It’s probably not the best case-building strategy to lead off a column suggesting everyone should chill out with their We’re Witnessing The Slow Death of Baseball takes with a short list of negative stuff about the sport these days.
But if we’re going to demand the baseball skeptics to apply context and genuine consideration to the reasons for baseball’s declining television ratings — and that’s exactly what we’re doing here — the least we can do is acknowledge a truth upfront: Baseball has critical fundamental issues it needs to address, and with greater urgency than it already has.