Is baseball changing for the better?

Brian Dozier hits a home run
American League's Brian Dozier, of the Minnesota Twins, hits a home run during the eighth inning of the MLB All-Star baseball game in July.
John Minchillo | AP 2015

Today is the home opener for the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. With the start of another baseball season, MPR News host Bob Collins put out the question: Is baseball changing for the better?

David Brauer and Britt Robson, veteran Minnesota reporters and co-hosts of the podcast "Britt and Brauer," joined the conversation.

"It's usually a sign of a bad sports weekend when the only joy in these parts comes from the Minnesota Timberwolves," Collins joked. The Twins home opener comes on the heels of a disappointing start to the season.

Despite the losses, Brauer maintained that "if you're a fan of a losing team, baseball is by far the best sport to be a fan of."

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With this new season comes new changes to the game, including a stricter definition of a legal slide and efforts to speed up the pace of play.

"One of the things that bums me out the most about baseball has nothing to do with what's on the field, it has to do with what's in the stands," Brauer said. "The crowds are just dead. They're not just dead in Minnesota ... You go to Yankee stadium now, and I hear, it's dead. Partly because they charge so much for their tickets."

"To me, any things within reason that can get fans excited again, be it bat flips or demonstrations of genuine emotion, are good."

For the full discussion on the state of baseball, use the audio player above.