While it seems as though baseball hasn’t changed much on the surface over the past 100 years, those within the sport are making more changes than ever to boost the sports’ popularity.
That includes one collegiate summer league baseball team that is attempting to pull off one unbelievable stunt.
But it may get someone killed in the process.
Baseball needs some changes
Baseball has long been controlled by traditionalists, who refuse to accept that the times are changing, and that the game must change with it in order to survive.
That mentality has led Major League Baseball (MLB) to fall behind the National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) in many respects.
In recent years, though, MLB has begrudgingly begun to make positive changes that are having a direct impact on reviving fan interest, such as implementing the pitch clock, which helped MLB lower the average length of its games to a 40-year low of just two hours, 40 minutes last year.
As a result, MLB saw its in-park attendance skyrocket to over 70 million for the first time since 2017.
But while the pitch clock, scheduling adjustments, efforts to limit “blackout” restrictions created by the league’s utterly stupid decision to sell “exclusive” broadcast rights that keep fans who don’t pay for cable or virtually every streaming service under the Sun from even being able to watch their favorite team’s games, and all the other changes the league has implemented, have helped, it’s still apparently not enough.
In fact, despite the fact that the changes helped the 2023 season set records for fan interest, this past World Series drew the smallest TV audience of any World Series in MLB history.
Now, one collegiate summer league team is taking it upon itself to forever change the game.
And it likely won’t be for the best.
Professional baseball in complete darkness?
You probably have never heard of the Tri-City Chili Peppers, but the team competes in the Coastal Plain League, a wood-bat collegiate summer league that features college players recruited from around the country.
But what the Chili Peppers are attempting to do this summer has never been done.
For the first time in baseball history, they are going to try to play a game in near-total darkness.
Calling it the “World’s First-Ever Cosmic Baseball Game,” the team will attempt to cut off its typical stadium lights, and instead, play under black lights with all of the bats, balls, bases, and team uniforms decked out in neon.
Just imagine the chaos.
Even the stands are going to be dark and under the black lights.
Admittedly, it does look pretty cool.
Worlds First Ever Cosmic Baseball Game will be played June 1st. Don’t Miss being a part of History. pic.twitter.com/eXnDAH6H5A
— Tri-City Chili Peppers 🌶 (@GoChiliPeppers) May 2, 2024
But what makes this even more impressive is the logistics behind the glow.
Considering the fact that no one has ever attempted to cover an entire baseball field and stadium in black lights, the Chili Peppers had to find a company that could build the biggest custom made black lights imaginable.
On top of that, they also had to find companies that could also make custom neon jerseys, baseballs, bats, and other logistical issues.
Worlds first ever Cosmic Baseball Game June 1st, 2024. Have you ever been a part of a worlds first? Either have we, but this year the Chili Peppers and fans will be a part of history. See you soon #Cosmicbaseball #GoPeppers #BlackLight #Glowinthedark pic.twitter.com/pMCc4ezsHo
— Tri-City Chili Peppers 🌶 (@GoChiliPeppers) May 1, 2024
Put simply, the Tri-City Chili Peppers are either about to pull off one of the bigger visual spectacles in baseball history, or they’re going to get someone killed with a 90 MPH fastball to the head.
Hopefully, it’s the former and rather than the latter.
