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More bad baseball news

djberg96 on 2002-07-11T12:41:56

Baseball is just digging itself in deeper, isn't it? By now most people on this side of the pond know that the latest All-Star game ended in a tie. For anyone not familiar with baseball, you never end in a tie. You keep playing until someone wins.

The whole situation was handled terribly from what I heard. They went to 11 innings and, after one out had already occurred, called the game. Fans were not happy.

This morning on the radio I heard Bud Selig (The MLB Commissioner) say that two teams are in serious financial trouble (he wouldn't say which ones). A strike is looming.

Personally, I hope a strike happens. The league will collapse and perhaps a new league will form with public ownership as an option, revenue sharing, and salary caps.

Teams in trouble

ziggy on 2002-07-11T13:56:46

One of the two teams in serious financial trouble is Montreal. Over the last few years, it's been a struggle for the Expos to get non-negative attendance figures. The resolution the MLB has been batting around is to contract the National League by two teams, or just selling the franchises to a city that really [thinks it] wants a baseball team (like Washington, DC).

I forget who the other team is. Florida comes to mind, but I think that the Marlins were the 3rd out of 4 troubled teams.

Re:Teams in trouble

modred on 2002-07-11T14:51:19

I don't think Montreal is in any danger of running out of money - being owned and run by the other 29 owners.

The "surprise" team is supposedly Arizona is terms of the team not being able to meet payroll and the team in huge amounts of debt is supposedly Tampa Bay.

All-Star Media Event

modred on 2002-07-11T15:02:28

I don't have a problem with the All-Star game ending in a tie, it was the correct decision. How would you like to be the manager who asks a pitcher on another team to go out and pitch some more and that pitcher ends up hurt? Given that it now takes an hour of pre-game cermonies to get to the game, it really seems that it is more of a media event than an athletic contest.

It seems that the All-Star is getting to be more and more like the NFL prob bowl with star players declining out of injury or fear of injury.

The owners have dug themselves a large portion of the current hole in which they find themselves. The existing owners were so intent on getting the expansion fees that they neglected a simple matter of economics. The pool of baseball players with major league talent is finite. Adding 4 extra teams who want players from that pool is can't help but increase the amount of money it takes to get a player. The supply stays the same and the demand is increased.

Re:All-Star Media Event

djberg96 on 2002-07-11T16:56:22

I actually wouldn't have had a problem with it if it had been fleshed out before hand. The fact that they waited two innings (and one out) made it worse.

I think a cool solution would be a home-run derby by batters 1-3 on each team if both teams are tied after 9. With players like Bonds, I think it would have been a big hit (no pun intended).