Is Baseball slowly dying?

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  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    batmon said:



    I've spent the last 10 days in the hospital and watched these two clowns every morning......if they represent sports circa 2013 you can keep that shit.

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    vintageinfants said:
    Rockadelic said:
    batmon said:


    Sound like Jazz.

    Ken Burns agrees

    i never knew Ty Cobb was such a degenerate puke.
    Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker bet on games they were involved in, and they're both in the HOF.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Thymebomb13 said:
    batmon said:
    And ive said it before. They gave up on mining the inner city talent. Black, PR, DR or whatever.
    Football and Basketball have embraced the Inner city kid.
    In the 90s when a gang of cornrolled cats who grew up on mostly Hip Hop entererd their drafts, i saw no baseball equivalent to Iverson.
    MLB didnt make the sport attractive to that demographic of talent. BITD cats played all three sports. Now dudes dont have to deal with a farm system in Football or Basketball, or even Tennis and Golf, with the latter two being of more privledged arenas.
    Instead they overlooked their own homegrown kids and set up the Dominican and Puerto Rican systems on the islands to farm that talent.
    Its now too late or theyll have to uphaul their look.

    Last I checked Puerto Ricans were Americans, hoss.

    And don't dismiss the Dominicans. That place is the richest lode of baseball talent, per capita, that ever was.

    I didnt dismiss DR. Dont be dramatic.

    I didnt claim baseball to be dead either. I asked if it was dying.

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Who has more exciting first and second year players right now.....MLB, NFL or NBA?

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Double

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,896 Posts
    batmon said:


    I didnt claim baseball to be dead either. I asked if it was dying.

    There is the argument to be made of youth interest.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703712504576232753156582750.html

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Thymebomb13 said:
    batmon said:
    Thymebomb13 said:
    rain103 said:
    batmon said:


    Derek Jeter in 2001. Over ten fuckin years.

    I was going to guess Jeter, but then again I probably haven't watched SNL since 2001...

    Talk about unintentional comedy... using SNL as some sort of reference point for relevance is as funny as it gets.

    if you dont think star personalities help sell a sport, your out of touch.

    I don't think SNL helps to sell a sport.

    Jeezus, I can hardly believe anyone still watches that show other than online "highlights."

    And why a sport that outdraws any other at least 4-1 needs to be "sold" is something you still haven't addressed. I get it, you don't care for it anymore. Somehow baseball will get over losing batmon, especially since supermon and spider-mon and iron mon are still big fans.

    Dont make this about me son. Please stay on topic.
    Im not trying to hurt your feelings, and I dont want this to become that personal bullshit yall pull in the political threads.

    Top 10 Watched Sporting Events.

    Does TV not factor into popularity?

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Thymebomb13 said:
    Jeezus, are you kidding with this? It's the national sport in Japan, too, and growing in Korea and Australia and so forth. What else do you need?



    Plaese 2 Xplane?

  • kitchenknightkitchenknight 4,922 Posts
    I've watched two complete baseball games in three years- WS games 6 & 7 btwn StL & Tex.

    I said to a friend this morning, "do you know anyone who still likes baseball?" He laughed.

    Shit is so dead. And dull.

    My boss brought his sons class to work a couple years back, and they all laughed at us about baseball. 13 yrs old. They all love euro soccer, and could name all those dudes.

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Soccer is the next big sport in the U.S.....it will pass Hockey any day now

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Thymebomb13 said:
    batmon said:
    Dont make this about me son. Please stay on topic.
    Im not trying to hurt your feelings, and I dont want this to become that personal bullshit yall pull in the political threads.

    Top 10 Watched Sporting Events.

    Does TV not factor into popularity?

    Oh, come on, spider-mon, that's funny stuff.

    Yes, TV factors into popularity, but most of those other events are one-shots, not series.

    The NBA does attract fans for their finals who don't care for either team in greater numbers than other sports, but the difference just isn't that huge.

    You still haven't addressed the MASSIVE overall attendance advantage baseball has always had. You can lay that off on the number of games, but IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME. They're still coming. Baseball is still the number one spectator sport in America, by miles.

