That's the way it was. In many ways, it was much better. That's learning social compromise. Now kids get driven to the game, parents stay, involved, and the line between support and unhealthy pressure gets lost. Kids get the idea that this is more important than having fun.
Kids hate that.
We watch the Yankees on TV, but we don't recognize that what we do to our kids is more influential. Wolff calls it child abuse. Often it's the parent at bat, not the kid. Sometimes the parent is driven by awareness of the big money out there. Parents want to make sure their kid isn't cheated, and then they try to make sure he gets the very best, and he has to perform.