MLB and Union talk major rule changes

[DrungoHazewood]

7 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

Afternoon games on local TV stations on Saturday would be good. But I know that won't happen. With all the cable or satellite crap. MLB TV is too expensive. It will never get back to the way it used to be. When I was a kid the WS came on in the afternoon. 

If you lived on the west coast the Series was on at 10:00am.  Of course we're not going back to playing all the big games when 90% of the country is in work or school.

And putting 100% of games on "the cable or satellite crap" is probably the major driver of the popularity of the game, and the accompanying revenues, that have happened since the 1970s.   Remember when the dynastic 1971 Orioles had 19 home games under 10,000 in attendance?  There were multiple games in mid-dynasty where you could have showed up to Memorial Stadium and bought 49,000 tickets 30 minutes before first pitch.

[DrungoHazewood]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think mandating a 9 man pitching staff will just increase offense and lengthen games.  Lets stretch out starters and relievers longer while increasing the weapons the manager has on offense.

I know I don't enjoy watching a pitcher being hung out to dry because the manager has to save the bullpen.

That's why I said they need to deaded the ball as they shrink the pitching staffs.  Back when teams voluntarily had 9-man staffs everyone had a Sammy Stewart who would throw 7 2/3rds innings of mopup whenever needed.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

If you lived on the west coast the Series was on at 10:00am.  Of course we're not going back to playing all the big games when 90% of the country is in work or school.

And putting 100% of games on "the cable or satellite crap" is probably the major driver of the popularity of the game, and the accompanying revenues, that have happened since the 1970s.   Remember when the dynastic 1971 Orioles had 19 home games under 10,000 in attendance?  There were multiple games in mid-dynasty where you could have showed up to Memorial Stadium and bought 49,000 tickets 30 minutes before first pitch.

I don't think they could have processed an order that size in 30 minutes.

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

Houston won a WS couple years ago. I don't consider Houston a large market. 

It’s the 5th largest metro area in the US, bigger than Baltimore/Washington combined.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, DrungoHazewood said:

That's why I said they need to deaded the ball as they shrink the pitching staffs.  Back when teams voluntarily had 9-man staffs everyone had a Sammy Stewart who would throw 7 2/3rds innings of mopup whenever needed.

You are going to be hard pressed to prove to me that would be a superior product.

[DrungoHazewood]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think they could have processed an order that size in 30 minutes.

I think if you handed them a suitcase with $150,000 they'd have just opened up the gates and let your whole party in.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I think if you handed them a suitcase with $150,000 they'd have just opened up the gates and let your whole party in.

They would have done it for 20K.

[DrungoHazewood]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

You are going to be hard pressed to prove to me that would be a superior product.

It would be a heck of lot more fun product than 28 minutes of commercial breaks from the 6th inning on in every game.  Or if you're at the game, watching 96 warmup pitches from the mid-inning relievers.

[atomic]

9 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

If you lived on the west coast the Series was on at 10:00am.  Of course we're not going back to playing all the big games when 90% of the country is in work or school.

 And putting 100% of games on "the cable or satellite crap" is probably the major driver of the popularity of the game, and the accompanying revenues, that have happened since the 1970s.   Remember when the dynastic 1971 Orioles had 19 home games under 10,000 in attendance?  There were multiple games in mid-dynasty where you could have showed up to Memorial Stadium and bought 49,000 tickets 30 minutes before first pitch.

Do you think the 2019 Orioles will have more or fewer games under 10k in attendance than the 1971 team?  

[DrungoHazewood]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I wonder how long the O's streak of consecutive losing seasons would have stretched if they had been getting hit with draft pick penalties?

Matt Hobgood and Chris Smith would have been available five or 10 slots down, they'd have been fine.

[atomic]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 It’s the 5th largest metro area in the US, bigger than Baltimore/Washington combined.

I guess people don't think of Houston as a big market as it isn't much of a tourist destination. People don't know too much about it than it is hot and humid.  As opposed to places like Austin and San Antonio where people actually visit for leisure. 

[NCRaven]

19 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

Houston won a WS couple years ago. I don't consider Houston a large market. 

Here are the top eleven US television markets.  I figured the top 10 would be the top 3rd of the MLB teams and should qualify as large markets.  I include #11 because it’s a surprise and proved a point.

1 New York 

2 Los Angeles 

3 Chicago

4 Philadelphia 

5 Dallas-Fort Worth 

6 Washington DC

7 Houston

8 San Francisco-Oakland

9 Boston

10 Atlanta

This group of teams has largely dominated baseball over the last decade.

11 Tampa-St Petersburg 

My point, owners are liars.  There are very few truly small markets in baseball.  Milwaukee is 36 and they still find a way to compete.  The luxury tax has no impact.

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, atomic said:

Do you think the 2019 Orioles will have more or fewer games under 10k in attendance than the 1971 team?  

I don't know, but I'd hope that a team that won 318 games in three years would outdraw a team that might not win 100 in two years.  But I'd probably be wrong, since the 2018 Orioles out-drew each of the 1969, 1970, and 1971 Orioles by 50%.  Literally the '18 Orioles drew 1.5M, each of those WS teams right at one million.  Then '72-74 they were under a million.  The '73 Orioles won 97 games and were easily out-drawn by the 2018 Rays.

[Pheasants]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm a fan of re-aligning into regional leagues of 8-12 teams each.  You play almost all or even all of the schedule in your regional league.  You never play a regular season game more than one time zone away, and the whole league plays exactly the same schedule.  You go back to the playoffs and All Star game being your chance to see the guys in the other leagues.

I like it.

[wildbillhiccup]

2 hours ago, atomic said:

Yeah I don't understand the DH at all. If you don't want the pitcher to bat why not just have only 8 batters. 

I mean I understand it from the players perspective (career longevity, more opportunities, etc.), but I just wish there was a way to force teams to play DHs in the field at some point. So they couldn't get away with carrying Mark Trumbo types on their roster. The only think that might have an impact on that is shrinking the rosters which they'll never do.