Column: What if they gave a baseball season and nobody came?

3/2/09
new york yankees
By Max J. Dickstein

Column: What if they gave a baseball season and nobody came?

Photo credit: Game Face

Getty Images

By Budd Mishkin

Special to amNewYork

There was a famous poster in the 1960s that read: “What if they gave a war and nobody came?”

No one is expecting nobody to come to New York's two new ballparks this year. But the major question of the New York baseball season does not concern the Mets’ bullpen, the Yankees’ free-agent signings or even Alex Rodriguez (is that possible?). With the economy falling faster than a certain team in September (no names necessary), the most intriguing question of the upcoming season is: Will people come?

The month of March represents a waiting game, even for those of us who love the winter sports. It's been another uninspiring season at the Garden, albeit with flashes of excitement from Nate Robinson and the general feeling that things will get better under coach Mike D'Antoni. The Rangers are fighting for a playoff spot because they have lacked one skill rather crucial to a successful hockey team: scoring goals. Martin Brodeur reconfirmed his brilliance by posting two shutouts after missing 50 games with a shoulder injury, but the Devils have never had a big impact on New York's sports consciousness.

And so we wait for baseball.It won't take much to remind Mets fans of the convergence of the economy and baseball this season. Every time they walk into their new ballpark, they'll see one of the major financial players at the core of our economic woes: the bank whose name adorns the new stadium. If they would dare, the Mets could bring back their old Banner Day on that subject alone. But the health of the game this season will be determined by millions of difficult decisions made in homes affected by the economic storms raging outside — e.g., “I've lost my job,” or, “I fear I'm about to. Am I going to pony up for four tickets for my family for the game?”

The two new ballparks were created at an economic time that now seems like ages ago. And the Yankees spending this off season, all perfectly legit and legal, feels like it took place in an alternate universe apart from the one most of us are living in. We all grew up reading stories of how baseball served as a diversion during the Depression and World War II. Now we get to experience the role the game will play during this modern economic disaster. The buildings have been built. But will people come?
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Column: What if they gave a baseball season and nobody came?

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