Off-Topic Forum

I'm just wondering how others feel about baseball vs. collecting.

For me, I watched the Mets and Phillies last year.  We no longer get Yankee games, and life goes on.  The Mets left YouTube TV during late summer last year...again, life goes on.  We only get the Phillies games now, but last season was a great team with a huge letdown.  I don't plan on watching much this year because a) the Phillies games will eventually go away; b) you never know what channel/streaming service games are on; c) the really great players that cared about winning are few and far between.  There's more to life than forcing myself to care about the mediocre.

As for collecting, I don't buy much new stuff...it's way too much!  I have collections that I enjoy sorting through.  I still have a huge collection I bought early in 2020 that contains a lot of higher-end stuff (see collection).  I still like baseball, but the sport is blah.  Cards remind me and give me a memento of better times for the sport.

Pretty much the same here and about all sports. I still follow them but since nothing is broadcast without subscribing to individual stream sites, I really don't watch any of it unless in a restaurant where the game is on. I catch the highlights on the sports internet site (and even there, the quality of reporting has gone downhill as the reporters think they have to be the star of the show). Even if I subscribe to MLB, there is nothing to say that I will be able to watch my team.

And I agree, it is too much about the money than it is about actually playing the game. Even mediocre players are getting million dollar contracts. In most other areas of work, if you are mediocre, management looks to replace you and DOES NOT offer you more money. The whole entertainment world has gone this way where families can't even think of going out regularly.

As for the hobby, I still collect but don't buy new stuff where I don't know what I am getting for the $$$ I am spending. Last year for the first time, I ordered the Topps FS so that I would know I had it complete. I plan on doing the same again this year. What I do buy are cards I know I need or large lots of cards where there is a good chance that I will get enough cards I need to make it worth the cost. I use the simple formula that for every 10 cents I spend on a lot, I need to get at least one card for my collection. Inserts, SP and parallels found in the lot are bonus. Buying a lot where I probably already have all the cards in my collection is only worth it if they come in good binders in Ultra Pro sheets.

I have MLB.com account so can watch any out of network game live and local games a few hours after they end.  I watched one whole game and parts of two others on opening day.  The NYY vs HOU game was awesome. I've been a fan a long time and I love the game more than ever, but definitely feel the general public losing interest.  Baseball may fall into NHL level popularity.   May not be bad, NHL fans seem strong and devoted and the league seems stable. 

I love collecting.  I don't buy packs.  I just buy lots and trade.  I'm just interested in base sets with the largest checklists.  My collecting mainly supplements my fandom.  The cards for me mainly serve as an aesthetic document of the season and I use them to help remember rosters and stats.  

Oooooh, The Bucs are goin' all the way, all the way, all the way!

Opening Day is just weird since there’s a blizzard outside right now…

https://imgur.com/a/fKMjXMo

No surprise. I used to live in the SE corner of SK. Winter ended late April; summer started early May.

I play fantasy baseball and follow the Red Sox, but don't watch games on TV and only once in a while catch some of the games on the radio in passing. I like to go to at least one game a year if I can, though I may try to get to more minor league games given the difference in cost (and the kids may not sit still so well). Collecting keeps me interested in the sport, but admittedly getting all of these older Sox cards make me wish for the good old days from earlier this century. There's only so many Reese McGuires one can pick up and not lament about how things have truly diminished.

I watched a few games yesterday. I have an MLB Network subscription, and fortunately I'm a Tigers fan living in NC, so I only get blackouts when the Tigers are playing 4 teams. Pretty much every season I watch a ton of baseball the first month or so. By the end I watch probably a game or two a week.

I cared a lot.  Then I watched my team give up 14 runs in the 3rd inning.  Went to bed early.

Lifelong baseball fan. Played for 20+ years, have coached and instructed for 20+ more. The best thing MLB could do is find a way to make the games viewable to a wider audience. Streaming services, ticket prices and cost of everything in the stadiums has priced out a lot of fans, which is a shame. That said, I am fortunate enough to be able to access my O's on a daily basis, but for me, I grew up listening to a lot of games on the radio. There's just something about a warm night listening to the poetic narrative of a good radio play by play man. 

Collecting has been a passion of mine for about as long as I've loved the sport. I suspect it will continue on for some time... happy opening day to everyone!