Photo: Rob Carr
Dan Patrick cannot hide his disappointment over the Major League Baseball lockout and the loss of Opening Day. Dan feels worst for the die-hard fans since the casual fans seem to be dropping off in recent years. He says it feels like a game of semantics, and it’s the same old language used during every labor dispute, in every sport, throughout the history of time. With so many more entertainment options for casual fans, baseball is losing a chance to showcase its emerging talent and rebuild its fan base. The once venerated sport is no longer capturing the hearts of America.
Dan Patrick: “These owners, like, we never know how much money they make, how much they siphon off. It’s easy to blame the players. We see the players. We get to go and watch them play. We don’t get to sit around and watch an owner be an owner; get to boo, you know, get to cheer. I mean, Mark Cuban gives you that opportunity, but this is, it’s sad, it really is. It’s predictable, sad. But it seems to happen every couple of years in different sports, some we care about, some we don’t. And with baseball, the rapid decline of viewership, and it used to be there was more of a curiosity with baseball. It felt like the casual fan would give baseball a chance. Now it just doesn’t feel like that... Baseball is no longer America’s pastime. It’s past time, that’s the problem.”