It’s the World Series again, time for that hallowed rite of autumn: the news-media debate over why no one watches baseball anymore. Is it steroids? Overexpansion? A failure to inspire home run dreams in LeBron James when he was 5?

Maybe. Or maybe the answer is simpler. Maybe it is the pants.

The World Series is a showcase for not only the finest teams in the game, but also, for about the 15th year running, the regrettable fashion trend of the baggy, pajama-pant look. At one point, the style may have communicated a certain rebel swagger, but now everyone from baseball purists to fashion wags is crying “foul.”

“I’m incredulous,” said Tim Gunn, the host of “Project Runway.” “You’ve taken away all of the visual appeal, allure and sexy swagger, and given us a look that would only look at home in a bed.”

Joe Zee, the creative director of Elle, is similarly flummoxed. “Seeing the hemlines grow longer and looser over the years, I’m left scratching my head,” he said. “I can see that loose, dropped-waist look working in the rap community, but chasing cool on the baseball field? Not so much. They should be chasing the ball.”