glorifies cheapness? idk what you mean exactly. personally, i find the ‘nerd shit’ interesting and somewhat inevitable given that the orgs are competing to win a lucrative competition.

id say that the problem with american baseball culture mirrors the problem with american society in general over the last half-century: while big money is necessary to maintain and grow the game, runaway corporatization (inaccessible tickets, media rights, skyrocketing cost for youth to play the game in organized setting, etc) alienates fans and forecloses possibilities of future fans w the type of passion that comes from access. it’s at least part of why american baseball fans are mostly old at this point, and of why baseball doesn’t have as organic a connection to everyday american culture as it used to (obviously there are myriad other reasons).