Debunking myth of baseball's demise

timber63401 · #1 09-21-2010, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mintacular

Screw baseball, it's the only major sport without a cap and small market teams like Pittsburgh are SCREWED year after year trying to compete with large market teams with x10 the payroll. Until that get fixes MLB deserves every ounce of negative media publicity...

The A's made it to the playoffs a few years on a low payroll and the Marlins have done pretty good at times with no payroll. I can live with a salary cap IF there is also a minimum salary cap to go with it.

tbob · #2 09-21-2010, 08:23 PM

Don't forget the Twins. Their payroll is up this year but year after year after year they are solid and have either won or finished runner-up in their division every year of the last decade. Even when they were at the bottom of the food chain, payroll-wise, they have been competitive.
P.S. They are going to be a dangerous dark horse this post season, even without Morneau.

bh3443 · #3 09-21-2010, 10:18 PM

Honestly, I just can't get into watching games these days. In the last decade, my interest in BB has been lost. I watch the World Series, but no more are the days when I watch every game and follow every team.
I love Baseball, but old Baseball. I prefer to watch clips/documentaries of the old days on youtube.com!
Why has this happened to me? It started with the strike year and I started getting fed-up with the announcers and then the media's bashing of BB, and finally the steroid fiasco was the last straw. Another thing I detest is the sports radio talk shows bashing the Red Sox whether they win or lose.
Baseball will always be here. The game needs to change something.
I'll always love the sport, but for me, it's the love of the cards!
Like I said, this is just the opinion of one 50 year old fan!

David W · #4 09-22-2010, 01:59 PM

My observations.

Baseball is the best sport to see live at the stadium. It is the worst sport to watch on television. Hence, stadium attendance is bigger than ever, and TV ratings stink. The new ballparks are fan friendly, and nice. The old ball parks are nostalgic.

The 1994 player strike hurt bad. I was a huge fan, several fantasy baseball leagues, etc..... but quit following it closely for 10 years.

There is no need to watch the games on TV, when you have Baseball Tonight to show you the highlights. In Northern Indiana on dish network, all games during the week featuring Tigers, Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Reds, Indians are blacked out on the dish. Why is that? We are not in any of those teams media markets.

Yankees games dominating the ESPN televised games.

Loss of the young athlete to other sports, and starting the WS games way to late for us Eastern time zone people to watch, let alone letting school kids watch.

celoknob · #5 09-22-2010, 02:19 PM

Because of the recent investigations, there needs to be more assurance that revenue sharing money goes into at least trying to produce good teams.
With that said and the examples that some small market teams have had some success--the Twins for instance--there are still problems.

The Twins were somehow able to sign Joe Mauer longterm, maybe because they knew attendance would be high with the new stadium. However, most small market teams cannot keep their superstars. I am a Reds fan. I know that as soon as Votto is a free agent he will likely go to one of the handful of teams that can afford him. That really takes away from enjoying the game and the loyalty that goes with it.

I fully understand that small market teams will always have a disadvantage but it stinks when these teams cannot at least hold on to their superstars that developed through their own systems. These are the players that kids associate with their teams. Yes, there is always new talent coming up but I don't like all the established stars gravitating to 5 or 6 teams.

JasonL · #6 09-22-2010, 03:09 PM

it could use more fights.
the sissy fights that break out are an embarassment. If there was a return to the hard-nosed tough-guy stuff circa the deadball era ballgames, we might have more interest in it. The friendly pushing that goes on is draining the competitive fire from the game, and is a direct result of the money and free agency dissolving any real hardcore rivalries.

I guarantee that if we saw a few fights each year like the hurt that Eddie Mathews put on Frank Robinson in 1959(I think ?) after a slide into third base, this sport would get a bump...

I don't condone violence, per se, but I'm just saying the "edginess" is missing/gone.

Tabe · #7 09-22-2010, 07:19 PM

I think the length of the games, combined with their frequency, is what hurts baseball on TV. Yes, NFL games routinely run 3:15 or 3:30 in length - but they are once a week. Baseball games also routinely run 3:00+ - and they're on every single night. There are so many things that slow down the game that it makes them painful to watch at times. If MLB took serious steps to speed up their games, and shorten the broadcasts, I think you'd find ratings would increase.

Tabe

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Reach and Spalding Baseballs	Matt Felix	Net54baseball Sports (Primarily) Vintage Memorabilia Forum incl. Game Used	1	07-06-2010 08:50 PM
25 signed baseballs	sicollector1954	Baseball Memorabilia B/S/T	0	03-25-2010 01:28 PM
Anyone know about red baseballs????	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	3	06-15-2004 12:57 PM
Old Baseballs	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	8	06-04-2004 10:46 AM
Looking for photos of 19th Century baseballs	Archive	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	9	04-26-2004 02:43 PM