    Besides, get the Red Sox and Dodgers or Red Sox and Mets in the Series and they'll blow the NBA away again. I'm not even convinced Texas Rangers or Tampa Bay or Colorado fans exist in larger numbers than pandas do.

    Ill address that if u address this...



    Spectating is ONE aspect of sports. What generates more money, tickets or TV contracts?

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Thymebomb13 said:
    batmon said:
    Thymebomb13 said:
    Jeezus, are you kidding with this? It's the national sport in Japan, too, and growing in Korea and Australia and so forth. What else do you need?



    Plaese 2 Xplane?

    The explosion of cable TV, a run of uncompetitive Series of late. Who cares, really?

    Did those numbers take into account viewers in Japan?

    The NFL has the largest TV contracts, and will earn $5 billion annually from its contracts with Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN for the 2014 through 2022 seasons.[16] MLB will earn $1.5 billion annually from its contracts with ESPN, Fox and Turner Sports (TBS) for the 2014 through 2021 seasons.[17] The NBA earns $930 million annually in its contracts with ABC/ESPN and TNT covering the 2008-09 through 2015-16 seasons,[18] The NHL earns $200 million annually in its U.S. contract with NBC & NBC Sports that covers the 2011-12 through 2020-21 seasons,[19] not counting the Canadian share. The NHL has been broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Hockey Night in Canada since 1952, and the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals attracted 2.63 million viewers on the CBC.

  • rain103rain103 476 Posts
    Mike n Mike

    6:50[/qoute]

    I've spent the last 10 days in the hospital and watched these two clowns every morning......if they represent sports circa 2013 you can keep that shit.

    I'm a fan of the Dan Patrick Show. No more ESPN for me.

  • rain103rain103 476 Posts
    So much for trying to reply/quote from my phone...

  • ppadilhappadilha 2,233 Posts
    going for a combo reply, but what the hell:

    i cant even begin to understand HOW or WHY..... but the seattle sounders [MLS] literally DOUBLES every other team in the league for attendance. talmbout an average of 40k+. last years avg attendance was 43,144! if they were in the mlb they would be second highest in the league, BARELY behind the dodgers but ahead of everyone else.

    can you shed some light as to how this could possibly be happening?

    the Sounders were (maybe the only?) MLS franchise to build on the USL team that was already in existence, so they got to carry over all the fans who had been there since the NASL days. Other towns built franchises from scratch and have had a hard time winning the loyalty of local fans who had been there supporting a team back when the sport had no structure. Why Seattle managed to keep things going throughout the 80s and 90s is beyond me, although I hear it has something to do with the city's contrarian nature that they would embrace soccer before another sport. But as far as I know the Seahawks do ok, right?

    anyway, no doubt soccer is growing in the US. My experience in NYC was very telling - for several years there was only a handful of bars where I could go watch games, nowadays seems like every neighborhood has a soccer pub. MLS made a major mistake ignoring the latino population for a long time and trying to attract the soccer mom crowd, and they've been trying to correct this with not much success. The teams still suck and the league isn't competitive (at one point there were 12 teams and 8 of them would qualify for the playoffs, WTF?). So they still have a long ways to go before passing other leagues, even if the sport keeps gaining popularity because of increased coverage of european leagues and international tournaments.

    Thymebomb13 said:
    Using per-game attendance rather than overall attendance is just silly. Using that argument you could probably say that some dingy little documentary was the big movie hit of the year because it led in terms of per-screen average.

    But no one does that, because it would be nuts.

    actually, independent distributors rate the success of a release based on per screen averages rather than total gross, as do film market analysts. It's used for big films because box office figures are distorted since a major studio can flood a release into 10,000+ screens for opening weekend and pull a decent gross even with poor attendance averages.

    the same applies to baseball overall attendance - it may be high, but only because the fixture list is so bloated. A better analysis would be per game receipts compared to per game expenses: how much does a franchise spend in stadium upkeep, wages, etc for each game compared to what they pull in at the gates? This would probably explain why franchises are going broke.

