Throwback day- let's make it happen. I’m not talking about when teams wear some of those hideous uniforms from back in the day. I'm talking about actually watching a baseball game- not going to a concert or dinner, not acting like a clown on the big screen- just watching, and hearing the sounds of, baseball.
Let’s have one game a year where there is no big screen in center field, no loud blaring music or any quirky in-between inning activities. No promotions, no instructing fans like monkeys on how to cheer and when to make noise. Maybe use the big screen for one thing, “NO WAVE.” Heck, don’t even bother with lights...make it a day game. Let’s have one game where you can just hear the crack of the bat, the slap of a ball hitting a glove, the ump yelling, “You’re out,” and fans heckling the opposing team.
Let’s really hear take me out to the ball game in the seventh inning. And believe me the fans will be so starved for music, they'll all chime in.
The menu? Throw it back! Hot dogs, beer, popcorn, soda, peanuts and cracker jacks, just like the song says; only the original stuff.
Close down the bars, restaurants and kids play areas. Maybe I won’t have to get up every thirty seconds to let someone out of the row. Maybe they'll have to sit and watch the game.
And of course, throw the prices back, too! Schedule this for a game that normally doesn't draw well and use this as the big selling point.
Alright, so maybe the Yankees, or whomever, take a hit that day. But do it for the fans…just once. It would be unique if nothing else. Worried about sponsorships? You don’t remember the walls being plastered with billboards back in the day? Have sponsors throw back their advertisements, too!
And just one more time I'd love to see those dull black batting helmets that the Yankees used to wear years ago. Actually, they should bring those back for good, they were pretty cool.
"I see great things in baseball. It's our game -- the American game. It will take our people out of doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set, repair those losses, and be a blessing to us"
- Walt Whitman
