How Major League Baseball Lost It's Swag

Mark McGwire was a superstar in baseball
before it was revealed he took steroids.

Usually I hate to use cliche words such as grind and swag but for this occasion I'll make an exception because it fits so well. It's no secret that baseball has lost some of it's popularity over the past decade. With all of the scandals and controversy, baseball can no longer be considered America's pasttime unless referred to in a different context.

No fan wants to see their favorite player going through a bad streak or some type of controversy. As a result of the controversy and scandals, the team struggles from not having the player's usual influence on the outcome of the game. This is seen in baseball more than any sport. Since the steroids controversy and the league randomly testing some players, there has been a steady decrease in player's performances.

What's my proof? This year in the majors there was a total of five no hitters, which is the most in the league since the 1990 and 1991 seasons when there was a total of seven each year. Before that the most recorded in a year was eight, which was set in 1884.  In all of these seasons, accept the 1884 season which nobody but Yoda was alive to see, baseball declined in popularity.

The 1990 season brought controversy with it just as the current state of baseball has. This is the year Pete Rose was ruled ineligible by major league baseball for gambling on games. After Rose, who was a favorite around the league for his dedication and hard work he put into every play, even groundball outs when he still ran full speed. After Rose was banned from the sport he dedicated his life to, all the other hitters shut down also. Obviously there was more illegal activity occuring that affected other hitters in the league since every pitcher in the league began to look like Nolan Ryan.

Baseball is a hitter's sport. Nobody wants to see a hundred no-hitters in a season. Where's the excitement in that? Fans get a kick out of homeruns and athletes going on hitting streaks a la Mickey Mantle and Ichiro Suzuki. The season of McGwire and Sosa's homerun battle was the best thing baseball has seen since....dare I say it, Hank Aaron breaking the homerun record. Popularity for the sport went up drastically and tickets were being sold as if Jesus was making an appearance at every ballpark these two sluggers would visit.

Of course we also had the Barry Bonds era but it didn't have the same appeal. We all knew he was injecting steroids in every vain of his body so there wasn't a believable storyline to write a fairy tale novel on. Since all of the steroid talk and players being randomly selected for drug tests, the hitters in baseball have taken a backseat to the pitchers which no one wants to see.



This is just a theory, but everytime there is a controversy in baseball it seems as if the pitcher's stats skyrocket. Is it because every slugger is using drugs banned by Major League Baseball? Could be. Is it because the pitchers are all of a sudden being helped by Angels in the Outfield? HIGHLY doubt it. My theory is the players are affected by the news of another player being caught and it kills their slugger mentality and causes them to worry about being caught themselves. So either they slow down purposely or subconsciously.

Whatever the reason is that so many hitters are in slump, one thing is clear. Baseball has lost it's swag. No longer is it America's favorite past time but now it can be considered in my opinion America's favorite sport in past times. Baseball needs a hitter who isn't juiced up on steroids to emerge, and quick. The majors are lacking a squeaky clean image who can redeem the sport. I would start looking at Triple A and high schools now because after a while, baseball will be a forgotten sport.