    I never got into baseball myself but that's because I was raised on soccer, so I could never relate. The only time I enjoyed watching a game was when I was stoned and watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees during the World Series. My impression is that it took a major credibility hit because of the strikes (didn't they suspend an All Stars game before it could finish?) and the steroids.

  • everyone has blocked you bro

  • kitchenknightkitchenknight 4,922 Posts
    God, that is such a bad look.

    I see homeboy get the Sox-Yanks thing wrong, and I wonder, "is anyone gonna call that out?" He's clearly not from here, not a baseball fan, but trying to give a substantive response. And it clearly makes no difference to his point.

    And you just fucking insult him?
    What the fuck are you trying to prove?

  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    The_Non said:
    DB_Cooper said:
    SoulOnIce said:
    Hey Justin, I know you don't live here anymore but just to let you know, Sox tickets aren't hard to get at all anymore. And it coincides with the team actually being entertaining again.

    Not that I care much. When I was a kid I lived and died for the Red Sox and baseball in general. Would always be reading books about the Gashouse Gang, Shoeless Joe, Big Red Machine, etc ... played wiffle ball every day, litte league ... nowadays I can barely watch an MLB game unless it's the playoffs and even then mainly only if it's the Red Sox. I just got bored with the game and also lost interest after the steroids saga and moreso after the Red Sox turned into the Yankees.

    NHL, NFL, I'll watch any game any time. MLB? ehhh

    I'm coming back, my man. Know that. It may take a while, but I intend to ultimately settle in the glorious city of my birth. I'll tell you what. Once I return to Boston, I'm going to take you to a game-my treat-get you as drunk as I can afford, and then we'll have this conversation. In person, in the bleachers. That's the deal, and I know in your heart of hearts you'll feel the magic.
    This sounds like one bromantical magic bro-ment in the making.

    Oh, it would be. And given how small the seats are at Fenway, we'd be practically snuggling during this conversation.

  • ppadilhappadilha 2,233 Posts
    gareth said:
    God, that is such a bad look.

    I see homeboy get the Sox-Yanks thing wrong, and I wonder, "is anyone gonna call that out?" He's clearly not from here, not a baseball fan, but trying to give a substantive response. And it clearly makes no difference to his point.

    thanks for calling that out, forgot that wasn't the world series but actually the semi-finals or whatever name you people give that. Just remember it being pretty momentous at the time, and I enjoyed the long silent close-ups on the pitchers during those games, it was the only time I felt any tension watching baseball.

    I don't know why I reply to that tool's posts.

  • kitchenknightkitchenknight 4,922 Posts
    Honestly, I'd rather hear your opinion on the game than any hardcore fans- it's a better look at how the game is perceived by people who aren't invested.

    I was invested- that 2004 Sox run while living in Boston was certainly the high water mark of my interest in baseball, with 2007 being a nice addition.

    But, as I've gotten a career and started a family, I cut baseball out- and do not miss it.

    The NFL ProBowl (which is the most unwatchable shit ever) got the same ratings as the World Series. That is TERRIFYING if that is your league.

  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    Transcendent star? How about Miguel Cabrera, the guy who won the Triple Crown only a few short years after drunkenly asking a police officer to shoot him. It's actually probably for the best, for him, that he gets to ply his trade in Detroit, away from the media's brightest lights.

    I love/hate baseball and the fact that the TV contracts are so rich and the teams have such charitable arrangements with their host cities that they don't have to price tickets cheap enough to fill the stadiums. Still, even with the fading ratings, the game is obviously in fine enough shape financially - there's no salary cap.

    Of course, similar to some of the other anecdotes shared here, in Chicago tickets are easy to come by. This year for the first time maybe ever, the interleague games between the Cubs and White Sox did not sell out - something that once would be unheard of. It's probably both due to the economic crunch preventing the Middle Class from playing ball and the fact that the teams suck. Also, while I am a White Sox fan, I find it inexcusable that Theo Epstein has sold the city on "rebuilding" the Cubs - it's a hugely profitable franchise, why can't you smartly add pieces on the fly and remain somewhat competitive?

