MLB 2014 season thread

[outofplace]

If anyone hasn't been watching Lorenzo Cain because he doesn't play in a big enough city, well, that's just a person who isn't much into baseball.

The news industry could learn something from baseball about catering to the fans you have instead of trying to lure the fans you'll never get.

To be fair, Cain had never surpassed 400 at-bats in a season before this year and he was a huge disappointment in 2013. Even this season, he missed time, which made it easy to miss the step forward he took this year.

 

[outofplace]

The goal in baseball is broad-based regional revenue (and club valuation) growth -- not big World Series ratings. For that to happen, it's imperative that smaller markets not just reach the postseason but be in position to compete well and possibly win championships. The Royals reaching the World Series is great for the industry in the long term.

Agreed. Baseball's uneven playing field has always been more of a public perception issue than anything else. The big markets still have the advantage, but it is not as drastic as it used to be and that runs like Kansas City's this year help demonstrate that.

The ideal for baseball is to keep the big markets strong, especially with so much of the sport's revenue coming in regionally rather than nationally, while ensuring a public perception of parity. The Royals are helping to make that happen. Those 29 years out of the playoffs will be forgotten by many fans regardless of how this World Series turns out.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

I wonder how much the value of the Royals franchise has increased in the past few weeks.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2014/10/16/boring-san-francisco-giants-threaten-world-series-ratings-again/

 

[LongTimeListener]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2014/10/16/boring-san-francisco-giants-threaten-world-series-ratings-again/

Strong content from an avid fan.

The pitching staff is dull, too. The only standout, Madison Bumgarner, is a soft-tossing lefty

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

I think there's a national fatigue with this team (and the Cardinals) but that was a ****tarded column.

 

[HanSenSE]

I think there's a national fatigue with this team (and the Cardinals) but that was a ****tarded column.

Dude's probably a Dodger fan.

 

[mpcincal]

Add my name to those who appreciated exmediahack's story.

Me too. It almost, ALMOST, eradicated my bitterness over the Angels getting swept.

Hope you and your son have a great time, Hack. And you get to see it in a real nice ballpark.

 

[old_tony]

Unsolicited call from my father. He's 75 and we don't talk that often. Up and down relationship since I was 7 for all the usual crummy reasons. He was largely absent in my life.

"You and your son are huge royals fans," he starts.

He asks if I have landed any World Series tickets. I say no, just not in the budget. I say they are going for $800 to get in. $1250 in lower concourse.

Then he says... without hesitation.

"Go spend up to three grand for the two of you. I'll pay. This is too important."

Then he pauses. Struggling for the next words.

"I can't make up the past but when you're a grandfather like I am, do something like this for your kid."

Speechless.

Now going to Game 2.

This is one of the coolest posts ever in the history of SportsJournalists.com.

Indeed.

Does he live near you? Maybe you can get three tickets?

Yup. The only way this story could be better is if the three of them went to the game.

 

[Songbird]

Take as many photos as you can, shoot a few videos of your boy during the game, and put together a little multimedia package for your dad and send him the link. (If he's at all a computer guy.)

 

[Spartan Squad]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2014/10/16/boring-san-francisco-giants-threaten-world-series-ratings-again/

Strong content from an avid fan.

The pitching staff is dull, too. The only standout, Madison Bumgarner, is a soft-tossing lefty

Dafuq did I just read? "Soft tossing lefty" because he isn't Pedro Martinez who throws 99? This lunkhead needs to pull up Game 5 of the 2012 NLCS if he wants to see "soft-tossing" at work. **** off, Bumgarner is a "soft-tossing" lefty.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Coastal bias is never not going to be a thing.
People who hold these biases are not going to be won over by Posnanski's midwestern poesy, or by a superstar-less Giants team.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Another dumb piece by a guy who has a national platform.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/52750/welcome-to-the-worst-world-series-ever

 

[Jake_Taylor]

He might be on to something about the geography factor. The Royals went 6-13 against Detroit. Looking at their record against the rest of the bigs, they might have won 95-97 games in another division. :)

 

[Dick Whitman]

Another dumb piece by a guy who has a national platform.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/52750/welcome-to-the-worst-world-series-ever

Did you think? He transitioned well into, "Yeah, but it'll be fun."

 

[Dick Whitman]

Take as many photos as you can, shoot a few videos of your boy during the game, and put together a little multimedia package for your dad and send him the link. (If he's at all a computer guy.)

Nah. Take one photo, when you get there. Then put the damn phone away and remember every pitch.

 

[Songbird]

37 years ago today. 3 pitches, 3 home runs.

His trot around the bases is pure **** of the Walk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZNTzxVNv24&feature=youtu.be

Such a moment.

 

[Songbird]

And what the hell with Dodger pitchers wearing 49 who give up bombastic playoff homers. Hi, Tom Niedenfuer.

 

[exmediahack]

Take as many photos as you can, shoot a few videos of your boy during the game, and put together a little multimedia package for your dad and send him the link. (If he's at all a computer guy.)

Nah. Take one photo, when you get there. Then put the damn phone away and remember every pitch.

For the WC game, we took a load of pictures before the game - really all through the day - but once it started, maybe a couple here and there between innings. Never understood people who take pictures during every big play.

Enjoy the moment with your own eyes and full concentration.

Buy the DVD later.

 

[Songbird]

Take as many photos as you can, shoot a few videos of your boy during the game, and put together a little multimedia package for your dad and send him the link. (If he's at all a computer guy.)

Nah. Take one photo, when you get there. Then put the damn phone away and remember every pitch.

For the WC game, we took a load of pictures before the game - really all through the day - but once it started, maybe a couple here and there between innings. Never understood people who take pictures during every big play.

Enjoy the moment with your own eyes and full concentration.

Buy the DVD later.

I was thinking more between innings kind of photos and videos.

Either way, enjoy your dad's gift of love.