PRO BASEBALL PITCHING ITSELF TO WRONG FANS.

Byline: David M. Carter

TWENTY-FIVE years after Roger Kahn brilliantly described the very essence, tradition and fabric of Major League Baseball in his legendary book, ``The Boys of Summer,'' the national pastime finds itself struggling to address a different set of challenges than those faced by Kahn's Brooklyn Dodgers of the early 1950s.

With the regular season rapidly approaching, MLB continues to mend its relationship with its primary customers; a relationship still hampered by the 1994-95 strike that alienated its core customer base. Today, these primary customers - namely disillusioned ``everyday fans,'' anxious sponsors and wary broadcast networks, remain hopeful the sport can return to its glorious past.

Nonetheless, a perception exists that MLB continues to cater to only two of its most important customers: corporate America and the media. Corporate America plays the role of ``big spender,'' allocating billions of dollars annually to its sports marketing efforts while the media serves as the ``great facilitator'' of sports, providing the infrastructure for MLB to broadcast and report on its games.

In fact, when compared to the spending of everyday fans, corporate America and the media provide the sport with a disproportionate amount of its revenue. Relatively speaking, the spending activities of Joe Average - such as purchasing tickets, concessions and merchandise - are no longer the focus of many teams, leaving the everyday fan feeling marginalized, if not downright forgotten.

Fortunately for MLB, Americans - especially those known as sports fans - are quick to forgive and forget. For it was not long ago that an aging fan base, a strained relationship between the sport's labor and management, and an overall atmosphere of economic uncertainty defined baseball. To its credit, MLB has begun addressing these issues in an effort to allay the fears of corporate America, the media and, by extension, baseball's fans.

MLB's commitment to better market its superstars, while providing structural changes in the game, such as expanding the playoff structure and realigning the two leagues, has helped the sport mend its fences with fans and corporate customers alike.

Moreover, the granting of expansion franchises to Phoenix and Tampa Bay promises to further increase fan interest in areas not previously exposed to the sport.

Although these efforts are encouraging, they are muted by other recent developments. Fans are uncomfortable that franchises such as the Florida Marlins can brazenly purchase a World Series championship. They are concerned about corporate America's expanding interest in franchise ownership. Fans are tiring of wealthy franchise owners' successful attempts to extort money from local and state municipalities to build new state-of-the-art stadiums. They remain put off by the hundreds of millions of dollars paid to unproven and transient players.

But, perhaps most of all, these traditionally resilient fans are worried about being priced out of a day at the ballpark. If current fans are unable to share all that is right about the game with their children - the future customers MLB hopes and needs to embrace - the long-term viability of the sport will most certainly be called into question.

Tantamount to ``whistling past the graveyard,'' MLB and its primary customers have yet to adequately address these concerns, hoping they will somehow resolve themselves prior to forever damaging the game by alienating a new generation of fans.

In the meantime, however, why should baseball worry? After all, it's March, a time of year when baseball fans - romantics really - are inundated with stories about what's right about the sport, their team and favorite players. And, to millions of baseball fans of all ages, opening day is a right of passage; a glorious day filled with fanfare and pageantry not often witnessed in American sports.

To this end, MLB would be well-advised to treat every fan and every game as if it were opening day, as demonstrating such a commitment to the sport and its customers would do more for baseball than all of its orchestrated marketing campaigns combined.