Take me out to the ballgame!

[axordil]

Selig is what happens when the foxes select a fox to guard the henhouse. One wonders why the owners didn't think of it before.

[vison]

Congratulations to the Cardinals. They certainly never gave up, even when they were down 10 1/2 games in the wild card in late August, and even when they were down to their last strike twice in Game Six. A worthy champion. But I don't think that the Cardinals would have beaten the Rangers but for Bud Selig's idiotic rule giving home field advantage in the World Series to the team from the league that wins the All Star Game. That just makes no sense at all.

Idiotic beyond belief. It's so stupid it makes your eyes burn, thinking about it.

[Primula Baggins]

That night of four games we were watching at my house, seeing one game out with amazement, then flipping to the last moments of the next, and then the next. . . .

I don't know the fine points of the changes happening now, but I'm sorry to think that baseball will change. What makes it the great game it is, is just the fact that "it ain't over 'tll it's over." No other game is like that. The unexpectedness that gives is, I guess, what the owners don't want.

They invest money, they want to count on a return, I guess. Even if that wrecks the unpredictability that makes the game so heartbreaking and so amazing.

[axordil]

The problem with wanting predictable returns is that professional athletes, like any other highly restricted pool of talent in fields requiring many years of training and practice, are not widgets. They're one-offs that may or may not function well together, no matter how good they look on paper, and to top it off, they're competing directly against other people just like them.

Strange things can and will ensue.

As Prim alludes too, the structure of baseball really does amplify this to a higher degree than other sports, because it has no clock and centers on a series of one-on-one confrontations between two players: the pitcher and the hitter. Lots of independent variables there.

[vison]

They call soccer the beautiful game but that's so silly. Baseball is.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

They both are. For completely different reasons. Watching the finals of the Women's World Cup was completely magical, just as much as Game 6 of the World Series. {Edited to add: Even though in both cases the team I was rooting for lost.}

[Primula Baggins]

Here's a GREAT story of a diehard Cards fan (who happens to be the Rachel Maddow Show producer, but this has nothing to do with politics) who was there for Game 7 (SRO ticket). A heartfelt read.

Link

[Holbytla]

Ellsbury got hosed and yes Virginia there will be a new labor deal, which allegedly will include HGH testing, the Houston Astros moving to the AL in 2013, and two more playoff teams (which is rather lame).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

If Els had caught that one ball when he ran into the wall, miraculously providing the Sox with the one additional win that they they needed to at least tie for the wild card, he would have won going away (even if they had lost the one game playoff). Still, who would have thought at the end of last year that he would have been the best position player in the A.L. (other than possibly Beth, who has long been a huge fan of his).

Meanwhile, do you think they are really going to hire Valentine?

[Holbytla]

I do think that they will hire Valentine, as there are few legitimate choices left. I also think it will turn out to be a monumental mistake, and I think that there is no way a manager of his type will play well in this town.

Well, he will play well for the media, who will love him because of the writing material, but I think the fan base will dislike him. I think the players will dislike him, and ultimately ownership will dislike him.

The team does need someone to take the reins in a meaningful way, but the team does not need another large ego, which I perceive Valentine to be. He may be an ok fill the void guy for a year or two, but he is not the answer. Neither are any of the other candidates out there, including Sveum.

To be honest, if it weren't for the awful timing, John Farrell would get my vote.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I have my doubts about Valentine, but in the end, its all about the players, and they certainly have the talent to get it done.

As for John Farrell, Toronto quickly foreclosed that possibility by changing their rules to refuse to allow employees to interview for lateral moves.

[Holbytla]

The players cannot allowed to be fat cats, which is what has plagued this team periodically through the ages.

And Farrell's contract is up just about the time when Valentine will wear out his welcome.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

I used to be a HUGE baseball fan. I was even a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) for several years, helping co-found a chapter here in Sacramento. Since the revelation of the rampant abuse of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone, however, my interest has waned significantly.

The lack of competitive balance is the largest factor that keeps me away. Until baseball establishes a hard salary cap, which any knowledgeable baseball fan knows will never happen, my interest will remain lukewarm.

Of course, when and if the Oakland A's ever become competitive again*, i.e., acquire a new stadium, I will probably return.

*It is extremely frustrating to see the team's emerging stars peddled off every year due to increasing salaries. Add to that the increasing price of attending a game, it makes it very difficult to enjoy the game as I used to.

My wife and I used to attend lots of A's games, as many as 10 to 15 a year. That has fallen to -0- the last few years. Between the increasing price, my health, and the ever growing disparity between the rich and poor teams I'm very disinclined to make the 3 hour round trip drive.

When the Sacramento Rivercats, Oakland's AAA farm team, were established we would attend 10 or so games each season. (We shared season's tickets with some of my SABR friends). However, a AAA's roster changes even more quickly than an MLB team's. Also, the PCL playoffs begin just in time for the MLB roster expansion. The PCL team's best players are promoted just as the playoffs begin!

I hate to sound like a baseball snob, but the level of play in AAA is not nearly so good as MLB, either. Still, a short drive to Raley Field beats the long drive to the Oakland Coliseum, although the unpaved parking lots are a turnoff. The drive to San Jose, should the A's manage to relocate there, will be even longer than it is to Oakland.

I'm a huge hockey fan, and avidly follow the San Jose Sharks. Fortunately, nearly all their games are broadcast on cable TV. Once a year in January my wife and I celebrate our wedding anniversary by attending a Sharks' game in San Jose. We check in to a hotel, have dinner at a local restaurant, then walk to the Arena. It's a great experience, if a bit pricey. Still, I can justify doing that once a year. If the A's move to San Jose our attendance would likely be a once-a-year special event sort of deal.

[Holbytla]

Pitchers and catchers report today! w00t

I am still a big baseball fan, though I am most certainly not a fan of the economics of baseball. There are conflicting economic ideals in place that have given unfair advantages and unfair disadvantages to teams. Each franchise, while separate and competing to be the best, is also 1/32nd of the entire entity.

No successful big market team is willing to subsidize a small market team ala the KC Royals and former Wal-Mart CEO and current owner David Glass. The team is structured to provide profits while fielding a poor team that will be also rans in perpetuity. You have to spend money to make money, and the KC market is strong enough to support a franchise.

The other side of the coin are the large market teams that will always outperform smaller market teams. That is where a salary cap and revenue sharing could help. But I don't honestly think I will live to see the day that the billionaires and millionaires would ever agree to a sound economic structure that would allow all 32 teams to be competitive.

A third side of the coin is, that while the big market teams may have an unfair advantage, they infuse a lot of money into the game that may well be non-existent if the structure were to change.

I would love to read a thesis paper on the economics of baseball, and see someone work towards a viable solution, but until then I will attend my 2 games a year (formerly 15-20 before the advent of the credit card and corporate suites) and watch the rest on tv.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

I just did something I haven't done for a few years: purchase tickets to attend an MLB game. I noticed the prices have sure gone up! Still, they're not nearly as expensive as hockey tix.

I'm taking my wife to see the Detroit Tigers play in the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, May 13th. After the game we'll cruise over to my mom's house in Walnut Creek for Mother's Day dinner. Not a bad way to spend the day, eh?

Play ball! (Insert bat swinging emoticon)

[Frelga]

Hullo, Tom. I might even see you there.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Oh? Did my mom invite you for dinner?

[Frelga]

At the game.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Old_Tom_Bombadil has been defeated.

[Frelga]

Gamers!