This is going to be about Tuesday night’s battle of aces between Chicago’s Dylan Cease and Houston’s Justin Verlander, but first, let’s talk for a couple of moments about the Field of Dreams II game played a few days ago in the Iowa corn.
2 cents worth, i think it's harder to get into a national game not involving your team when the games take 3+ hours. that's an enormous commitment without the local angle and with out the urgency (17 game NFL season). I would think that with the pitch clock if games start getting shorter, it may be wore appealing.
A few thoughts: I agree that the singular focus on the movie should give way to a broader telling of great baseball stories....Feller's is a good start...I don't agree with the pious judgment of the use of the 1919 sox and Shoeless Joe as a back drop for the original story...they all paid a steep price for their sins, Comiskey made his fortune on their backs, let them rest in peace.
Saw the Reggie/Welch duel live on TV...truly a great baseball moment...I hope that is your trajectory in the book, not just the obvious and over-told iconic moments....leave room for those obscure, yet timeless treasures that have carried the game through the ages.
I am in full agreement that to make the game a "national pastime" again, a way has to be developed to enable the mid and small market teams to be competitive. Let's face it, while TV revenue is the key....getting people into the ball park is what sells the game locally and creates a buzz beyond that region...help teams raise and retain their home-grown talent...associate players with teams and regions....the game's national profile will increase....but it will never be the what it once was...and we all need to just accept that brutal fact.
I also love the idea of making Saturday - baseball day in America....stagger game start times to provide for a full day of national coverage....have "highlight games" but track all the games and move to the ones that are more exciting...especially in late innings.
Don't make turn the broadcast boot into a circus, rather use it to bring in retired players to 'catch up" with their fans, mic some players and coaches, talk to player families in the stands....let the game tell it's own inherent stories.....let's face it some media consumers of the this age will likely never appreciate the game and are lost forever...but there are many who still relish pastoral pursuits and thoughtful human connections through time...all of which can be explored during a three-hour baseball telecast...none of which can happen in any other televised sport. Find news ways to do this in an authentic way (no holograms), create an environment where most teams can truly aspire to win a World Series from time to time...make and keep the game fun to play for young people, bring more exposure to the Little League and College WS, continue to bring women into the sport at all levels, and tell the stories that more than any other sport/game bring actual life-long meaning to individuals, families and communities.
One final crazy idea to make the game bit more entertaining and quicker...anytime the shift is on...the whole field in front of home plate is in play....no bunting allowed, but no such thing as a foul ball....even if it hits the screen, dug out etc. Put the ballboy/girl in the stands and let the play happen....yes a player can play in foul territory. Think about it....nothing more fun than a ten-pitch at bat that results in a K or a ground out.
Joe, you make some very good points in this one. Field of Dreams II certainly fell short of last year’s magic (complete with a Yankee loss) since it was between two non-contenders and you can’t have Kevin Costner recreate the movie every year. I found the pre-game way overwrought (there’s a thin line between giving me chills and making my flesh crawl) with everyone trying way too hard. Having families (especially including Moms and daughters) start the walk-on by playing catch was well done and something that could become a tradition. I also didn’t find the Harry Caray thing as creepy as most people seemed to have although it was weird. Your ideas about potential showcase games are interesting, too, even if they might not be workable for the reasons you provide. However, I think you’re wrong in saying that the Field of Dreams game is a celebration of the Black Sox. I used to work with a huge baseball fan (since retired) who adamantly insisted that Field of Dreams isn’t a baseball movie. While I don’t completely agree, he was right that it’s not a baseball movie in the same was as The Natural, Major League, or Bull Durham. His point, though, was that the movie is about so much more than baseball (family, connections, folklore, community, etc.), but most of all it’s about redemption and the power to reconnect through shared love. The Black Sox are redeemed for throwing the series. Ray is redeemed for causing the breach with his Father. Although nothing appeals more to human nature than redemption, maybe that’s why celebrating the movie feels a little off from a baseball standpoint. It seems to both try to do too much and too little. That said, I’d like to see them keep trying while maybe giving some of your thoughts a shot along with other creative ideas that emphasize the game’s history and traditions.
I like the idea a lot. What if they made a Highlight Game count as two wins/losses in the standings? That should make the teams line up their best pitchers and such.
The reason that baseball has stopped being a national game is, I think, because the difference between the large and small markets have grown so wide. Back in the 70s and 80s teams from Oakland, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh were able to competitive for long stretches of time, not just the odd year here and there. Now that large swaths of the country don't have a baseball team that has a reasonable chance of competing for a championship, fans rightly tune out when they know their team is in rebuilding mode. When this lasts for years and years it gets harder to hold onto old fans or make new ones. NFL owners figured this out a long time ago.
