Kids used to play on local Little League and then Senior league teams before trying out for their local high school team. It cost very little and made it ealy to get into baseball. Now kids play on "select" travel teams which travel extensively and play about 9 months a year. The kids as young as 12 also go to "showcase" sessions and tournamnets to perform before college coaches, and also winter baseball camps in Florida or Arizona. All of this costs a lot iof money. Parents often spend thousands of dollars a year on a 14 year old ballplayer. Many parents then send their son to a high school, even if it means moving into a school's district boundary, so their kid can play in a highly ranked high school program. The result of all this is that players are better at comparable ages but there are a lot fewer of them.

When I was in high school e.g. 1967, I could go sit in the centerfield bleachers and watch the Red Sox at Fenway for $1, a reserved grandstand seat was $3.50. I went to a lot of games in high school. Now those same tickets are at least $23 for the bleachers and $75 for reserved grandstand, a brat is $9 and a soda is at least $6. Parents taking their family to a ballgame is a special occassion, if they can afford it at all. The net result is that for the last 20 years, there are very few kids at major league games. Only the affluent or people on the expense account can afford to go to a major league game.

If kids can't afford to play organized baseball or attend majoir league gamnes, its not surprising that as adults they aren't very interested in baseball.