Kris Bryant's Debut, and Baseball's Style and Limited Opportunities, Made For a Tough Start

Each of those at-bats, of course, came roughly 45 minutes to an hour apart in real-time. That’s like an eternity in a social media environment where we are all gathered for an event like the Cubs’ Next Great Thing making his debut. By the third strike out, the beer was flowing and one Cubs fan voiced that which was inevitable: “You suck.”

In other sports, notable debuts provide for more bang for the buck. Debuts and immediate buzz are not baseball, at least for a position player/hitter (a pitcher? Yeah, for one game, then four days of rest). Think about other young stars in other sports. When Andrew Luck made his first start for the Colts, he threw 45 passes, and yes, 3 interceptions. But there were plenty of opportunities to see him make plays. Basketball, the same thing. Baseball, for the individual, is a long trek of 0-4’s, and hopefully 3-5 days.

But for today, the hype exceeded the production. Now, he has the rest of his career to just play baseball.