The inherent problem with some of this is it's too gimmicky. And gimmicks detract from the game. Football would never do something as embarrassing as the Harry Caray hologram. True! Pretty sure football also wouldn't have a game where they switch out announcers every quarter.
I'm also pretty sure that the Field of Dreams game does as well as it does is because it's once a summer. You start doing this gimmicky games, then you get one of two things. One, people who tune in just for the gimmicks, but don't translate into regular fans. Two, people start to tune out the gimmicks because doing it every other week is too much.
You want baseball to be more national, there is a golden opportunity every summer. Just about the only interesting thing to come out of the 2020 season was September 30. That was right in the middle of the Wild Card round and there were eight playoff games. There was baseball on all day, new games starting almost every hour. I think baseball should do that every Saturday. Fifteen games, all nationally televised, starting at 1:00 ET and at least one game starting every hour on the hour after until 10:00 ET. Pick your game and watch. Don't like the teams playing? Not enough (or too much) scoring? There's another one on or starting soon. Saturdays are largely wide open in terms of sports until College Football starts, MLB should do everything they can to monopolize that time.
Good comment and I like your Saturday idea. So many good NCAAF games works.
As for gimmicks, it would be like interleague play. It was interesting the first year, maybe two, but then it became just another game. Now of course MLB is going to screw it up even more by having everybody play everybody. When the World Series comes around it will be about what happened the last time they played, making it even less special. Then they'll wonder why ratings are down. SMH
I agree with Mark. I live in Austin and have mlb.tv but could not watch the Astros-White Sox game because it was blacked out. I am blacked out of Rangers games too. Very few of the tv providers carry the Astros here, so there is no good option for me to watch their games. I am a fan of other teams, so mlb.tv works well for me (unless I want to watch a team playing the Astros or Rangers) but it is still maddening. Young fans should have reasonable access to games on TV. That is an important part of how you build a fan base.
In English cricket, unlike most sports, there's a long tradition of teams playing "home" games away from their usual homes, but still in their regions. It's very popular with fans, although players will inevitably find conditions to complain about. And older people will remember when the Green Bay Packers used to play a couple of home games at Milwaukee every year- real NFL games, not just exhibitions.
I think that all this is a very good thing, because different is good. I will definitely be watching the Red Sox playing at Williamsport on Sunday. So why not get every team to play a series somewhere different every year? There's not even any need to stay local. If the Royals play the Mariners in Idaho then I will definitely look out for it.
Only about 28 states have ever hosted a major league baseball game. Let's make it 50.
Sunday we took my two and a half year old granddaughter to her first baseball game. The second pitch of the game was fouled off and bounced off the press box to about six feet from us, where it started spinning. I ran after it, and hoped to give it to her, but two eight year old boys started chasing after it and I wasn't going to deny them the ball. My granddaughter lasted about two innings of baseball and then took advantage of the carousel and Ferris Wheel and wandering around and a bouncy castle, but she was having a grand old time. The game ended in spectacular fashion, on back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the ninth to let the home team come back from a 5-4 deficit. Then all the kids got to run the bases, my granddaughter, accompanied by her parents, finishing last, with her high-fiving the team mascot at the plate and smiling. I have that on video. Baseball needs moments like that.
I admire your passion for baseball and wish I could share it. In my opinion it's not a problem of baseball selling itself better. It's a question of fairness.
For a small market team to be competitive year in and year out, lightning has to strike and strike constantly. People hold up the Rays as an example of a small market team beating the odds, but exactly how many times have the Rays won the World Series?
In the last 25 years how many small market teams have won it all? Exactly 3, and that's including the Diamondbacks who as you might know are in Phoenix which is the 5th largest metro area.
NFL owners are a bunch of greedy billionaire narcissists who treat players like bunwad, but at least they got the revenue sharing right. Any team can win the Super Bowl.
I feel attacked! But seriously, if I had the time (small biz owner here) I would gladly watch non-Orioles games on off days if I could (being an east coast transplant in LA I mostly watch the Os after the fact on MLB.tv late at night or the day after).
Yeah echo… try some things! Why isn’t there anything highlighting Baseball ⚾️? It’s all written now how boring, slow, long ,and 3 outcome it is! Yeah maybe but real Baseball fans know that’s the furthest thing from the truth! The trick is convincing folks who hear nothing but those abstracts that the game is truly everything but said abstracts!
Joe for Commissioner!!! You are spot on - there are so many stars and interesting stories around MLB that are just ignored by everyone but the local fans. Sigh.
2 cents worth, i think it's harder to get into a national game not involving your team when the games take 3+ hours. that's an enormous commitment without the local angle and with out the urgency (17 game NFL season). I would think that with the pitch clock if games start getting shorter, it may be wore appealing.
