Major League Baseball has a long, long history. After being founded in 1869, the game went through decades of changes before becoming what we recognize today as baseball. There is always talk surrounding teams that have been around for decades; about their great moments, their great players, and other memories of yesteryear. When a new player joins the ranks of an historic franchise, he is often told he has “mighty big shoes to fill.” It seems like a lot of time is spent looking at the past and not enough towards the future.

Does a player truly care about the history of the uniform he puts on? When a rookie puts on the Yankee pinstripes, does he feel the weight of 27 World Championships? When he puts on a hat with the Chicago “C”, does he carry the pressure of over 100 years without a World Series victory? When he suits up for the Arizona Diamondbacks, does he care that he is older than the franchise itself?

Teams do all kinds of things to honor their respective past. From memorial nights to retired numbers to hanging up championship banners and everything in between, history is not lost in the world of sports. But where should the line be drawn? A blue-chip prospect is seen as the player to build around, but everybody accepts he may fizzle out, while first-round draft picks can be hit or miss. At what point does a player earn the right to become part of history?

History plays such a large part in sports that sometimes it’s hard to forget the future. Saying that Stephen Strasburg looks like a young Nolan Ryan isn’t fair either. Twenty years from now, somebody might say that a new power pitcher looks like a young Stephen Strasburg, or they might not know who Strasburg is at all. History has its place in maintaining the memory and the legacy of the past, but it’s about time that the weight of 150 years of baseball be taken off the shoulders of the new kids in town.