Matthew Johnson
      Guest Writer

There’s a war going on outside, that no baseball fan is safe from.

Recent old-man ranting from Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher Goose Gossage has renewed a ripple effect in baseball.

Gossage is an important-figure who helped revolutionized the role of relievers from 1972-1994, and there are few in the baseball community who have as much clout as the nine-time All Star.

In separate interviews last week, Gossage harshly slammed the sport he once dominated. Gossage was asked to speak on the current state of baseball, and the former pitcher threw heat against today’s game, highlighted by criticism of stars such as Bryce Harper and Jose Bautista for their celebratory style.

Gossage was also upset by the influx of data used by “nerds” in front offices, lack of historical appreciation, the addition of instant replay, a recent rule-change created in response to catcher Buster Posey breaking his leg while defending the plate and the positive/in-different fan reaction from steroid-user, Ryan Braun.

After reading Mr. Gossage’s interviews, I couldn’t remember the last time I saw the human embodiment of an old man shaking his fist yelling, “get off my lawn you whippersnappers.” The only thing missing from the Hall-of-Famer’s reflections was “The Simpsons”-inspired meme, “old man yells at cloud.”

While an “ESPN The Magazine” interview with Harper days before Gossage’s rant set the stage for this generation-discussion (Harper had stated baseball was “a tired sport because you can’t express yourself”), the topics of Gossage’s interview have been much debated in baseball.

And even though Gossage makes good arguments, most of his points are incorrect in my opinion.

Ryan Braun has seemingly received a freepass from fans, and I don’t understand why. Actively throwing others under a bus to protect himself as his name first was rumored with PED use, Braun has escaped much fan criticism. And players and fans should appreciate the game’s history and understand the importance of lesser-known figures such as Marvin Miller and Curt Flood.

Yet, I vehemently disagree with the rest of Gossage’s statements.

Within the brimstone of Gossage’s fiery attack on today’s game, the answer to baseball’s declining popularity among young people is as a clear as a 98 MPH fastball whizzing pass a batter’s head.

As Harper told Tim Keown of ESPN, kids are playing games where they see excitement and players show emotion. They are playing football where Cam Newton is celebrating with his teammates. They are playing basketball where Steph Curry and LeBron James boast of a made three-pointer.

For outsiders of baseball, with the volumed-rulebook of the game, there is also an “unwritten” codex of baseball. Examples of these rules, rules which aren’t actually written down, but should be understood by all players include the following: hitting an opposing batter if the opposing team hits one of yours and no long admiration of a home-run (act like you’ve been there before).

If players break these rules, expect some frontier justice in the form of a hard slide or a rousing game of beanball (where pitchers intentionally throw at batters to cause harm).

And these unwritten, Draconian statutes spotlights baseball’s problem: the game is stuck in the past.

As a lifelong fan, I have had to fight off the critics who complain that the game is boring. And players such as Harper, Yasiel Puig, and Manny Machado are some who can bring excitement to the game as they flip bats or admire a home run.

However, as soon as a drop of personality is shown in the batter’s box, their next-at-bat features a fastball between the lenses. But, a pitcher after a strikeout can stare down batters, pump fists or go all Brian Wilson with arm gestures. There is no one to second-guess pitchers.

Baseball plays too many games during the summer when there are other things to do. Teams do not brand their stars well, so you don’t know who’s playing. There are small nuisances throughout which slow down the game (such as a mound meeting with no pitching switch). The games itself is slow.

Yet, with these critiques, the biggest problem for baseball has been the unwillingness to adapt.

It took fights of tooth and nail to add instant replay in 2008, long after every major professional sport had been using it. And to help make the game more pleasing to the eye with more celebrations and expression of fun, there is still in-house fights within the community.

Baseball will need to adapt, or it will decay and die.