As the boys of summer take to the field, fans across America are once again losing favor with Major League Baseball.

Tuesday’s All-Star Game, a tribute designed with the fans in mind, ended in a disappointing tie after the commissioner stepped in a called the game. The move drew boos from the crowd and the nation, as fans and commentators alike joined in dissension.

That move comes in the midst of the ongoing threat of a players’ strike ­ a grandstanding effort we’ve lived through before and had hoped we’d never face again as a country. The players and owners are arguing over money ­ of course ­ and the fans are the ones who’ll be left out in the cold if the strike takes place.

It’s enough to make the recently departed Ted Williams turn in his grave, if it weren’t for that bizarre effort to have his body cryogenically preserved.

Williams was a consummate baseball player. One of the greatest hitters of all time, he epitomized the type of professional athlete we associate with baseball. He was gracious and kind; he loved the sport and the fans; he loved to play and to fish; he was a gentleman and an athlete; and he knew his place in the world, willingly forfeiting two seasons to serve in the U.S. military.

And Ted Williams remains a legend long after his playing days ended.

Unfortunately for the fans who remember the "good ol’ days" when Williams and others played, today’s Major League Baseball is anything but glorious. And for a new generation of fans, who should be developing that all-American passion for baseball, the behavior of the players and owners is definitely not the stuff of legends.  

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