S5Dewey

Are you saying that the shot clock and the 3-point line have slowed the game down?? And made it less exciting?

I don't think casual fans THINK they care about the shift or the increase in K's or HR's. They just care about how the lack of offense and how the game has slowed down. The casual fans don't realize that the shift or the lack of a pitch clock are slowing the game down. All the casual fans see is the result.

MVP made mention of basketball as well as football possibly being more popular than baseball now. Both of those sports have made rule changes to speed up the game. Can you imagine basketball without the 3-point shot or the shot clock? Football has made rule changes to protect the QB making anything more than a brush against him results in a penalty. In the meantime the result of sabermetrics has been to slow the game down. Maybe it's time we took a look at some rule changes to speed up the game of baseball. Will makes some solid suggestions that IMO are worth considering.

It's interesting that the God most of baseball and most of us here worship - sabermetrics - has dragged the sport down to probably being the third most popular sport.

Football is supplanting baseball as America's favorite sport. It's because football moves faster and is more exciting because it's more offense-oriented. If we're going to agree that baseball itself is in crisis because of the length of games - and I believe that most of us do - we should also be looking for solutions that will shorten the game up and at the same time make it more exciting. Will makes some suggestions what will help to solve the issues baseball is facing. Instead the comments on Will's piece thus far have tried to disparage Will for being "boring" (a matter of opinion) and his bow tie rather than deal with his piece.

It only sounds simple because it is simple. It's the KISS theory, and it often works. JBJ + Victorino ->Parade JBJ + Mookie Betts (who can play anyplace and bowl a 300 game between AB's) -> Parade

I've thought for some time that JBJ was signed to strengthen the OF. The configuration of Fenway cries out for a RF'er to be someone who could play CF for most other teams. IMO JBJ will get a lot of playing time and the Sox will bat him deep in the order and 'eat' his

From a statistical point of view the shift creates somewhat of a quandary. While we have to acknowledge that some teams used shifts against Williams etc. serious shifting only came into vogue in the days of cybermetrics and spray charts. It would seem obvious that shifts work - otherwise teams wouldn't continue to use them. However, the fact that they work has skewed BA's in favor of the pre-shift days. Now there is talk of banning shifts which would take us back statistically to the pre-shift days. Baseball being obsessed with statistics, how are stat geeks supposed to reconcile the pre-shift, shift, and banned shift data? I'm just askin', and pointing out something I haven't seen mentioned before.

IIRC they're 9 inning games. Separate admissions?

While I have no experience with Baltimore as a whole I agree completely with this post regarding the Inner Harbor area. We spent a weekend attending a 3 game RS/O's series a few seasons ago and found the whole area to be safe and friendly. We stayed there, we ate there and we shopped there and never felt threatened. We left thinking we'd just had a great experience. Temps were over 100 degrees for the day games and the O's organization even set up huge tubs filled with ice and bottles of water in the concourse under the seating, giving it away for FREE! Imagine that, a MLB team doing something to help the fans!

IMO it's all a matter of expectations. When I go to a MLB park I expect to see some of the best 1200 players playing the game.(I'm not at all certain that there aren't as many as a couple of hundred people selling cars or working on construction or even playing in Independent leagues who aren't better baseball players than No.1199 but that's beside the point). I don't need to see the best players to enjoy it when I go to a baseball game. Over the run of a summer I'll see high school games, American Legion games,D-3 baseball, D-1 baseball, and Minor League games and I enjoy them all. I enjoy these games because the talent level is somewhere near equal which makes for competitive games. (I just realized that I'm somewhat of a baseball junkie, aren't I?:cool ) For me it's more about the game than it is about the talent level, although I enjoy watching those Top 1200 possibly mostly for the "Wow factor", as in "Wow! Did you see that catch?!!

From what I've seen of Polar Park they deserve a monster year. I was there for a game last year. It's a beautiful park, the food is good and varied, the people who work there are polite and friendly, and the players are a heartbeat from playing in Fenway. What's not to like? I'll be going back this year whether there are games in Fenway or not. In addition, there are several sports bars within an easy walk for pre - and - post game libations. Win-win. The only downside is that I still have trouble saying "Woo-Sox". Ughhhhh

There's a very fine line between a tax cheat and someone who has the wherewithal to hire accounts who will "take a liberal view" of the tax laws and the attorneys to defend that view.

This is the ONLY issue in which I have any sympathy for the owners. Unlike the usual issues in negotiations this pool is something entirely new. The players started a $100M and the owners started at $0, This was the expected starting point for the owners since it was something new. IMO $100M was a pie-in-the-sky starting point but I would expect the owners to meet them half way as their final offer on the issue. However, their $10M offer is an insult and borders on not bargaining in good faith.