A few thoughts: I agree that the singular focus on the movie should give way to a broader telling of great baseball stories....Feller's is a good start...I don't agree with the pious judgment of the use of the 1919 sox and Shoeless Joe as a back drop for the original story...they all paid a steep price for their sins, Comiskey made his fortune on their backs, let them rest in peace.
Saw the Reggie/Welch duel live on TV...truly a great baseball moment...I hope that is your trajectory in the book, not just the obvious and over-told iconic moments....leave room for those obscure, yet timeless treasures that have carried the game through the ages.
I am in full agreement that to make the game a "national pastime" again, a way has to be developed to enable the mid and small market teams to be competitive. Let's face it, while TV revenue is the key....getting people into the ball park is what sells the game locally and creates a buzz beyond that region...help teams raise and retain their home-grown talent...associate players with teams and regions....the game's national profile will increase....but it will never be the what it once was...and we all need to just accept that brutal fact.
I also love the idea of making Saturday - baseball day in America....stagger game start times to provide for a full day of national coverage....have "highlight games" but track all the games and move to the ones that are more exciting...especially in late innings.
Don't make turn the broadcast boot into a circus, rather use it to bring in retired players to 'catch up" with their fans, mic some players and coaches, talk to player families in the stands....let the game tell it's own inherent stories.....let's face it some media consumers of the this age will likely never appreciate the game and are lost forever...but there are many who still relish pastoral pursuits and thoughtful human connections through time...all of which can be explored during a three-hour baseball telecast...none of which can happen in any other televised sport. Find news ways to do this in an authentic way (no holograms), create an environment where most teams can truly aspire to win a World Series from time to time...make and keep the game fun to play for young people, bring more exposure to the Little League and College WS, continue to bring women into the sport at all levels, and tell the stories that more than any other sport/game bring actual life-long meaning to individuals, families and communities.
One final crazy idea to make the game bit more entertaining and quicker...anytime the shift is on...the whole field in front of home plate is in play....no bunting allowed, but no such thing as a foul ball....even if it hits the screen, dug out etc. Put the ballboy/girl in the stands and let the play happen....yes a player can play in foul territory. Think about it....nothing more fun than a ten-pitch at bat that results in a K or a ground out.
Joe, you make some very good points in this one. Field of Dreams II certainly fell short of last year’s magic (complete with a Yankee loss) since it was between two non-contenders and you can’t have Kevin Costner recreate the movie every year. I found the pre-game way overwrought (there’s a thin line between giving me chills and making my flesh crawl) with everyone trying way too hard. Having families (especially including Moms and daughters) start the walk-on by playing catch was well done and something that could become a tradition. I also didn’t find the Harry Caray thing as creepy as most people seemed to have although it was weird. Your ideas about potential showcase games are interesting, too, even if they might not be workable for the reasons you provide. However, I think you’re wrong in saying that the Field of Dreams game is a celebration of the Black Sox. I used to work with a huge baseball fan (since retired) who adamantly insisted that Field of Dreams isn’t a baseball movie. While I don’t completely agree, he was right that it’s not a baseball movie in the same was as The Natural, Major League, or Bull Durham. His point, though, was that the movie is about so much more than baseball (family, connections, folklore, community, etc.), but most of all it’s about redemption and the power to reconnect through shared love. The Black Sox are redeemed for throwing the series. Ray is redeemed for causing the breach with his Father. Although nothing appeals more to human nature than redemption, maybe that’s why celebrating the movie feels a little off from a baseball standpoint. It seems to both try to do too much and too little. That said, I’d like to see them keep trying while maybe giving some of your thoughts a shot along with other creative ideas that emphasize the game’s history and traditions.
I like the idea a lot. What if they made a Highlight Game count as two wins/losses in the standings? That should make the teams line up their best pitchers and such.
The reason that baseball has stopped being a national game is, I think, because the difference between the large and small markets have grown so wide. Back in the 70s and 80s teams from Oakland, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh were able to competitive for long stretches of time, not just the odd year here and there. Now that large swaths of the country don't have a baseball team that has a reasonable chance of competing for a championship, fans rightly tune out when they know their team is in rebuilding mode. When this lasts for years and years it gets harder to hold onto old fans or make new ones. NFL owners figured this out a long time ago.
The inherent problem with some of this is it's too gimmicky. And gimmicks detract from the game. Football would never do something as embarrassing as the Harry Caray hologram. True! Pretty sure football also wouldn't have a game where they switch out announcers every quarter.
