Not a sports fan, certainly not an American sports fan, but I found myself in a sports bar in Washington DC this evening, watching the “world” series. Was very happy to be able to engage the barman on the infield fly rule, and explained to a colleague why a ball that went behind the two white lines was out, thanks entirely to DS9. I think I saw a bunt too, but no Fancy Dans.
I always wondered why the writers chose Sisko to be fond of baseball. I'm sure there's something somewhere about it, but I don't recall ever reading or hearing anything.
I don't know the official reason, but baseball is pretty popular in the states. I for one am still waiting for a Canadian captain obsessed with hockey!
I think baseball has grown internationally too over the years. It’s big in Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Japan, and a few other countries. Heck even in Canada I’ve heard reports saying Canadians want the Expos to return in some form.
Baseball has been waning in popularity in the states, especially outside the Northeast. But, it's still the case that the majority of the top players in the world come to America to play, so until there's a league with better players than the MLB I think 'World' series is still valid.
^^this It's homage to Piller by the production crew, which is pretty cool. (My interest in it went up a bit because of that...) It might make a resurgence too in a few centuries. Until then, there's this:
I read an article that in the mid 19th century, people engaged in twelve hour games of competitive walking, which drew huge crowds that found it riveting. And that's the environment where baseball became popular. So I can see, given the entertainment options that seem to be available on Bajor after the Occupation, it would be the perfect environment for it to thrive again.
While DS9 is the home of Trek Baseball, didn't the mad scientist in TNG:Evolution play baseball games in his head?
Michael Piller did write baseball into the pilot, but he didn't intend to make it a permanent part of Sisko's character. It was Behr who decided to bring baseball back to life in the 24th century, a playful response to its death in "Evolution. "
It's pretty alive and well in the midwest portion of the U.S. too. Some people think soccer (football) is not that exciting either, although it is immensely popular in many places in the world. Some of that though I think has to do with the little amount of equipment needed to play.
Compared to other major sports though? Other than Boston and New York, how many baseball teams are as popular as their city’s NFL and NBA teams? The second most popular sport in the world is actually Cricket. People tend to be into the sport they played as a kid. Baseball might benefit from mothers scared of concussions, but it looks a lot like basketball and soccer will benefit more. Cheap, not needing expensive construction and head injury free.
St. Louis doesn't have an NFL or NBA team. Even when they did have them in the past, baseball was always bigger than those. There's tons of St. Louis Cardinals fans in the middle to lower portions of the midwest, and always have. There are many Cubs fans up toward the northern part of the midwest. I would say in this general region, the Cardinals and Cubs rivalry is bigger than anything else in local pro sports. This is what I'm primarily referring to. This has not in any way died down over the years.
World Series viewership is a third of what it was in the late 80s and 90s. The top baseball players are no longer household names. Ask people who don’t follow the sport closely to name as many players as possible not in their home team. Lots of people won’t even get Mike Trout. Even my mother would get Lebron James. At most, local fans care about their own team and lose 100% of interest the moment they are eliminated. I can’t remember the last time I saw somebody in a shirt with the name of a baseball player and you see NBA and NFL jerseys all over the place. It’s still a successful business and in people’s consciousness but it very clearly never recovered from the 1994 strike and steroids. Any cursory look at TV ratings makes that obvious.
I'm sorry if I implied that I took issue on any of these points, because I wasn't intending to do that. I was just saying that there is at least one area of the country where baseball is still very popular other than the northeast.
Baseball has a higher per game attendance. Cricket's championship gets more viewership. Baseball is easily strongest in a few countries, mostly the US. Cricket is strong in many countries, largely where Britain raised it's flag. ... I'm pretty sure that baseball vs cricket will be a losing argument for everyone.