Baseball’s Hubris

(With apologies to Ernest Lawrence Taylor).
Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Baseball, the fans are all locked out.

Of course Taylor’s poem, Casey at the Bat is a classic. The famous last stanza is a monument to hubris:
…
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.

Unfortunately, the billionaire owners and millionaire players are fighting over money again this year. Like the Mighty Casey, their hubris knows no bounds. They need to be careful, or they too might strike out.

Who doesn’t have a seat at the table? We fans.

I’ve been a baseball fan since I was a kid. Although I started as a White Sox fan like most of my friends at the time, I’ve been a Cardinal fan since ‘64, when they won the World Series and my father convinced me of the error of my ways.

I’ve remained a Cardinal fan, but I’ve also followed other teams over the years. Truth be told, I love live baseball. I may take a nap watching a game on TV, but in the ballpark? I love it. There is nothing like being at the ball park. The excitement, smells, and sounds. Having a beer and a brat. The roar of the crowd. It’s a very nostalgic feeling.

Over the years, I’ve attended live baseball games all over the country. Certainly the Cards, Cubs and White Sox back home, but I followed several other teams as well.

Many folks hate the Yankees, however, when I was at West Point in the ‘70s, military personnel could attend games for free and I went to a few. The military wasn’t particularly popular then, and their gesture has always stayed with me. When we moved to DC in ‘89, there was no local baseball, but the Orioles were just up the road. Cath and I attended the occasional game at the old Memorial Stadium, and then when they built Camden Yard, we bought a mini season ticket plan with friends.

When the Nats came to DC, I became a season ticket holder with three other friends. They were great seats, right behind home plate. We kept those tickets for their first two years at RFK stadium, and then they jacked the prices up, and we let them go.

Several years later, I joined another group of four guys and have been attending Nats games ever since. I saw the All Star game in ‘18 when it was in DC, and made one of the World Series games in 2019, when they won it all. I still root for the Cardinals, but I’m as much of a Nats Fan as a Cardinal Fan these days. Don’t tell my dad – he’d probably roll over in his grave… 😉

I love baseball.

And now? Now, I just don’t get it. The 2020 season was lost due to Covid. The first third of the 2021 season only had limited seating, again due to Covid. You would think the last thing anyone would want now, is an impact on the 2022 season, and yet, here we are. The first two series of the season are already cancelled, and they are about to cancel more.

I won’t pretend to understand the intricacies of the current negotiations. What I do know is that they are continuing to lose fans. Greed never looks good, and to this fan, that’s what it looks like. Greed on the part of the owners, and greed on the part of the players.

It’s true fans don’t have a seat at the negotiating table. Ultimately though, fans DO have a vote – they can vote with their pocket books. It seems to me that both the owners and the players could learn something from Casey’s hubris.

This fan of baseball for the past sixty years is considering his options for the future.

Addendum:

– Special Thanks to my niece, Tami Harmon, who provided several suggestions for this blog. A life long Cubs fan, she knows quite a bit about baseball.

– Casey at the Bat was originally written in 1888. You can find a link to the complete poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45398/casey-at-the-bat

– UPDATE: Two days after this blog was originally published, the two sides reached an agreement. I’m sure this write up is what pushed them across the line. ;-).