Random Baseball Musings

[bcl412]

Astros new logo, uniforms accidentally revealed?

 

It's weird that the trend in sports right now is to go back to one of your old logos. Not that I mind it, in fact I like pretty much every team who has done so's decision, to go back to their old logo (I really like the Blue Jay's new/old unis) but it still is kind of weird.

[J.R.]

I think it is fan-driven. Teams have recognized that people like their older designs - the retro hats and jerseys showed up in the stands before they showed up on the field.

[Sammys Boombox]

http://blog.sfgate.com/sportsevents/2012/10/09/ranking-the-dirtiest-ballparks-in-america/#7712-24

 

Parks ranked cleanest (30) to dirtiest (1).

 

Busch is the cleanest. Wrigley is the dirtiest.

 

I have been to 17 parks (18 if you count the Old Busch) and these two and Kauffman are the ones I've been to the most. I don't understand how Busch makes the top of this list considering I'm pretty sure they store all their beer cups in large dumpsters outside the stadium and have one collection at the end of the year. The place wreaks of old beer and has ever since I was a kid. Of course, this was done based on a scoring system and it seems like the main score is "How many people washed their hands in the given bathroom that we were in on the given day we were there?". Also, there is no way 8/9 male baseball fans wash their hands in any stadium, unless you're in the club-level bathrooms.

 

EDIT: Another link with the same results in a different format and a minimal explanation that basically says they took the bathroom habits way too seriously.

 

http://www.ufe.com/ufe-in-sports

[UMFan83]

The place wreaks of old beer and has ever since I was a kid.

 

You realize they built a new Busch Stadium recently right?

[TruffleShuffle]

maybe he was a kid in 2006, lol.

[Guest]

Did they follow them to the hand sanitizer stations? Because Wrigley has those now and I take those every time over having to stay in those bathrooms for one second longer than I have to.

[Sammys Boombox]

The place wreaks of old beer and has ever since I was a kid.

 

You realize they built a new Busch Stadium recently right?

 

You realize the stench comes from the dumpsters, right? Which they have /had at both stadiums. Maybe I should have said "places". I thought that was obvious.

[El Duderino]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/10/nationals-notes-strasburg-rizzo-jackson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MlbTradeRumors+%28MLB+Trade+Rumors%29

 

The decision to shut Stephen Strasburg down appears to have irked people around MLB. Baseball executives are rooting for the Nationals to get eliminated from the playoffs, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. One GM said the Nationals “don’t deserve to win it” and another said "I hope they go down in flames. I hope it takes another 79 years before they get back to the playoffs. That's how strongly I feel about it."

[SouthSideRyan]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/10/nationals-notes-strasburg-rizzo-jackson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MlbTradeRumors+%28MLB+Trade+Rumors%29

 

The decision to shut Stephen Strasburg down appears to have irked people around MLB. Baseball executives are rooting for the Nationals to get eliminated from the playoffs, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. One GM said the Nationals “don’t deserve to win it” and another said "I hope they go down in flames. I hope it takes another 79 years before they get back to the playoffs. That's how strongly I feel about it."

 

This is reason enough to root for the Nats.

[Sammys Boombox]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/10/nationals-notes-strasburg-rizzo-jackson.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MlbTradeRumors+%28MLB+Trade+Rumors%29

 

The decision to shut Stephen Strasburg down appears to have irked people around MLB. Baseball executives are rooting for the Nationals to get eliminated from the playoffs, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. One GM said the Nationals “don’t deserve to win it” and another said "I hope they go down in flames. I hope it takes another 79 years before they get back to the playoffs. That's how strongly I feel about it."

 

I really don't understand this.

[El Duderino]

Trying to figure out who the GM could be. It would obviously have to be some one of the crusty ones.

[bcl412]

Personally, I had mixed feelings on sitting Strasburg but there are enough positive reason behind doing it that freaking out over the decision is strange.

[El Duderino]

Right. If I was a fan of that GM's team, I'd be frickin' horrified that this guy was running a baseball operation.

[J.R.]

I think MLB is screwing up by shutting out the OTA viewer. They were able to leverage bigger fees from TBS and are driving eyeballs to MLB Network by doing so, but they are limiting the reach of the postseason games and are ultimately limiting the reach of the game itself.

 

Yes, the hardcore fan will find a way to see these games. However, big postseason ratings are driven by the casual viewers (the kind of people who don't tune in unless it's an elimination game.) The games should be on broadcast television in the home markets, both to benefit the OTA viewer and those with the bare bones cable subs.

 

One of the NFL's highest TV priorities for years has been broadening the reach of its own NFL Network. Another has been to somehow compel ESPN to pay far bigger TV rights fees than the other networks carrying NFL games, even though ESPN gets no NFL playoff action.

