How can baseball be saved? Former Sox infielder Frye pushing more excitement, fewer 'nerds'

Feb. 27—Baseball has a big problem.

There's the lockout, yes, but baseball's troubles go much deeper. Though revenues remain strong the game isn't the dominant cultural force it once was, and lately baseball has struggled to attract a new generation of fans.

Former Red Sox infielder Jeff Frye, who played eight seasons in the big leagues between 1992-2001 and who has become a prominent advocate for increasing youth participation in the sport, has a theory as to why.

In his view, the games have become "unwatchable."

"It's the lack of action during a baseball game. There's too much of the three true outcomes, the homer, walk and strikeouts," said Frye, who played for the Red Sox from 1996-2000 and batted .312 as a super-utility standout in 1997. "The biggest proof that I've seen is former Major League Baseball players and lifelong baseball fans can barely watch a baseball game or don't watch at all anymore. That ought to tell you right there that something's wrong."

Frye is a vocal critic of the direction baseball has taken in recent years. He rails against the increased emphasis of analytics, arguing that it has resulted in a slower, less entertaining product. He also believes baseball has been overrun by people who didn't grow up in the game, and that those people's influence on how young players are taught is hurting the sport.

As such trends continue to take hold at the grassroots level, Frye has amassed more than 14,000 followers on Twitter calling out what he describes as fraudulent teachings.

"The influx of Ivy League analytics nerds in the game who have never played the game and have come up with these formulas to try and determine what's the best way to win a baseball game, I think it's wrong," Frye said. "They've taken the human element out of the game, the feel these players had developed through a lifetime of playing this game through childhood all the way up through high school, college and professional baseball, and now we're telling them this is the way you're supposed to play."

Among the non-baseball people Frye has a problem with is MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, whom he accused of pushing harmful rule changes that baseball doesn't need while actively shrinking the size of the minor leagues at the expense of small market baseball fans.

"I don't think Rob Manfred has done anything to help the game since he's become commissioner," Frye said. "What has he done to help the game? Get rid of 42 minor league teams? Shorten the draft? Now they want to get rid of more reserve players from 180 to 150. How are you going to build this game if you're getting rid of teams?"

Rather than implement rule changes to help nudge baseball back towards a more entertaining product, Frye said he believes the problem — and solution — is cultural. Players shouldn't be taught to accept strikeouts, they should focus more on making contact with two strikes, and contact on the basepaths should be allowed.

That's how baseball was played during Frye's day, but one thing that hasn't changed is the fractured dynamic between players and ownership. Frye said he sees a lot of similarities between now and the 1994-95 players strike.

"It's the same arguments they're having today, there's just this distrust between the players and owners. There's too much money being made for this to be happening right now in my opinion," said Frye, who described living through the strike as a third-year players as a scary time. "I think baseball is in a dire situation because I don't think the fans are going to be as understanding this time around."

To help broaden the sport's appeal, Frye is among those helping lead an initiative called Save The Game designed to help keep young fans engaged with baseball. The idea is to encourage contact hitting and strategy, and ideally help get the sport back to a place where there is action on every pitch.

"If we don't make it more exciting and more entertaining, in 10-15 years baseball might not even be one of the top three sports in the country," Frye said. "We have to do this, the time is now to fix this."

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com.

Twitter: @MacCerullo.