Baseball Has A Big Issue, And It Starts At The Top
Rob Manfred is despised by fans. Should he be fired?
Baseball Is Suffering
Baseball has by far the richest history of any of the four major North American sports leagues, and it’s all going down due to what is happening right now. Baseball has had some of the lowest viewing ratings we have ever seen. While this may be for a few reasons, most fans would agree with me when I say it is primarily Rob Manfred’s fault. Whether it is handing out awful punishments, sum too large, some too small, or just generally hurting the game he is doing everything in his power to ruin this great game.
The Houston Astros Debacle
Let’s start with the punishment for the Houston Astros cheating scandal. Considered one of the worst scandals since the infamous “Black Sox” scandal, the Astros received little to no punishment for what happened. Specifically, the Astros used buzzers, banged on trash cans, and sign-stealing technology to alert the batter at the plate precisely what pitch was coming. This all culminated in a 2017 world series for the team that is still honored and accepted that they are the true champions of 2017. They retain their world series title, and none of the participating players have been punished.
Besides just the fact they cheated themselves to win, they also heavily affected players’ careers, especially those on other teams. The most prominent example is Aaron Judge. In 2017, the AL MVP was given to Jose Altuve, who led the world series champions and was the team’s main superstar, however, it should have been Aaron Judge. It was a heavy debate about who the award should go to before the series, but that sealed the deal that it would go to Altuve. If they don’t win the world series, he doesn’t win the award, and Aaron Judge gets an MVP in his rookie year.
Give Me Another Example
Let’s talk about how he has done everything in favor of the owners and against the players and fans. We all know that without players there is no game, and he has continuously angered fanbases and the players alike. First, he continues to allow the raising of ticket prices which has done nothing but ultimately hurt the game. Teams like the Oakland Athletics have trouble bringing in even 15,000 fans a game at this rate due to the fact that tickets and food are so expensive, the team is awful, and Manfred just completely allows it with no consequences.
He also refuses to discuss any of the issues that are affecting baseball. Before the 2022 season started, the MLB faced a potential lockout that delayed spring training. When initially asked about this, all Manfred did was deflect. He was then also asked why the league took so long to begin negotiations and what did he do? He pinned the blame on players claiming that “phones work two ways,” showing he doesn’t actually care about the game of baseball but only cares about impressing and gaining the approval of the fat cat owners. However, the players were incredibly vocal about their disgust with Manfred as multiple took to twitter and social media to talk about it at the time.
My Plead To The MLB
I hope this article reaches every person in the MLB organization, from Manfred to Mike Trout to the man handing out hotdogs at Yankee Stadium. This is my official plea to the MLB to get rid of this man. The way baseball is fundamentally played is in danger due to the owners’ greed and Manfred’s inability to go against them on anything. We could see the end of baseball as we know it, all because he is scared to do anything for the masses.
He has consistently gone against everyone involved outside of owners and will likely continue this. If he genuinely cares about baseball or ever did, he would do what’s right and step down as commissioner of the MLB. This is also a special note to Manfred; I hate what you have done to this game. As a Yankees fan, baseball fan, and person, you are a disgrace to baseball and unworthy of this position and power. Do what is right and step down.
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