Another American Tradition Bites the Dust

Major League Baseball (MLB) had its opening day in Japan. What is the world coming to? While I am only a casual follower of steroid ball, this is just wrong.

With all the issues that MLB has had to deal with, and their responsibility to rebuild their image as a clean American sport now that the steroid era is coming to an end, one has to wonder what they were thinking. The frenzy over the Mitchell Report in January and Roger Clemens’ congressional testimony in February is over, and MLB lost an opportunity for a new beginning with the 2008 season. A lost opportunity for a new era free of HGH, controversy, and government oversight. How great it would have been to be able to look back on 2008 ten years from now and remember that opening day was the turning point when MLB started its new era. An era to mirror the “olden days” when the players were iconic heroes, and fans were able to turn to baseball to escape the drudgery of their lives, if only for 3 hours. An age where the biggest controversy was how many hot dogs Babe Ruth ate in the dugout during a game. But no, MLB squanders an opportunity for rebirth. They can ill afford to lose opportunities like this.

The trend in modern times towards globalization, making the world smaller, bla bla bla is not relevant to an American institution like professional sports. It’s bad enough that the NFL is taking America’s number one sport to Europe for regular season games, but that’s a topic for some other day. Major League Baseball’s opening day is a strong American tradition (even stronger than the NFL’s opening game) that has survived the tests of the steroid era. The excitement of opening day 2008 is palpable in the post-Mitchell report days as fans try to put a controversy-filled off-season behind them. So why disappoint the fans not just by having a game in Japan, but the game? An opportunity for rebirth lost. A slap in the face to MLB fans. When will MLB get their act together? Certainly not with the current, spineless commissioner.

I don’t mind MLB, or anyone else for that matter, having exhibition games overseas. However, regular season games and above all, MLB’s opening day, should remain a strictly American tradition. More isolationism in a world of increasing globalization is a principle I can support, even if I'm not a huge baseball fan.