Stephen L. Carter, Columnist

Baseball Fans Are Too Old, Too White and Too Few

One thrilling World Series can’t make the sport’s viewership problems go away.

What baseball dedication looks like

Photographer: Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

In the wake of the most exciting and engrossing World Series in recent memory, perhaps it’s a bit churlish to ask whether Major League Baseball might be in trouble. But I’m asking anyway.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a serious baseball nut, always searching for the game’s life lessons, and have been a fan of Washington’s teams (including the hapless Senators) since my boyhood in the 1960s. I’m ecstatic about the Nationals’ Game 7 victory, which ended decades of frustration and vindicated the team caps I’ve spent years being laughed at for wearing.