athleticism that is on display in these new postseasons. And it is glorious. Baseball on the turf of St. Louis in the 80s, or Minnesota of the 90s, may have been too much Ping-Pong. But a new decade has re-introduced baseball fans to the game.
Screw the ratings and all the attempts to make MLB more palatable to America’s football attention span. Hey, I love football too; but I watch baseball for a different reason: It is baseball. No true fan should ever forget that it takes a real athlete to play the game; and players of the future should take note. It is not that chicks dig the long ball; it is that everyone loves a winner. In today’s game it is pitch by pitch, not swing by swing.
