By Dan Bickley | azcentral Sports columnist
Grab your lemonade and a scorecard. The boys of summer are back.
So is the game that once served as America’s pastime.
“Our sport has never been more popular,” Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said.
That’s an astounding and oft-repeated claim from the outgoing commissioner, especially given his travails. In the past 20 years, MLB has suffered through a canceled World Series, the Steroid Era and the desecration of its holy bible — the hallowed records book that linked generations of fans.
Meanwhile, the world has changed dramatically. We are a short-attention-span culture addicted to football, technology and drive-by fandom. Many feared a plodding sport like baseball would eventually join milkmen and encyclopedias in the dustbin of history.
Instead, the business of baseball is booming, and every metric available seems to back Selig’s claim.
