{"id":188917,"date":"2021-02-25T20:03:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T17:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/one-college-student-is-using-instagram-to-make-mlb-cool-again\/"},"modified":"2021-02-25T20:03:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T17:03:03","slug":"one-college-student-is-using-instagram-to-make-mlb-cool-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/one-college-student-is-using-instagram-to-make-mlb-cool-again\/","title":{"rendered":"#One college student is using Instagram to make MLB cool again"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#One college student is using Instagram to make MLB cool again<\/strong>”
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TAMPA \u2014 Alex Tantum represents a minority constituency of sorts: He is a college junior, and his favorite sport is baseball.<\/p>\n

When he talks to contemporaries, often, \u201cThe first thing they say, when I ask, \u2018Why don\u2019t you watch baseball?\u2019 is \u2018Baseball is boring,\u2019\u201d Tantum said in a conversation Wednesday. \u201cI think that some of the things that baseball is doing \u2014 I think bat flips, more celebrations, embracing players\u2019 personalities \u2014 helps the game<\/a> become less boring,\u201d<\/p>\n

In October 2019, Tantum created an Instagram account called \u201cMLB FITS,\u201d<\/a> championed by the slogan, \u201cThe Game is Changing.\u201d Its posts highlight well-dressed baseball players \u2014 some on the field, like a recent shot of new Met Francisco Lindor<\/a>, but mostly off the field, like the Yankees\u2019 Clint Frazier<\/a> sitting in his highly celebrated shoe closet..<\/p>\n

The Frazier post features a comment from Yankees teammate Tyler Wade, and that speaks to what makes this account special: Among its over 21,000 followers are many ballplayers themselves, including Wade, the Padres\u2019 Blake Snell and retired Yankees legend CC Sabathia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so important for them to be able to express their personalities,\u201d Tantum said. \u201cIt\u2019s good for themselves. It\u2019s good for the game as a whole. It\u2019s good for fans to be able to relate to them. I feel like the players\u2019 outfits are an extension of their personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tantum cited the Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr., the Braves\u2019 Ronald Acuna Jr., the Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge and Lindor as players whom he believes can compel his generation with the way they both play the game and understand the value of looking good while playing good. A Yankees fan, he ranked Frazier, Wade, Judge, Gleyber Torres, Aroldis Chapman and Giancarlo Stanton (not in that order \u2013 they all reside in his top tier) as the team\u2019s best-dressed players.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friends are really into the NBA and NFL,\u201d Tantum said. \u201cI think what the NBA does a great job of is marketing the players and letting the players really speak for themselves. I think MLB is doing more of that recently.\u201d Players Weekend, he added, was a personal favorite, and he app<\/a>lauded the formation of the Players Alliance<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After some talk of celebrations and expressions of emotion, I asked Tantum what he thought of the game itself, given all of the concerns and laments surrounding it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed watching baseball. That\u2019s just me as a baseball fan,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, there has been a lot of talk about time of the game, shortening the game, putting more hitting into the game, lowering the number of home runs versus strikeouts.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are changes that can be made to mitigate that; the attempted deadening of the baseball will be interesting, and fingers crossed that we\u2019ll get pitch clocks and robot umps sooner than later. Ultimately, though, Tantum feels the best way to make baseball more exciting is to have the players be more excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmotion is good,\u201d he said. \u201cPitcher celebrations are good, too. There\u2019s always going to be those people who say, \u2018I don\u2019t like this. This isn\u2019t the way it\u2019s done,\u2019 and stuff like that. But I think at the end of the day, the players are the ones who dictate what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The game, like the world, is changing. In a week when we saw Mariners president Kevin Mather resign in shame after voicing some fossilized views on players, it\u2019s clear that baseball must further empower its players to be who they want to be in order for the industry to attain its full potential.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s Pop Quiz question came from the late Jan Bottone of Wellesley, Mass.: The 1992 film \u201cLight Sleeper\u201d features a late scene in which a couple of people can be seen wearing baseball jackets, both sporting the same major-league team logo. Which team\u2019s logo is it?<\/p>\n
The Post\u2019s baseball podcasts will get back up and running next week. Check them out.<\/p>\n
Your Pop Quiz answer is the Yankees. <\/p>\n

If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.\u00a0<\/em>\n <\/div>\n