    And, yes, I am one of those dudes that can get a little misty watching Burns' "Baseball" yet have also not watched one whole game yet this year. For whatever that's worth.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    white_tea said:
    Transcendent star? How about Miguel Cabrera.

    If I ask my mom who he is, she'll shrug.

    She doesnt watch Tennis but knows who Serena is(Black media related).
    She doesnt watch Football but knows Eli Manning(Local sports related).
    She doesnt watch Baseball, but knows Jeter and Alex Rod(Local related).
    She doesnt watch Football but knows Beckham.
    She doesnt watch Golf but knows who Tiger is.
    She doesnt watch the NBA but knows Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Melo, and Durant.

  • covecove 1,566 Posts
    Losing one's team can really hurt one's interest in the sport (miss you, Expos!! fuck you Loria/Samson!!)
    It started going downhill after the strike, for sure. Very sad year for me.

    But i was talking to Warren Cromartie earlier this year who is the face of a project trying to bring MLB back to MTL and he told me
    that he honestly believes they'd be back in the next 5 years. what?! we'll see.

    I have watched only a single baseball game this year (great comeback win by the Jays). It was alright. I'm not seeking it out, though.

  • kitchenknightkitchenknight 4,922 Posts
    To Batmon's point, there is no more Straw That Stirs the Drink.

    Jeter is on fumes.
    Arod is on fumes, has zero personality.
    Ortiz is on the back 9.
    Miggy and Fielder are in Detroit.
    Bryce Harper is exciting, but young... we'll see.
    People seem to love the Giants, but Lincecum is falling precipitously.
    The Mets are loveable losers.
    I can't name a cub or White Sock.
    The Cardinals are boring.
    Puig is too young.
    Hamilton and Pujols look washed up.

    Plus, who has talent and panache? There ain't much of it these days...

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    gareth said:
    To Batmon's point, there is no more Straw That Stirs the Drink.

    Jeter is on fumes.
    Arod is on fumes, has zero personality.
    Ortiz is on the back 9.
    Miggy and Fielder are in Detroit.
    Bryce Harper is exciting, but young... we'll see.
    People seem to love the Giants, but Lincecum is falling precipitously.
    The Mets are loveable losers.
    I can't name a cub or White Sock.
    The Cardinals are boring.
    Puig is too young.
    Hamilton and Pujols look washed up.

    Plus, who has talent and panache? There ain't much of it these days...

    I remember Don Drysdale on the Brady Bunch
    Keith Hernadez on Seinfeld
    Pete Rose and Johnny Bench(Krylon) were always on TV
    Steve Garvey and Jim Palmer were sex symbols on national commercials.

    The only live baseball players on tv other than the sports is for promos for MLB video games.
    Are dudes pitching products on a national scale?

  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    batmon said:
    Are dudes pitching products on a national scale?

    Are Popchips sold nationally? Ortiz shills for them.

  • rain103rain103 476 Posts
    batmon said:

    Are dudes pitching products on a national scale?

    Josh Hamilton, CJ Wilson, and Joe Mauer all rep that shampoooooooo.






  • rootlesscosmorootlesscosmo 12,848 Posts
    wow the Old Spice/dollar shave club/Head n Shoulders bro-ey faux-campy sarcastic ad campaigns are pretty annoying.

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    rain103 said:
    batmon said:

    Are dudes pitching products on a national scale?

    Josh Hamilton, CJ Wilson, and Joe Mauer all rep that shampoooooooo.






    This is like NASCAR dude commercials. The only reason I know these dudes are baseball players is because they have their jerseys on.

  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    rain103 said:
    batmon said:

    Are dudes pitching products on a national scale?

    Josh Hamilton, CJ Wilson, and Joe Mauer all rep that shampoooooooo.






    I consider myself a pretty well involved sports fan and I wouldn't recognize any of those guys even if they walked down the street in uniform. NHL level face recognition going on there.

    On a related note, is it just me or do pro baseball players seem like some of the dumbest athletes? Probably has something to do with going straight from HS to pro farm teams. At least football and most b-ball players get some college/life experience before they are full time athletes.
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