"As someone who loves baseball more than is remotely healthy - as someone whom you could shake in the middle of the night, ask "who did George Steinbrenner trade for Willie McGee in October 1981?" and have "Bob Sykes!" ringing in your ears before either of us knew I was awake - I always appreciate when normal human beings, people whose brains are filled with actual useful information like their children's birthdays, take an interest in my favorite sport."
"Baseball is a game that many people form their closest relationship with when they are young, impressionable and most likely to believe in myths and fairy tales. As they grow older, those people can't help but compare the modern sport to the romanticized version in their heads.. Over the last decade, I've found that normies are more interested in asking the Baseball Nerd they know about cheating scandals, labor fights, and baseball's fading place in the culture than they are about anything on the field."
Casual fans often reengage with baseball during negative news cycles, focusing on cheating scandals, labor fights, and cultural decline. The sport is rooted in nostalgia, which sets up persistent comparisons between an idealized past and today's realities, producing disappointment for many. Recent attention has shifted toward Shohei Ohtani, whose dual excellence as a hitter and a pitcher has generated renewed awe. Ohtani's combination of power, speed, and finesse has elevated him into broad public consciousness, and his role with the Dodgers has amplified his visibility and positioned him as a signature figure restoring excitement to the game.
Read at Intelligencer
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