So here we are in the middle of one the most riveting World Series in recent memory… And nobody outside of the Bay Area or Texas seems to care. There are almost too many compelling storylines in this year’s Fall Classic: the Giants haven’t won a title since they were based in New York, and the Rangers are making their first Series appearance in franchise history. Both squads are loaded with young talents who are the face of baseball’s next generation. As incredible as it seems, baseball just doesn’t cut it for most Americans anymore; America’s pastime’s time seems to have passed. Why has baseball lost out to its other major sport rivals at the time of year when it is supposed to be king?

Baseball’s collective failings must be traced back to Commissioner Bud Selig and his office’s public relations nightmare. Having presided over the most scandalous period in baseball history (the Steroid Era of the late 1990s-early 2000s), Selig continues to lead baseball backward into oblivion with no indication that he will be relinquishing the reins anytime soon. It is ironic that someone so concerned with maintaining the baseball’s “purity” chose to look the other way while cheaters like Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds tarnished the sport’s reputation for millions of fans. The commissioner is so entranced with upholding the “tradition” of the game that he has refused to adopt any of the modern measures that baseball’s rival sports have instituted. Let’s not forget that this is the genius that allowed the 2002 All-Star Game to end in a tie. Only after tremendous clamoring from team owners did Selig cave and adopt a limited instant replay review policy during the 2008 season. However, replay can only be used to determine if a home run is fair or foul, if a ball has left the playing field, or if a spectator has interfered with the ball. These limitations on replay are in defense of the “human element” of baseball, which purists like Selig value above all else. But if it weren’t for the “human element” of baseball, Armando Galarraga probably would have had that perfect game this past summer.

MLB has been just as archaic in not allowing any of its officially licensed content to be shown on YouTube; it is currently the only major sport that doesn’t allow YouTube viewers to watch highlights. Looking to catch up on the top plays from your favorite team’s previous game? Trying to find a clip of that walk-off homer from two seasons ago? No such luck. When I want to relive the magic of David Ortiz’s epic walk-off from Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, I’m forced to deal with a crappy amateur video shot from the upper deck of Fenway Park; the idiot holding the camera didn’t even think to get a shot of the ball as it cleared the fence.

After ten plus years of starting playoff games well after 8pm EST, baseball finally gave in this season and made certain that the first pitch would be at (gasp!) 7:57pm EST. What the brilliant folks in the commissioner’s office don’t realize is that they’ve already lost out on a generation of young fans who grew up knowing that they would only be able to watch the first couple of innings before it was bedtime. Compare that to the NFL, in which playoff games are always scheduled for weekends and typically have late-afternoon start times and it’s easy to see why baseball’s postseason has lost its appeal.

Baseball’s minor league and talent development system also seems to be deliberately confusing. Between high school baseball, college baseball and the international talent pool, fans have to be more than just casually interested in their teams to follow draft moves. Prospects largely remain anonymous until they reach the majors; this structure makes it tough to hype developing players. Contrast this with the NFL and NBA, who have the convenient tool of the NCAA to use as a hype machine from the time that prospects are in high school. ESPN has been televising both the NFL and NBA drafts since time immemorial; baseball’s draft only went live on television last year. Baseball’s draft politics are conducted in something of a smoke-filled back room, with under-the-table deals negotiated by the likes of mega-agent Scott Boras; in the NFL or NBA, fans of a given team usually have it narrowed down to five or fewer candidates for their first round pick every year. Baseball must fix its draft system so that the average fan can figure out what’s going on without resorting to quantum physics.

The length of an average baseball is another huge issue; time on the field has increased exponentially in the last 15 seasons. Umpire Joe West, famous for his ill-advised country music records, went so far as to call out the Yankees and Red Sox for a four-hour contest that they played in May of this year (I attended that game and the Sox came back to win after rallying off of Joba and Mariano in the late innings, damn Yankees!). While players ripped West in response, he has a point: the length of baseball games are so unpredictable, and the pace can be so slow, that it is difficult for some fans to stay interested. Though I personally live for the inevitable knock-down, drag-out slugfest of a Yankees/Red Sox series, I can understand that average fans would prefer game times to be more predictable. The set time clock in the NFL, NBA, NHL and professional soccer means that games will always be played in roughly the same amount of time. Barring an overtime period, football has game times down to a science: they are almost always between 3 hours and 3 hours and 15 minutes long. Fans like it when things are certain in sports; they want to know how much time they’re committing to following their team. Perhaps with a pitch clock and a rule against batters stepping out of the box, baseball could make some progress toward more reasonable game times. If Selig’s past performance is any indication, these reforms will be a long time coming.

Personally, baseball has always had a special place in my sports pantheon. Watching games is an integral part of my summer; what I have always enjoyed about the MLB is that there is always a game to watch, rather than the once-a-week deal in the NFL. It would take some prying to pull me away from the TV when the Sox are playing. Despite their disappointing performance in 2010, I’ll be glued to the TV when play begins in April 2011. In baseball, they say that hope springs eternal. Here’s hoping that it’s not too late for the MLB.