The Face of Baseball

Baseball is entering a unique period in its history. For the first time ever, baseball seems to find itself without a clear superstar, baseball is without a face. When the common person is asked the question “Who is the best player in _______” for football the response will typically be the likes of Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. That same question but regarding basketball will without a doubt warrant a response of Lebron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden or Russell Westbrook. Heck even the average fan can assume the names Sydney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin belong to hockey players, we’ve at least heard of them before. However can the same be said of baseball? A league which saw the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, some of the biggest names in baseball, retire over the last couple of years. So who is the new face of baseball? The first name that pops into a baseball fan’s head is most likely Mike Trout, the 2012 American league rookie of the year and a two-time American League MVP.

Trout certainly has the resume to be ‘The Face of Baseball’, but should he be? Can the face of baseball be the best player on a team that’s made the playoffs once in the last seven seasons and the lone appearance ended in a sweep? Imagine if the face of the NBA was Kemba Walker, tremendous player but when was the last time the Charlotte Hornets were relevant? Or if the face of the NFL was Alshon Jeffery, great player but terrible team. Neither of these scenarios would be good for either the NBA or the NFL because professional sports leagues need their star players to be contending for championships. That leads us to Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant. Bryce Harper was destined for stardom long before he entered the MLB. Harper was being covered by national media since he was playing in high school and he was ultimately the number one pick in the MLB draft. He had all the makings of baseball’s next big thing. Harper went on to win the National League Player of the Year in 2015 but then 2016 happened and Harper struggled batting only .243 and hit 24 Home Runs, 18 less than the previous year. Can baseball’s biggest star be so streaky? Can Steph Curry go from scoring 30 a game to only 14 and still remain atop the basketball world? Or can Kris Bryant be the new face of baseball? Bryant rose to stardom at the perfect time. Harper was going through a down year and all eyes were on the Chicago Cubs as they looked to break the curse that held them without a championship for 108 years, and Bryant shined winning the National League MVP hitting 39 Home Runs and 102 RBI’s all while leading the Cubs to their first World Series win in 108 years. But can he sustain this amount of production? Can we crown him as the face of baseball this soon? That would be like saying Russell Wilson is the face of the NFL after he lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory. Russell Wilson and the Seahawks aren’t as feared as they once were and Russell Wilson certainly isn’t the face of the NFL, so who’s to say the same won’t happen to the Cubs and Kris Bryant?

What about pitchers? Could Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner or Chris Sale be the face of baseball? Does anyone outside of the baseball world know who Madison Bumgarner or Chris Sale are? The truth is most fans don’t tune in to a baseball game to see good pitching. They come to see Barry Bonds hit Home Runs into the bay, they come to see Derek Jeter play his last game in a Yankee Uniform and they come to see David Ortiz hit a game tying Grand Slam in the 8th inning in the ALCS. They come to see big names, big hits and big time situations. The players aren’t at fault in this quest for a new ‘Face of Baseball’. Baseball is a tough sport to make a name for yourself. The MLB draft lasts 40 rounds, in comparison the NBA draft is 2 and the NFL draft is 7. And with three developmental minor leagues, the players in the MLB are always changing. This provides a way for guys like Francisco Lindor and Mookie Betts to suddenly become your favorite team’s best player but it also makes it much more difficult for guys like Trout, Harper and Bryant to cement themselves as baseball’s next big thing and it’s star player. So for now the door is open for anyone in baseball to step up and claim the title of ‘The Face of Baseball’.