The Faceless State of Baseball
By Patrick Zeng
@Roundtripper891
With this week marking the occasion of the Yankees retiring Derek Jeter's iconic #2, much has been made of the fact that baseball has not had a true "face" since the Yankee captain hung up his cleats in 2014. Even with the likes of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw and Kris Bryant dominating the game in markets all over the country, baseball has struggled to establish one star that shines above the rest. But they don't need one, because baseball differs from leagues like the NFL and NBA.
Both these leagues are required to market their stars for they have so much more of an influence over a game than one MLB player. Players like LeBron James have the ability to score ten straight points for their team while Carlos Correa only comes up to bat once every nine players. The NFL and especially the NBA are much more individualistic leagues, so of course their star power is much more easily marketed. Debate always seems to center around how many rings a player has won as a career definer for the players in question, but the debate is rarely had in baseball. You never hear debates of is Eric Hinske, a three time world series champion, a greater player than Carlos Beltran, a man that has never hoisted the trophy. Because baseball is a team game and that is easily recognized by everyone. While in the sports where individuals are marketed, everything centers around endorsement power and championships. It is important for a star NBA player to increase his "brand" with shoe deals and endorsements so that he is more appealing to a national audience. The same can be said with NFL as stars are solely judged on their winning and recognition with fans. And that leads to another major difference between MLB and the other professional sports leagues.
Baseball is a regional sport. Most fans only hone in on their local team and only sparingly see what else is happening around the league. This is just the model that baseball has taken itself to and it works perfectly for the sport. Over 73 million people still attended games last year and in most local television markets ratings are solid. The popularity of fantasy sports also plays into this. Fantasy baseball has never taken off like fantasy football due to the shear amount of games in a season. This eliminates national interest of fans as they do not have the desire that would have if fantasy baseball had the popularity of fantasy football. This is a stark difference to a sport like the NFL where millions of fans watch every game from around the league every Sunday.
The faceless nature of baseball is not a smear on the state of the sport. It is just naturally how the sport lends itself. Baseball has its stars everywhere and they are achieving unbelievable heights. Mike Trout is on pace to hit 49 home runs to go with his stunning defense, Bryce Harper has had an on base percentage in the .500 range all season displaying how feared a hitter he is, Aaron Judge may hit a baseball to the moon this season, Chris Sale is striking out the world and Billy Hamilton may steal 80 bases. Star power is everywhere and in every market in baseball, you just have to look at the product on the field to find it rather than the commercials off the field.
@Roundtripper891
With this week marking the occasion of the Yankees retiring Derek Jeter's iconic #2, much has been made of the fact that baseball has not had a true "face" since the Yankee captain hung up his cleats in 2014. Even with the likes of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw and Kris Bryant dominating the game in markets all over the country, baseball has struggled to establish one star that shines above the rest. But they don't need one, because baseball differs from leagues like the NFL and NBA.
Both these leagues are required to market their stars for they have so much more of an influence over a game than one MLB player. Players like LeBron James have the ability to score ten straight points for their team while Carlos Correa only comes up to bat once every nine players. The NFL and especially the NBA are much more individualistic leagues, so of course their star power is much more easily marketed. Debate always seems to center around how many rings a player has won as a career definer for the players in question, but the debate is rarely had in baseball. You never hear debates of is Eric Hinske, a three time world series champion, a greater player than Carlos Beltran, a man that has never hoisted the trophy. Because baseball is a team game and that is easily recognized by everyone. While in the sports where individuals are marketed, everything centers around endorsement power and championships. It is important for a star NBA player to increase his "brand" with shoe deals and endorsements so that he is more appealing to a national audience. The same can be said with NFL as stars are solely judged on their winning and recognition with fans. And that leads to another major difference between MLB and the other professional sports leagues.
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| 📸: Forbes |
Baseball is a regional sport. Most fans only hone in on their local team and only sparingly see what else is happening around the league. This is just the model that baseball has taken itself to and it works perfectly for the sport. Over 73 million people still attended games last year and in most local television markets ratings are solid. The popularity of fantasy sports also plays into this. Fantasy baseball has never taken off like fantasy football due to the shear amount of games in a season. This eliminates national interest of fans as they do not have the desire that would have if fantasy baseball had the popularity of fantasy football. This is a stark difference to a sport like the NFL where millions of fans watch every game from around the league every Sunday.
 |
| 📸: NY Times |
The faceless nature of baseball is not a smear on the state of the sport. It is just naturally how the sport lends itself. Baseball has its stars everywhere and they are achieving unbelievable heights. Mike Trout is on pace to hit 49 home runs to go with his stunning defense, Bryce Harper has had an on base percentage in the .500 range all season displaying how feared a hitter he is, Aaron Judge may hit a baseball to the moon this season, Chris Sale is striking out the world and Billy Hamilton may steal 80 bases. Star power is everywhere and in every market in baseball, you just have to look at the product on the field to find it rather than the commercials off the field.
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