Kirk Herbstreit is used to criticism from college football fans, but he branched out to upset MLB supporters.
Former New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said he "can't watch today's baseball" when condemning modern MLB as "garbage." Herbstreit concurred with the four-time World Series champion in a social media rant lamenting the loss of sacrifice bunts, elite contact hitters, and starting pitchers working deep into games.
"The game has been dying with the youth of America for YEARS and now is losing the core fanbase as well with this ridiculous product we've had to digest for the last 7-10 years," Herbstreit wrote. "Bring back Small Ball and athleticism."
Many MLB fans mocked Herbstreit for what they perceived as an out-of-touch perspective. Former pitcher Dallas Braden responded to his ESPN colleague by noting that football has also adapted over the years.
"Take the forward pass for instance. The QB specifically became glorified & of paramount importance because of that evolution," Braden wrote. "How about the spread offense? I don't hear anyone clamoring for '60 minutes of ground and pound' these days. If there are people BEGGING for the wishbone & punts on 4th & 1 these days I don't hear em."
Herbstreit defends baseball take
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Herbstreit responded to Braden's post by clarifying his stance on why he's disenfranchised by the current style of baseball.
"Totally understand your take and didn't mean to make this a big thing at all. I just miss the baseball that I grew up with," Herbstreit wrote. "Feels like the changes has eliminated speed and athleticism from the game."
The longtime Cincinnati Reds fan misses the extra strategy that came with a pitcher batting before the National League permanently instituted a designated hitter in 2022. Herbstreit feels speed is gone despite recent rule changes creating an uptick in stolen bases.
"I get the game evolves but not always for the better," Herbstreit said. "And by the way the football minds do talk about Tempo offenses and Spread Attacks like the Fun N Gun or the Air Raid. The difference in my mind is football is cyclical-what trends for a decade or so becomes old and what was old (TE’s and FB’s and your ability to win the LOS and run the ball) comes BACK to the game-and we're seeing that now in both the NFL and CFB!"
Herbstreit feels that hitters focusing on optimizing exit velocity and launch angle in pursuit of more power has "hurt the game." He wants to see more balls in play over an overemphasis on home runs, which has also led to a rise in strikeouts.
"I miss contact hitters and dudes that can FLY cause I think it creates much more action and excitement for a sport that is often dreadfully boring (and I’m a life long baseball guy).
Hope that makes sense. Just my personal take on baseball," Herbstreit wrote. "Not asking anyone to agree or disagree-just my take after watching a lot of baseball for the last five decades!!"