And this, my Canadian friend, is what irks me more than anything. I'm not certain who's to blame for this but in any negotiation I've heard of or been a part of things became handled with urgency once the deadline drew near. However, both the players and the unions appear to be taking the attitude of " Yeah, let's try to get together two weeks from Wednesday. After all, we're pretty busy, too busy in fact to deal with a small thing like negotiating a contract." They should be there Every Day hammering out something they can agree on. In the meantime the fans are sitting idly back waiting for someone...anyone...to act like this matters. I'm tired of it, the entire thing. If my math is right between the games not played in 2020 due to Covid and the games not played this year due to the lockout the Boston Red Sox now owe me enough money to pay for next year's ST tickets. After the 2020 season I let the balance due me "ride" being certain that I'd be back to Ft. Myers whenever I felt I could safely return and I'd use the balance I'd accrued toward the next season's tickets. Now I'm thinking that after this ST season I'm going to email them requesting a cash refund of what they owe me along with a note that once I receive the refund I'll wait until next year before deciding whether to come back.

I don’t think the union too interested in the owners money from non-baseball events. And not every owner owns the stadium… Sorry, I guess I misread the room. I thought the discussion had (d)evolved into the owners and how they made money from baseball as well as outside of baseball and wasn't limited to how the ongoing labor issues. My bad.

There are also non-baseball related events that go on at Fenway that are not included in team revenue but are available to the owners simply because they own the large venue - which gives them an advantage over other venues. The Sox organization has become adept at scheduling top-rated performers to play at the park when the Sox are on the road. Dave Matthews, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Buffett, etc. come to mind immediately. I'm not suggesting that these events should be included in baseball revenue, only that they're a very nice money making 'perk' for the Fenway Organization that doesn't show up under baseball earnings and therefore isn't subject to baseball related taxes.

Sometimes we have to listen to the words. IIRC Manfred was careful to say in the press conference after his speech that this wasn't their "best and final offer", only that it was their best offer. I was surprised to hear him say that because "best and final offer" is legalese meaning that they have no further offers and is the precursor to mediation. If agreement isn't reached by mediation the owners could then "unlock" the players and force them to either come back and play under the "current best offer" or go on strike - which would be a PR coup and a no-lose situation for the owners. By his specifically not saying "best and final" he's leaving the door open to further negotiations, but MLB is expecting the players to make the next move. Some have said that the players have been planning for this ever since the last CBA was ratified. That may be true but I also believe the owners have been planning for it also. I believe too that there has been collusion (legal or otherwise) between the "lower tier" of owners to prevent the increase in the CBT in order to force more of that revenue stream into their pockets rather than to the top tier of players.

....unless the players hold firm on those two demands and go on strike over them. When I was working we once went into negotiations with a couple of positions that we felt were non-negotiable and we were willing to strike over. We in fact did strike for slightly over a month and we did get what we wanted, but to be fair to this discussion they weren't monetary items; they had more to do with working hours and conditions. My point is that employees do strike and once that happens it becomes a game of 'chicken', seeing who is willing to hold out the longest and how committed they are to their demands. In actuality, the current lockout is the same. The fallout MLB is dealing with now is that since the owners initiated the stoppage they're getting the majority of the blame for it and it's hurting their image (and the image of the game).

That's probably true, but I'm trying to come up with something that will appease both the players and the owners and at the same time avoid playing baseball in a late October snowstorm. Does anyone have better (realistic) ideas?

My only point of reference is the Red Sox and what few other teams I've seen in the Grapefruit league but I'm in awe of the marketing that's done for Spring Training games. These are games that have to be played whether there are fans there or not so everything they make from ST games is "gravy". Thinking that ST isn't a money-maker is delusional! I find it quite impressive (from a marketing standpoint) to see 10,000 fans paying between $20 - $50 (approximations) each for seats, milling around the park buying $8 - $12 beers and the "Team Store" being swamped with folks who can't wait to spend $35 for a cap, all to see maybe five or six Sox regulars play five innings against a team who only sent ~5 starters to the game. And remember, the teams have persuaded the county to build the stadiums for them at no cost to the team so there's no construction costs, no loan outstanding for the building and no property taxes to be paid. Yes, they have to hire ushers and other incidental employees but most of what they take in at ST is profit on an "exhibition" that they have to have anyway! Yes, I'm a part of this "problem" and yes, it's a good time, but let's not feel too sorry for the Red Sox Organization. They've got marketing down to a science! LOL

I like the concept, but IMHO having a DH every Sunday is excessive. How about this? Having every team required to play two 7-inning DH's/month. one at home and one on the road. Separate admissions of course. After all, we can't do too much to help the fans, especially if it costs the owners money. /s/ That would reduce the season by 12 days and allow the playoffs to be over before snow flies!

Ding Ding Ding!! We have a winner!!! Unfortunately one (or both) sides aren't yet committed to reaching an agreement.

I'm thinking that it's going to take a month for the amount of money the owners and players are losing to 'hit home'. I voted for the first two weeks in May.

I'm a little disappointed that he didn't catch on with the Sox. I've been following his career more closely than other minor leaguers since he was my seat-mate on a flight from Philadelphia to Ft. Myers when he was getting to start his rookie season. Whether he makes his debut for the Phil's or not is beside the point. The Sox had made it plain that he didn't fit into their future plans and now he's had a chance to go 'home' and try his luck there. The landscape is littered with players who didn't quite make it and maybe Ockimey is going to be one of them but at least he's got a chance to go home and find out. Worse things than that have happened to a young man!