Simply stated, Gallagher, Frye and Geoghegan contend that MLB has lost its entertainment value because of its reliance on the power swing and little action between home runs. America’s youth is not engaged with MLB because the game has become too slow for this generation. Without the next generation’s involvement, MLB’s customer base will be diminished and baseball could lose its relevance and becomes a niche sport.
SAVE THE GAME ™ group wants to align with MLB on issues it has raised and problems already recognized in a grassroots effort.
Some of the focuses of SAVE THE GAME ™ include:
It is the belief of the trio, and many experts are in agreement, that baseball has lost its luster because of its lack of action and strategy. Once America’s pastime, today it lags in television ratings (down 50 percent since 2003), sponsorship dollars and younger fan interest (only 7 percent under 18 watch baseball).
The hope is to revive baseball by bringing it back to its quicker pace of bygone years. The strategy, beginning with a player’s swing in youth baseball, includes: contact hitting and keeping the ball in play instead of swinging for the fences to increase action, thus making the game more entertaining; and by engaging younger fans and instructing younger players on the art of the game from Little League to High School to College.
Gallagher gives this example of the current “All or Nothing” approach: “There are only 2.46 home runs hit per game. In a three-hour game, you’re only getting a home run every hour. In between home runs is what is killing baseball. There is no action. We have to restore the game to the way it was historically played.”
An advisory board is being formed and a National Save The Game Day will both be announced in March 2022.
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We will then work with MLB providing solutions to bring back action and engage with the younger generation. Type your paragraph here.
SAVE THE GAME ™ MOVEMENT LOOKS TO INVIGORATE MLB
& INCREASE YOUTH PARTICIPATION
SAVE THE GAME ™ is a grass roots initiative to invigorate Major League Baseball and increase youth participation in the game; the initiative was launched by the nine-year veteran former MLB player Jeff Frye (Rangers, Red Sox, Rockies, Blue Jays), and two New York college standouts - Kevin Gallagher (Pace University) and Pat Geoghegan (Mercy College). Gallagher’s book, “Teach Your Kid to Hit … So they Don’t Quit,” was the genesis of the “Save the Game” ™ movement. The hope is that the initiative will ensure the revitalization of the game toward a healthy business future.
Visit www.savethegameus.com for more information and to sign the petition. The initiative starts a one million signature petition-for-change effort to gain momentum toward a National movement, while grabbing the attention of MLB executives on a league and team level. Visit www.savethegameus.com for more information and to sign the petition.
Such prominent baseball writers as Bob Nightengale, Hal Bock and Kevin Kernan have written about the movement.
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