With the 837th pick of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft, the San Diego Padres selected Johnny Manziel. Although Manziel — a football player, a Heisman trophy winner and NFL quarterback — has not played baseball since high school, the Padres decided to use a draft pick on a player called Johnny Football.

To a casual fan, this would seem peculiar. Why would a baseball team waste a draft pick on a player who has clearly devoted himself to football? Simply put, it was a media ploy.

But it worked.

Although Manziel never showed any interest in playing professional baseball, the decision created a media firestorm. Headlines including Manziel’s new nickname, “Johnny Baseball,” flooded the Internet. Every sports analyst in the country was talking about it.

I am not naive enough to argue that the Padres would have been better served drafting an athlete who intends to pursue a baseball career. It was the 28th round and most players drafted that late are high schoolers who usually opt to play collegiately.

Rather, this demonstrates that baseball has gone soft. It has become so consumed with regaining popularity lost during the steroids era that it has lost sight of what made it popular in the first place. Today, publicity stunts, retirement gifts and song parodies take precedence. Meanwhile, the walk-off-wins and near no-hitters are brushed aside.

Every story needs a human-interest element but frankly, it detracts from the game.

I consider myself a fan, but lately I struggle to remember who won the Cy Young last year or who threw the last perfect game. Important awards and achievements are lost in the gifts given to Marino Rivera, Yasiel Puig’s latest antics; even the Red Sox beards get more coverage.

I’m not saying that baseball shouldn’t have an element of fun — it’s a game, after all. But I also understand that it’s difficult to keep fans interested in a 162 game season.

Nevertheless, baseball used to stand on its own. It didn’t rely on fluff pieces to stay relevant. Carl Yastrzemski winning the Triple Crown, Nolan Ryan throwing another no-hitter, and George Brett’s tantrum after the pine tar incident were enough. I believe if baseball returned to its old mindset it would thrive again.

The league finally seems to be past the steroids era. Players are winning Triple Crowns, hitting 50 homeruns a season, winning 20 games a season and they are doing it cleanly. Baseball needn’t create excitement; excitement already exists within the league’s phenomenal athletes.

The A’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has a cannon for an arm and has been throwing out runners while patrolling left field. In 13 career games, the Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has 10 wins and 100 strikeouts. If that weren’t enough, there seem to be walk-off wins every other night.

Baseball, this is my desperate plea. Let the game be what it is. Honor players’ daily, season and career accomplishments. Remember the Champions and the bottom dwellers alike. But don’t let the Mariners’ gift to Derek Jeter become the week’s only storyline. You’re better than that.

Carolyn Maguire is a rising junior in the College. Sideline Summer appears every other Friday at thehoya.com.