Ed and I are still riding high off the beatdown our Birds laid on the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are now staring at six long months without football. Typically, I’d turn to college hoops at this time to get my sports fix, and while I still watch Rutgers games as a loyal son (except for the Washington game that ended after 1 a.m.—this loyal son still had to get up for work the next day), and March Madness will always capture my full attention, our team’s disappointing season is hardly filling the void of excitement that the Eagles left behind. The NBA’s a joke and neither of us really care about hockey, so we’re left with baseball. Problem is that spring training has just gotten underway, and only diamond-headed psychopaths watch Grapefruit League games. Which means we have a full month before the next sports season we care about truly gets underway.
Oh, and by the way, Rutgers baseball won its season-opening series 2-1 and has a 4-game set starting tonight against GCU, with all four games streaming on ESPN+. Who’s excited?
Anybody?
Bueller?
It truly is one of sports great mysteries that college baseball is an afterthought while its football and basketball counterparts take up significant space in the athletic zeitgeist. The handful of times I’ve watched a Rutgers baseball game or attended one in person, I’ve had a genuinely good time. So why do I not feel compelled to make following the team more of a habit?
In this week’s Up/Down, Ed and I try to figure out where that apathy comes from.
Gregg: You and I have talked multiple times about how college basketball is better than the NBA in almost every way, in terms of sheer entertainment value in the on-court product. I used to say the same about college football vs the NFL, but in the last 10 years, so much of what makes the college game exciting (minus their overtime rules, which are still the best in any sport) has seeped into the pros, that those two are basically even for me. Yet when it comes to baseball, the chasm in popularity between the college and pro games is ginormous. I admit that I’m part of the problem. Though I’ve taken my son to Rutgers games at Bainton Field, and was dialed in to their surprise season a few years ago (that ended in an NCAA Tournament snub), at best the Scarlet Knights on the diamond are an afterthought in my sports-addled brain. I know you’re the same, so why do you think that is?
Ed: I’ll admit, if you asked me to name one player on the team, I’d be better at guessing the numbers to the Mega Millions. There’s a couple of reasons I’m not into Scarlet Knights baseball. When I was in college, you barely knew it existed. There was barely a mention of them on TV, in the Targum or even the internet (yes, it existed when I was there). Even today, you have to wait till March Madness is done to catch any baseball and it still doesn’t get the local or national love it probably deserves. In addition, the college game suffers from talent being taken away in the minor league system. I’ve been to more Somerset Patriot games than I have been to Rutgers baseball games and it’s not even close. I’m not sure how to change my apathy towards the Rutgers Scarlet Knight Diamond. Any ideas?
Gregg: I would tell you that Bainton Field is a great place to take your kids to watch a game, because they are almost guaranteed to leave with a foul ball. Behind the limited stands is a wide open field where the majority of balls fouled off behind home plate wind up. My son had as much fun chasing them down—and giving them to kids younger than him after he snagged one of his own—as he did watching the game. Unfortunately, this is the last year that will be possible. I haven’t seen the blueprints for the new field at Middlesex County College yet, but I’m almost positive there won’t be a huge open field behind the stands. Other than that, I can tell you it’s a fun family experience. My son, who’s played Little League since he was 6, loves that they still use aluminum bats like he does. Which also might be part of the problem. Much more than college football or college basketball, which are both viewed as the minor leagues for their respective pro counterparts (ignoring the ridiculous G League), college baseball seems to be viewed as just the high school game but with older players. You mentioned the top high school prospects opting for minor league contracts over D1 scholarships—is that really a factor for you? If all high school kids went to college, like football players are required to do, would you tune into the college game more?
Ed: To be honest, I don’t know if it would or wouldn’t be a personal factor for me. What it would do is bring in more talent to the college level. I’m glad they’re updating the baseball facility for Rutgers. What I would recommend is they try to model it like a minor league game. What me and my family love about going to the Somerset Patriots games is the overall atmosphere is so family friendly. I’d recommend some top notch food as well as drinks to bring more than the college bodies to the game. Unfortunately I’m at a loss about how to bring in more college kids to watch games. Rutgers football is one of the most exciting sports on the banks and they can’t even fill the entire student section. The best way would probably be to be on national TV. That only happens during the college World Series. You got any other ways to fill the seats?
Gregg: Honestly, they almost have to change the way the game is played to really get noticed. That’s part of the appeal of football and especially basketball at the college level. The game remains fundamentally the same, but there are enough key differences to make you feel like you’re not just watching a version of the pro game with lesser talent. In basketball, the game is shorter by 8 minutes. The three point line is closer, players get one less foul, there’s a one-and-one bonus before a team automatically gets two shots, and—perhaps the most important difference for me—the shot clock is 30 seconds instead of 24, which allows for teams to run more set plays so the game resembles a true team sport vs the glorified playground ball with zero defense currently on display in the NBA. College football is closer to the NFL version, especially as the RPO game has taken over Sundays, but their OT rules are still better, and the one foot in bounds vs two is a key difference that can have game-altering repercussions. In baseball, it’s basically the same game except for the mercy rule, which is hardly ever used. I don’t know if or how they would ever change the college game, and that alone might not be enough to move the needle for casual fans, but the sameness of the two versions strikes me as a big reason for the general indifference towards it.
Ed: You’re right. Aside from us throwing in some crazy rules which would make it a mockery of the game, it’s hard to change the game. We’re not going to change strikes, balls or outs. We’re not going to award weird zones to make home runs count for more. Unfortunately the Savanah Bananas already took the ideas I would use to make the game more fun. I think in the end, I’m just going to give up and say for college baseball “it is what it is.” I know I will tune in if they make a run in the playoffs. Other than that, when it comes to baseball, I’m going to be watching the pro game.
OTB has traditionally had very solid baseball coverage, so I’m curious where most readers stand. Love the college game or basically ignore it?
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