The Glamorization of MLB Players Has Gone Too Far

There are many MLB players I like and dislike. As long as I've been watching baseball, I've noticed a consistent (not in a good way) and annoying pattern that has been happening for the last year or so. Major League Baseball has been frequently focusing their attention on two players: Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. While they're extremely talented in their own right, I feel like other teams and players deserve more praise and recognition. Major League Baseball continues to highlight both of these players, overshadowing and talking over other players who had exceptional performances. Let's use Tarik Skubal of the Tigers as an example. Let's say that the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner had a remarkable outing, striking out 11 batters. His performance would only get noticed for a while until MLB goes back to focusing on Ohtani and Judge. Whoever is managing MLB's social media pages need to realize that these two players aren't the only ones in the league. I don't see or hear MLB talking about teams like the Cubs, Tigers, or Mariners more often. There's nothing wrong with highlighting players and praising them. However, I believe there's a such thing a giving someone too much credit. There has to be a healthy balance of doing this. I've always suspected and accused the league of showing favoritism towards the aforementioned players. I've always thought, "Is MLB married to both of these players?" It's like they're super obsessed with them.

Aaron Judge

Last year, I've shared my thoughts about Aaron Judge during last year's ALCS, which the Yankees were one game away from reaching the World Series. I accused him of being a one-dimensional player. In other words, all we see from him are him hitting home runs. Home runs are nice to see, but I like to see him hit something, like an RBI double or a triple. Besides, no one is one-sided all the time, because it's not realistic. I also thought he was too much of a big shot. I didn't like him at first and his mannerisms rubbed me the wrong way. Now, I've changed my tune about him. You can read the full story down below.

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Shohei Ohtani

Before the beginning of the 2024 season, Ohtani signed a contract that was near a billion dollars, even though some of it was deferred. As I've stated in my previous stories, regardless of popularity or talent, no MLB player is entitled to earn close to a billion dollars. I stated at the time that the deal was ridiculous and it screamed entitlement. I was critical of his large contract, and I still stand by those opinions. During the offseason, the Dodgers have been offering some players from other teams these enormous contracts and many baseball fans, including me, have been calling for a salary cap. This action caused a significant amount of backlash and Ken Rosenthal stated in one article calling people criticizing the Dodgers' actions angry. When you stupidly spend close to a billion dollars to acquire several players, you deserve to be called out on it. No player or team is safe from criticism. It wasn't a contest on which team spent the most money during an offseason. The point of Winter Meetings was acquiring the best talent for your team. Also, I've accused the Dodgers of gatekeeping Japanese talent. Sure, teams can sign whoever they want. However, when you display a "Japanese talent is ours" mentality and not let other teams pitch their own deals to Japanese players, that's where I have an issue. Their offseason shenanigans are some of the reasons why I heavily dislike and completely lost respect for this team. I shared more reasons of why I disliked the Los Angeles Dodgers in a previous story, which you can read down below. My criticisms of them were valid and fair. The players may not have cared about being heavily criticized by baseball fans in general, but they should and use them as learning experiences as a way to correct those mannerisms. Like I said, no team or players are exempt from criticism. Their manager, Dave Roberts, isn't exempt from this, either. If a player does something unbecoming, I'm not afraid to call them out.

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Shohei Ohtani fans and Dodgers fans might be offended and outraged of what I'm about to say. The world doesn't revolve around the Dodgers or him. When a player receives too much attention, it starts to get a bit annoying. Don't get me wrong. Shohei is a talented player and glad that he won a World Series title. I'll never take away his accomplishments and achievements. However, there's a such thing as giving players too much credit. When MLB makes one player the main focus of attention, they're overshadowing other players and teams. Plus, they have a bias towards them. Every third or fourth social media post or video I run into is either about Ohtani or Judge. Giving others credit when it's due is wonderful, but there should be a limit and a balance. These two players are not the main characters of this league. Other players, such as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cal Raleigh, should receive way more attention. We know that Shohei is very talented, but I don't need to be constantly reminded of that every day. I'm completely aware of how talented he is. The constant worship of Shohei is starting to get ridiculous. People, including Dodgers fans, treat him like he's a God. There's a difference between being a fan of a player and being overly obsessive of them. There's nothing wrong with being a fan of your own team and liking certain players. When you treat these players like they're perfect and can do no wrong, that's where the issue lies. No player is perfect, so don't expect them to be or put them high on a pedestal. I'm a die-hard of the Texas Rangers. Have been for almost 25 years. I'm a fan of many players on this team, but I don't live vicariously through them or obsess about their personal lives. The key word is fan. I'm a Rangers fan, not a Rangers stan. A stan is defined as an obsessive fan. Dodgers fans and fans of other MLB teams should differentiate the difference between those two words.

Just to be clear, I don't have any personal issues with either Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge. I'm pretty sure that it's not their fault that they're being recognized for their contributions on and off the field. Yes, they're both extremely talented and are most likely to receive first ballots into the Baseball Hall of Fame someday. A World Series title isn't a requirement of being inducted into the Hall, but I hope that Aaron Judge wins a title at some point. However, as I've stated earlier, there are other teams and players who deserve more recognition and not named Ohtani or Judge. And no, this isn't about me being jealous, so please don't come at me with that tireless narrative. I'm just saying that it's not always about them.

In closing, I believe that MLB needs to do a better job of highlighting featuring players and teams more often as opposed to sharing social media posts and videos of Ohtani and Judge. Praising players and teams are great sights to see, but again, there should be limits and a balance between the two. I don't live vicariously through athletes, celebrities, or any other public figure. Why? It's because no one is perfect. There's no such this as a perfect life or perfect anything. It's unrealistic and they're just regular people just like us. The only difference is their level of success and financial status.

To my faithful readers and subscribers, besides Ohtani and Judge, share in the comments below which player or players deserve more recognition. Also, which team or teams do you think deserve more attention? One player who has impressed me so far this season is Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs. PCA doesn't fail to disappoint. This kid is going places and will have a successful career. The team that deserves more recognition is the Seattle Mariners. The Rangers and Mariners are in the same division, the AL West, but as a Rangers fan, if the Mariners were to win the World Series, I would tip my hat to them. They should've won one with Ichiro back in 2001, because they won well over 100 games that season. Speaking of Ichiro, his number 51 jersey will be retired by the Mariners and will officially be a Baseball Hall of Famer in late July when he'll be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ichiro will make history the first Asian-born player to be inducted into the Hall.

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