Fancy stadiums don't make the game

In the wake of March Madness, the sports world has shifted to the nation’s pastime: baseball.

While football and basketball have been challenging for athletic supremacy, nothing brings fans to their feet like the thrill of Opening Day every April.

For this year’s opener, we saw a change in formatting. In most years, the team that won the World Series plays at home against a team that is rising in exposure and could use the big stage for some attention to ride into the rest of the season. This year, though, the Miami Marlins played host to the reigning champion St. Louis Cardinals in an act to publicize their new stadium.

The stadium is working to combat the growing indifference for Florida baseball that has been a challenge for both the Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays since their introductions into the league.

The stadium includes commodities more likely found at a five-star resort than at a baseball park. Swimming pools, aquariums, night clubs and alternative entertainment sprout from the multiple facets of the stadium, and an “intimate environment” for viewing the game is available from seats both in a screened off left-field area, as well as closer seating.

All of this together creates an attraction that only sort of focuses on baseball. The problem is, though, that less baseball at a ballpark will not draw attention to the team.

Take the Chicago Cubs, for example. They do not have a big or flashy stadium. In fact, many believe the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field to be outdated and dilapidated. But it isn’t the accommodations that make the Cubs such a storied franchise. It isn’t even the winning (because, let’s be real, that just doesn’t happen on the North Side).

What really makes the Cubs (and the Red Sox, the Yankees and the Dodgers) such a beloved franchise is a history. It isn’t easy winning like the Marlins did in the 1997 Series. These teams have won, they have lost and they have developed the type of connection to their cities that only time can create.

As any sports fan knows, baseball is not a fast sport. The time between pitches, between batters and between innings can be tedious for the less devoted fans.

Even the length of the season (162 games) almost doubles that of the next closest sport as the NBA and NHL both play 82 games in normal seasons. But through all of that waiting, the true colors of a fan shine through. Anyone willing to wait all of that time just to see their team win must really be dedicated to the success of its franchise.

Just imagine being a Cubs fan who has watched the team play 16,534 regular-season games since its last World Series win. That is real dedication.

— azoot@indiana.edu