 

Despite those goals, the NFL insisted both channels include over-the-air game simulcasts in teams' local markets.

 

And that boosts ratings. Monday night, ESPN's Houston Texans-New York Jets NFL game drew 9.5% of New York area households on ESPN and another 4.3% in over-the-air simulcast. That 13.8% total topped TBS drawing 11% of New York area households for its concurrent Baltimore Orioles-Yankees coverage.

http://www.jacksonsun.com/usatoday/article/1622587

 

It's kind of like closing your park's upper deck for a playoff series.

[TruffleShuffle]

The decision to shut Stephen Strasburg down appears to have irked people around MLB. Baseball executives are rooting for the Nationals to get eliminated from the playoffs, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. One GM said the Nationals “don’t deserve to win it” and another said "I hope they go down in flames. I hope it takes another 79 years before they get back to the playoffs. That's how strongly I feel about it."

 

jeez ned, tell us how you really feel.

[Clem Fandango]

http://i.minus.com/ib5QNHDj3we3S.gif

[Mark Priors Calves]

that's great.

[Banedon]

http://i.minus.com/ib5QNHDj3we3S.gif

 

Lol...was gonna post that too. Awesome.

[jersey cubs fan]

I think MLB is screwing up by shutting out the OTA viewer. They were able to leverage bigger fees from TBS and are driving eyeballs to MLB Network by doing so, but they are limiting the reach of the postseason games and are ultimately limiting the reach of the game itself.

 

The number of over the air viewers dwindles every year and it is becoming obsolete. The key to a thriving sport is multiple television contracts and part of that is going through cable. TBS and TNT are as ubiquitous as networks go.

[El Duderino]

[J.R.]

The number of over the air viewers dwindles every year and it is becoming obsolete.

The facts say otherwise.

 

According to new research by GfK Media, the number of Americans now relying on over-the-air (OTA) television reception increased to almost 54 million, up from 46 million just a year ago. The recently completed survey also found that the demographics of broadcast-only households skew towards younger adults, minorities and lower-income families.

http://www.nab.org/documents/newsroom/pressRelease.asp?id=2761

 

Better picture quality, no costs beyond startup and the increasing viability of a streaming/OTA viewing mix are just a few reasons OTA remains popular in places where excellent reception is possible with minimal effort.

 

Places like MLB cities.

 

Places like the biggest markets, in which teams keep an OTA presence despite profits produced by their (sometimes capitve) RSNs - New York, L.A., Chicago.

 

The key to a thriving sport is multiple television contracts and part of that is going through cable. TBS and TNT are as ubiquitous as networks go.

I believe the former Turner channels are doing an excellent job. OTA simulcasts in the local markets would do nothing to hinder them.

 

I argue that the key to a thriving sport is getting your game in front of as many households as possible. There is a reason the NFL insists that all of its cable games be available OTA to the home markets - restricting viewership to the subscription services is a short-sighted cash grab.

[Geech]

http://i.minus.com/ib5QNHDj3we3S.gif

 

Wow, what's that all about?

[Clem Fandango]

I think it was just a random goof, people not paying attention. The video shows him getting congratulated regularly right after that like nothing had happened.

[J.R.]

Lame.

 

“This is something I am not happy about: spraying champagne all over,” (Selig) said. “I'm not a fan of that.”

 

Would he like to put a stop to it?

 

“I don't know that we can,” he said.

 

You're the commissioner, he was reminded. Of course you could.

 

“We could,” he said. “I understand that. It is something I have talked to the clubs about and will continue to talk to the clubs about. You want to have great celebrations, fine. But spraying each other with champagne is not that.”

 

So would he want the clubs to celebrate without champagne, or in some other way?

 

“It has been a conversation amongst clubs and club owners,” he said. “I'm not saying we will do anything. But it is something we have talked about."

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/20557626/bud-selig-doesnt-like-champagne-celebrations

[treebird]

Lame.

 

“This is something I am not happy about: spraying champagne all over,” (Selig) said. “I'm not a fan of that.”

 

Would he like to put a stop to it?

 

“I don't know that we can,” he said.

 

You're the commissioner, he was reminded. Of course you could.

 

“We could,” he said. “I understand that. It is something I have talked to the clubs about and will continue to talk to the clubs about. You want to have great celebrations, fine. But spraying each other with champagne is not that.”

 

So would he want the clubs to celebrate without champagne, or in some other way?

 

“It has been a conversation amongst clubs and club owners,” he said. “I'm not saying we will do anything. But it is something we have talked about."

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/20557626/bud-selig-doesnt-like-champagne-celebrations

 

hahhahaha, i love that selig now apparently has a monopoly on deciding what constitutes a great celebration.