LOS ANGELES Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, right, gets a high five from Mookie Betts, left, after hitting a home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fourth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

I know that I sometimes spend a lot of ink (electrons?) criticizing various aspects of sports, but this year I feel this there’s a lot to feel good about as 2025 winds down.

Baseball is on a rise in more ways than one. The new rules have sped up the game and boosted the offense. Attendance and TV viewership are up.

Perhaps most important is that baseball now has the most popular and accomplished professional athlete: the incomparable Shohei Ohtani.

The 2025 World Series was dramatic and full of memorable moments, many of them supplied by the Dodger superstar. Players used to call major league baseball “The Show.” Right now, it’s ‘The Sho.”

Speaking of the horsehide, lots of variations are popping up. The Long Beach Baseball club is a new professional team that will debut in the independent Pioneer League starting in 2026.

There will be familiar faces, too. Troy Percival, an Angels’ star pitcher from the glory days, has been hired as manager of the team and an assistant coach will be another Angel standout, Troy Glaus.

I’m also delighted with the growth of flag football for girls. The gridiron has long been the The Frontier for females, and – guess what? – nearly all area schools have embraced the sport. And guess what, else? It’s often more fast-moving and dynamic than boys’ tackle football and is fun to watch.

I’m not thrilled with all the rules, but if baseball can evolve, so can any sport.

Now, all we need for total parity, is to introduce boys’ softball. That may seem unlikely, but so – once – was girls’ football.