Have you ever stopped to think about what you’ll tell your kids, and your grandchildren, and maybe even your great-grandchildren about what baseball was like in 2010, and what baseball was like when you were their age?
Baseball is one of those great things that can connect people across multiple generations, because it’s been part of the country for so long. Grandparents talk about it with grandchildren, siblings talk about the game as it was once and is now – and of course all the words that are written about baseball by the scribes of books, newspapers, magazines, blog and websites.
Who will be the players that you’ll tell them about? Not just the big names of course, but the role players, or the guys who would come out and sign an autograph before a game. Or the player that tossed you a ball at a game – or that got a big hit or pitched a great game when you were at the ballpark.
And where will those players come from? What will the composition of Major League Baseball players look like in 50 years? More players from Latin America, more from Asia, more from other parts of the world? Baseball is still known as America’s game, at least more-or-less, but that is changing more and more everyday.
And what about the teams they play on — which of the 30 teams will still be around in 50 years? Which will have moved, and where will they have moved to? Will Toronto still have a team? Will we have teams in Mexico? Will the Japanese leagues still be around, and if so, will they have become equal to the level of play in MLB? Will we truly have a world champion at the end of every season?
Which statistical records will still stand? Will someone have hit 800 home runs in a career? What about Cal Ripken, Jr.’s consecutive games played streak? Or strikeouts – will anyone break Nolan Ryan’s mark? Will there be another 300 game winner in the next 50 years?
What will you tell them about spring training? Will it still be in the Phoenix area and throughout Florida, or will Las Vegas wrestle away a few teams? What about Texas? Or maybe somewhere else?
What about the stadiums? Which of the 30 that are open right now will be open in 50 years? How big will they be? Will Fenway Park and Wrigley Field still be used? How many will have retractable roofs, and will they all have natural grass?
We all know about the hot, heavy flannel uniforms of yesteryear — I wonder how the jerseys that are worn today will compare to those being worn in 50 years?
As someone who has advocated for the reduction in stuff and giveaways, I wonder what kind of incentives teams will be using to try and bring fans to the ballpark? Surely fireworks shows will still be around, and I’d bet that bobbleheads in one form or another will have a place. Odds would be good that t-shirts and caps will still be given away – but what new kinds of things will come along in the next generation or two?
What will the food be like? As baseball continues to become more of a global game, I wonder if more global food will be introduced? And what about all the unhealthy options that are served at ballparks – will they still be there or will we as a society have finally woken up to the dangers of obesity and thus eliminated those options from ballparks?
I wonder how much a beer will cost – and will I remember and long for the days when it was only $6, or $8, or $10 for a bland macro-brew?
Cost is another discussion to explore – what will players be paid? How much will tickets cost?
Of course, we may very well be watching baseball in 3-D, or even 4-D, or whatever comes after 3-D, if we can’t make it to the ballpark for a game. What will that be like? Will you remember when baseball first came to TV, and was only one game a week? I remember when the Mariners only had a dozen or so games on TV, and now we have the MLB Network and games on almost every night of the week via broadcast or cable stations, plus the option of ordering packages that allow you to watch every game on TV or on the internet.
Lots of things to think about — which is why I encourage you to really stop and soak in as much as you can next time you go to a ballgame. Let it sink in, commit it to memory — because you just might end up sharing it with future generations some day.
What do you think you’ll tell the next generations about how baseball is now and how it was in your day? And what do you think it will be like in 50 years?