I admit it I'm an old fart. I became a baseball fan in 1957 while watching the Braves play the Yankees (and win) in World Series. As a 69 year old I am happy to have many fond memories. The first of which is going fishing with my dad. The 2nd best is becoming a baseball fan. I played high school and semi-pro ball until I was 20 years old. I was a switch hitter. They called me "Mr. Consistent" because I couldn't hit much from either side.

Given that I was only 6 years old in 19957, it was long before Turner put the Braves on TBS almost every night. And there were only 3 tv stations in Louisville, where I lived. Local sportscasters claimed the Reds as their 'hometown' team, primarily because they won a lot during the 70's. They spent all their sports time focusing on Reds games. Didn't even mention any other scores. My brother was a Dodger fan. We both hated the Reds (and still do).

Then baseball changed. Expansion. More expansion. 2 divisions in each league. Then 3. Then we had wildcards, which for the 1st time meant a 2nd place team could win the World Series (and they did). Then the DH. Then a 2nd wildcard in each league, which meant now a 3rd place team could win the World Series. As a result of all the division and wild cards the season doesn't mean nearly as much as it did before. How many remember Bobby Thompson's game winning homerun in the 9th inning that gave the Giants the pennant in their playoff against the Dodgers? If that happened today it wouldn't mean a lot. The Dodgers would be a wild card team and could still win the W.S. Most baseball fans know at least something about the 1914 Miracle Braves. I haven't looked it up, but they were something like 14 games out in August, yet won the NL pennant. Today they could do that and then get beat in the post season by a 2nd place team. Or 3rd. Baseball history is a plethora of teams that had a miracle finish, and teams that 'choked' and blew a big lead. Now it doesn't matter. Wild card.

I haven't mentioned free agency. I don't care how much money players make. We all want to make a lot of money. But players move around so much that fans can't get attached to them any more. If Hank Aaron had played 5 1/2 seasons with the Braves, then got traded to the Angels, then signed a 5 year deal with the Dodgers, then 4 more with the Cubs, do you think there would be a Hank Aaron statue in Atlanta? Hell, there wouldn't be any statues anywhere. Okay, maybe eventually a Chipper Jones statue. Or Cal Ripken Jr. Probably Derek Jeter. But those guys and a few others are the exception.

I keep hearing about how baseball needs to make changes because they are losing fans in droves. Maybe the problem isn't that they need to make changes. Maybe it's because they have made too many changes already.

Of course it's all about television money, but oh, for the good old days.