A Seat at the Table

How does stuff get decided in baseball?  Basically, owners and players argue respective sides.  Proposals are extended, then countered.  At some point, agreement is reached.  Fan input never enters into the process.  On this, baseball management and labor are in perpetual agreement.

 

That ugly, if always unstated, truth was on full display this week with reports on the back-and-forth in the latest negotiations.  The dh for the NL already has been approved and at least one year’s worth of having extra-inning games start with a runner at second.  Still up for debate is player re-entry and games ending in a tie.  Anybody ask you for your opinion?  I didn’t think so.

 

Personally, I love the dh, not that anyone asked me about adopting it in 1973.  Nor have I been asked about public funding for ballparks or scheduling doubleheaders or the starting times of games.  Oh, but I get to vote for the All-Star teams.  That counts, not.

 

Baseball’s idea of fan inclusion is the focus group, which is to power-sharing what voting for All-Star teams is.  We fill the stands, we mostly pay for the construction of those stands, we deserve a seat at the table.  Now.