Sometimes the most complex issues can be started to be solved by the simplest of actions; at the grassroots. That’s why as so many opine what will happen to baseball; too slow, not connected to the new immigrant, lack of African-American players, season too long, this weekend’s “Play Ball” program, staged across the country and part of the bigger “Play Ball” initiative by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, can help build or rebuild the younger fan base with the simplest of programs. It’s not about travel teams and endless Little League seasons. Heck it’s not even about winning or losing; it’s about getting young people, and their parents, connected in a casual way to any part of the game, and it makes a great deal of sense for a game that is hard enough to play once you get beyond the age of 10 or 11.
The goal for the weekend was a simple one, really; When you make a concerted and well-orchestrated effort to engage a young audience, to make memories and promote participation, you can create a lasting bond. And with each of the 15 home clubs embracing the initiative this weekend in their own unique way (the away clubs will hold their Play Ball events on alternate dates), diverse and delightful scenes were created, each demonstrating the spirit of the sport.
From Baltimore, where children of military service families were visited by Orioles relievers Darren O’Day and Zach Britton, to Philadelphia, where Phillies players Emmanuel Burriss and Colton Murray surprised the kids at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the midst of their hitting, base running, infield and outfield drills to Phoenix, where D-backs pitchers Jake Barrett and Randall Delgado served as celebrity assistant coaches, the initiatives were simple, fun and viral. Add in more than 320,000 plastic bat and balls that were given out, hundreds of ticket promotions and scores of social media interaction, and “Play Ball Weekend” scored for the sport.
Now this is going to be a long term issue to solve the erosion of decades of fans now loving eSports, MMA and anything else quick and fast. Baseball and softball after years of feuding are working together again, and even cricket has found its way to work with its stick and ball cousin to maybe help build awareness for both sports. Young multicultural stars help as well, and the World Baseball Classic is also on the horizon again, even if sadly, the Olympics is not (but may be for 2020 in Japan)
The whole weekend also brought back another simple, goal, one which is slowly also gaining steam at the Minor League level and in some places around the Majors as well.
A few years ago on Sunday morning as I was going to get bagels I heard New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan on “Ed Randall’s Talking Baseball” show on WFAN in New York talking about how the simplest of actions with his father, playing catch after work, were some of his brightest memories. Dolan’s thoughts this morning spurred one of those ideas.
I was once approached by a colleague, Lance Laifer, to see if there was a way to create awareness for an anti-Malaria campaign he had organized, and do it through sport. The idea was simple, take a nerf basketball hoop and pass it around with a ball through Madison Square Garden, letting each person in the arena dunk the ball, and with each dunk a dollar would be donated to charity. At some point it was going to become a logistical nightmare, setting the world’s largest dunk record, but the event worked. It got exposure for the charity, and as the ball and hoop were passed around the lower seats, several NBA officials and even some players took notice. One was Dikembe Mutombo, who used the idea and the platform to continue to grow his own initiative to eradicate malaria in his native Congo by purchasing bedding nets. The link between the basketball net and the mosquito net was simple, and eventually led Laifer’s group to an association with the NBA, national exposure and fundraising, and a leadership position which has helped eradicate the problem of mosquito-born malaria in Congo and other parts of Africa. All from a simple, cost efficient plan to dunk a nerf basketball. But timing, part passion, part simplicity helped a small idea contribute in a big way.
So now back to playing catch. Every year the Northern League St. Paul Saints hold the “World’s Largest Game of Catch” to kick off their promotional season. A simple act connects fans of all ages in a communal and promotable activity that links young and old, boy and girl, dad and son, mom and daughter. Timeless, simple, easy.
Is “Play Ball” a homer? It’s still too early to say if it will work, but the effort from the top is there, and that goes a long way into making kids fans again for life. It’s all about the experience, more than the dollars.
