yea man, i played and watched baseball for ~13 years (~5y/o through high school)...i really could not care any less about watching it. following it is lame...the players are lame...nothing is appealing to me except going to enjoyable stadiums and drinking some beer - like going to any park (state, national, city...etc). i do enjoy watching derek jeter though...hands down one of the best SS ever.

In some ways, college baseball, particularly in the playoffs and the CWS, is a bit more entertaining!

No John Schuerholz.

No Bobby Cox.

No Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz.

No TBS.

No Braves.

All the excitement surrounding the Braves eons ago has been zapped. They've lost their media exposure along the Gulf Coast not being televised daily on TBS. They've lost all the players we all grew up and followed practically the most of our lives. They lost one of the best GM's and coach in baseball history. And instead of spending money like the big boys, we've become a small market team looking for basement bargain deals to improve our team. Why should anyone, much less the old school Braves fans, be excited about Atlanta baseball?

Who the hell wants to watch a team compete for the Wildcard every year when we should be competing for pennant?

Now while my interest in Braves baseball has dwindled over the years, I still follow baseball more closely than any other sport. I've gravitated more towards Rangers baseball(always had 1 AL 1 NL team) and fantasy baseball has kept my interest strong. I could never forget about my first love.

Oh and yea... I root against USA baseball too. I hope they get their asses kicked.

Personally, I think free agency and big money ruined baseball, and all sports. When we watched baseball, football, basketball as a kid or young adult, you knew who was on your team. That player was a member of your team year after year until they retired. Now that the money has gotten so big, and it's so easy to change teams, you never know from one season to the next who is going to be playing on your team. Look a Albert Pulhols (spelling?). He takes his Cardinal to the World Series, and the next year he's gone...$250 million to the Angels, where he sucks by the way. Now I don't blame the players for this. If someone offered me $250 million, I'm out of here too. Plus these high contracts, and the bajillion dollar stadiums has priced a trip to the ballpark out of the hands to the ordinary people, the true fans. If I wanted to take my family to go see a Saints game this season, it would cost me around $2000 just for a weekend to New Orleans...WTF? Now that Brees has a hundred trillion dollar contract, that price is probably going to be higher. I would love nothing more than to take my wife and kids to a game, but I doubt that I will ever get too. Just cant swing that kind of money, all for a three hour game. So that's my take. Free agency and big money has just taken the glint out of the average fans eyes, and I don't think we'll ever get that glint back.

A constant gripe of mine, too. Heck, I LIVE down here & it costs several hundred dollars for just the wife & I to catch a game. All while I can enjoy my flatscreen, my comfy couch, my reasonably-priced beer, etc. here at home. I'd love to have season tickets, to catch every game live, but let's face it ... the working man was priced out of the stadium a long time ago.

Baseball games are a little more reasonable (at least the Astros games are), but still outrageous when you consider they hold 80+ home games per year.

Yea it did although some people didn't notice. ;)

My general dislike of baseball aside, I do sympathize. Last year totally killed my interest in basketball. Didn't even notice until my girlfriend asked in March why I hadn't watched a game all season. I trace mine back to DWIGHT HOWARD, Otis Smith, David Stern, ESPN coverage (and getting a lot of Bulls games), Lebron James, shortened season, NBA owners, NBA players, Magic management, and Shaq. So, in short, any tools like that in baseball? Because that might be your answer.

Baseball has always been a "newspaper" sport for me and I follow it a bit there with the stats and fantasy. I love the Rangers, but being out of their market and the fact that teams play 162 games a year, it's just too much of a grind! Games are long and really not that much is at stake in a single game. Not the most exciting game to watch on TV. Especially in the summer months with other things going on. It makes for great background or napping noise though :).

Come playoff time though, I tune in a little more, especially for the Rangers.

... as a Tiger fan, the Rangers are the only team in the AL I'm afraid of ... they got it all.

Katrina shuffled the cards and a lot of old timers got out, new people came in, and that last renovation was the real back breaker as far as working man fans in the Dome, it's terrace or bust, IMHO