Bud Selig will tell you he has added a lot to the game and one of the things he has taken away from the game is the fun and importance of Opening Day. I figured the games in Japan back in 2000 were an experiment that would eventually turn into an All-Star game there but who thought these contests would turn out to be “Opening Day” games.

The powers that be in Major League Baseball should realize that Opening Day is special and no other sport’s fan base cares more about that because it signifies the end of winter and the beginning of warm weather in most parts of the country.

So now that series took place and the Nationals will open their new ballpark and that will be “Opening Night?” and then the rest of the league can start their seasons that next day. The Reds were the first team to ever play the first organized game and that’s why they used to play first and then the other teams would get to play 30 minutes to an hour later. It was a sign of respect but now by the time the Reds get to play there will have been three full games in the books. Why? Money? Is that always going to be the answer in baseball? It never used to be that way.

During this game the ESPN announcers will gush over President Bush and call the game the National Pastime, which is another fallacy. The NFL has become that. And that happened because fans lost interest in baseball because of all the “off the field” shenanigans that have gone on over the years.

If baseball wants to become the #1 sport once again they need to have a salary cap so the have-nots, which is around 60% of the league, if not higher, have a chance to compete. Instead of coming up with more and more moneymaking schemes if baseball took a step back and honored the tradition a bit more then they might find that fans would become re-acquainted with the game for all of the right reasons.

I love baseball but the game must have an infusion of younger fans if it plans on keeping its status in the hierarchy of professional sports leagues. These days it’s very easy to slip considering fans have so many options when it comes to entertainment and sports yet it’s very hard to claw your way back up and I think the game is on track to experience that if salaries continue to escalate.

I will still go to Mets opening day and that will be their first game and I will still have a great time doing it but I am a lifer. If I offered tickets to an average ballgame to my neighbors kids who are around 10 years of age would they chose the game over a potential day outdoors or playing video games or going to the movies or the mall? Probably not.

The game is great and it will always survive. But will it continue to thrive?