I'm also pretty sure that the Field of Dreams game does as well as it does is because it's once a summer. You start doing this gimmicky games, then you get one of two things. One, people who tune in just for the gimmicks, but don't translate into regular fans. Two, people start to tune out the gimmicks because doing it every other week is too much.
You want baseball to be more national, there is a golden opportunity every summer. Just about the only interesting thing to come out of the 2020 season was September 30. That was right in the middle of the Wild Card round and there were eight playoff games. There was baseball on all day, new games starting almost every hour. I think baseball should do that every Saturday. Fifteen games, all nationally televised, starting at 1:00 ET and at least one game starting every hour on the hour after until 10:00 ET. Pick your game and watch. Don't like the teams playing? Not enough (or too much) scoring? There's another one on or starting soon. Saturdays are largely wide open in terms of sports until College Football starts, MLB should do everything they can to monopolize that time.
Good comment and I like your Saturday idea. So many good NCAAF games works.
As for gimmicks, it would be like interleague play. It was interesting the first year, maybe two, but then it became just another game. Now of course MLB is going to screw it up even more by having everybody play everybody. When the World Series comes around it will be about what happened the last time they played, making it even less special. Then they'll wonder why ratings are down. SMH
Eh. Ideas are too gimmicky for me. Just play the game.
I agree with Mark. I live in Austin and have mlb.tv but could not watch the Astros-White Sox game because it was blacked out. I am blacked out of Rangers games too. Very few of the tv providers carry the Astros here, so there is no good option for me to watch their games. I am a fan of other teams, so mlb.tv works well for me (unless I want to watch a team playing the Astros or Rangers) but it is still maddening. Young fans should have reasonable access to games on TV. That is an important part of how you build a fan base.
In English cricket, unlike most sports, there's a long tradition of teams playing "home" games away from their usual homes, but still in their regions. It's very popular with fans, although players will inevitably find conditions to complain about. And older people will remember when the Green Bay Packers used to play a couple of home games at Milwaukee every year- real NFL games, not just exhibitions.
I think that all this is a very good thing, because different is good. I will definitely be watching the Red Sox playing at Williamsport on Sunday. So why not get every team to play a series somewhere different every year? There's not even any need to stay local. If the Royals play the Mariners in Idaho then I will definitely look out for it.
Only about 28 states have ever hosted a major league baseball game. Let's make it 50.
This feels like a no-brainer to me, especially considering how many pro-level college facilities are out there.
The NBA used to do this as well. Larry Bird's infamous 60 point game against Atlanta was played in New Orleans.
You guys all saw the Harry Caray, too!?! Oh, thank god.
Sunday we took my two and a half year old granddaughter to her first baseball game. The second pitch of the game was fouled off and bounced off the press box to about six feet from us, where it started spinning. I ran after it, and hoped to give it to her, but two eight year old boys started chasing after it and I wasn't going to deny them the ball. My granddaughter lasted about two innings of baseball and then took advantage of the carousel and Ferris Wheel and wandering around and a bouncy castle, but she was having a grand old time. The game ended in spectacular fashion, on back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the ninth to let the home team come back from a 5-4 deficit. Then all the kids got to run the bases, my granddaughter, accompanied by her parents, finishing last, with her high-fiving the team mascot at the plate and smiling. I have that on video. Baseball needs moments like that.
I admire your passion for baseball and wish I could share it. In my opinion it's not a problem of baseball selling itself better. It's a question of fairness.
For a small market team to be competitive year in and year out, lightning has to strike and strike constantly. People hold up the Rays as an example of a small market team beating the odds, but exactly how many times have the Rays won the World Series?
In the last 25 years how many small market teams have won it all? Exactly 3, and that's including the Diamondbacks who as you might know are in Phoenix which is the 5th largest metro area.
NFL owners are a bunch of greedy billionaire narcissists who treat players like bunwad, but at least they got the revenue sharing right. Any team can win the Super Bowl.
(Even Buffalo and Minneapolis someday!)
I feel attacked! But seriously, if I had the time (small biz owner here) I would gladly watch non-Orioles games on off days if I could (being an east coast transplant in LA I mostly watch the Os after the fact on MLB.tv late at night or the day after).
Hey, fellow music/comedy nerd/O's fan here haha, glad to see there's another!
Yeah echo… try some things! Why isn’t there anything highlighting Baseball ⚾️? It’s all written now how boring, slow, long ,and 3 outcome it is! Yeah maybe but real Baseball fans know that’s the furthest thing from the truth! The trick is convincing folks who hear nothing but those abstracts that the game is truly everything but said abstracts!
Joe for Commissioner!!! You are spot on - there are so many stars and interesting stories around MLB that are just ignored by everyone but the local fans. Sigh.
That announcer game is a terrible idea.
The game is on the field.