Why MLB Players Shouldn’t be Mic’d Up during a Playoff Game
Major League Baseball shouldn’t allow television networks like ESPN to put microphones on players during a playoff game.
Although the intent isn’t necessarily bad, wearing a microphone should be reserved more for Spring Training games or the All-Star Game, but certainly not for a playoff game. Here’s why.
The playoffs are pure business. During the playoffs, players aren’t just fighting for a championship trophy, they’re fighting for their livelihoods. Players earn bonuses the further they make it into the playoffs. Upcoming free-agents are auditioning for their next contract. Also, endorsement deals could arise based on a player’s performance in the postseason.
If you were fighting for bonuses or even a juicy free agent deal, would you want any distractions?
Look, I understand that watching a baseball can be boring and that the MLB is trying everything possible to try and make professional baseball more attractive for younger generations. I applaud their efforts, but their timing is off.
If the MLB wants to make the game more attractive for younger generations, it should make a serious effort to break its bond with traditional “unwritten rules.” The unnecessary punishment of getting hit with a baseball because you “excessively” celebrated a home run or you swung away on a 3-0 pitch and hit a grand slam isn’t going to attract more people, it’s going to drive them even further away.
Ok, that’s fair, but what about the duration of games, that’s a problem too.
Indeed it is, but it’s not so much the duration of the game that lulls fan to sleep, it’s the lack of action. An NFL game lasts approximately three hours, roughly the same amount as a MLB game. Yet, not too many fans complain about football being boring to watch. Why is that?
It’s because of the adrenaline that fans get from watching NFL players fight and pound for that extra yard. It’s the hard hits, the explosive plays and the intense rivalries that have fans begging for more action. The MLB has not reach that point, at least not yet.
Yes, baseball is not a collision sport like football, but it can definitely be exciting, at times. The MLB needs to find something that has fans begging for more. That extra spark that the NFL provides. It could be anything. It could be home runs, 100 mph fastballs, diving plays, anything. But it has to be exciting and it has to be entertaining.
Placing a microphone on a player isn’t a bad idea, but listening to a player wear it doesn’t always make for great television or entertainment. Plus, it can be uncomfortable for some players to wear a microphone while hitting or pitching. If the MLB really believes it is great entertainment, so be it. Just please put microphones on players during Spring Training and the All Star Game and not the playoffs. Not when they’re fighting for their livelihoods. Most certainly not when free agents are auditioning for their next contract.