Vote: Are You Happy With the Current State of Major League Baseball?

Football returned on Thursday night, and it took the country by storm. Everywhere you looked — Facebook, Twitter, the barber shop, probably even the nail salon — everyone was talking about pigskin. For baseball, a sport in the thick of its march toward the postseason, that can't be good news.

Even the most hardcore baseball fan can admit that football has passed the original National Pastime in terms of popularity. Baseball, for better or worse, isn't what it once was.

Former major league pitcher Bill Lee, who spoke with NESN.com on Thursday, is a firm believer that the game has changed for the worse.

"Everything is scripted, and it's not the same game," he said. "And that's sad. It takes too long. The game is supposed to be uptempo. The ball's supposed to be put in play, and people are supposed to make plays."

Lee lamented that a new emphasis on statistics and looking at the game in a different way has actually helped slow the pace of the game. Of course, that's not the sole reason, according to Lee, who also said pitchers' inability to command the strike zone and umpires' inability to call strikes when pitchers do so, also play a role.

Lee made it clear that he thinks baseball can survive these "problems," but he made it pretty clear that he thinks something must be done.

What's your biggest complaint with Major League Baseball today?