http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...uperstars-gone
I've been saying this about baseball for a while. Good to see that someone else recognizes it.
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http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...uperstars-gone
I've been saying this about baseball for a while. Good to see that someone else recognizes it.
It was interesting that the Game 7 World Series with the Cubs beat the ratings of Game 7 NBA Finals with Lebron and Curry. Baseball does need to market it better but I am not sure how.
Most of these superstars in baseball dont have some Anti-Trump agenda that makes them so marketable to the likes of ESPN. Hate getting political, but I honestly feel like that is it.
You've figured out the riddle** I'm sure a good part of it is that a lot of the top players don't speak very good English & they're not going to appeal to the American Past time crowd.Quote:
Originally Posted by CarolinaDawgs
Baseball is a slow game. It's cerebral game. ("This shit's chess, it ain't checkers!") Football and basketball are bang-bang, fast & big and instantly gratifying sports. Score, score and score some more. Baseball is 162 games in a season. Football, 16 games, Basketball, 82 games. The general populace has the attention span of a gnat today and the majority like sports hard and fast. Hence, the rise of MMA and the fall of boxing. I think baseball is what it is and is doing just fine. It's an acquired taste and you either love it or you don't.
Wow! Keep your tin foil hat shined. I don't know the politics of most players and don't care.Quote:
Originally Posted by CarolinaDawgs
It would seem to me that in baseball you would have a lot more time in such a slow game to give personal stories that would endear fans to the players. However, baseball and some of its antiquated rules don't allow for players personalities to shine like football and especially basketball.
Antiquated rules like not allowing steroids? I agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reason2succeed
It probably doesn't help that ESPN sucks at showing baseball from a product standpoint too. Maybe if they talked about all of the teams and not just the big markets and the one trendy team of the year it would help.
No, the NFL bans steroids too...but you know that right?!?Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
Baseball has unwritten rules about showboating and drawing attention to ones self which may have fit back in the 1920s but not 2020. When it comes to highlight reels the most boring sport besides golf is baseball where all you get is the acrobatic catch and the home run hits which always look the same. No, celebrations other than the same ole dog pile or hand jive in the dugout. Babe Ruth calling his shot wouldn't even be acceptable in Baseball today.
This is a good thing, I'm not surprised you don't understand that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reason2succeed
I'm being sarcastic of course. The thing that people historically want to see are home runs. That's how Babe Ruth saved baseball after the Black Sox scandal and also how McGwire and Sosa got baseball back into popularity from the 1994 strike. Ultimately fans want to see their team win, home runs, and a guy throwing a baseball 100 MPH probably in that order assuming that they have a team to pull for.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reason2succeed
There are more celebrations in baseball right now that probably any other time in it's history. I think it's just that the retaliation factor in baseball is lot more noticeable. How often does retaliation occur in football at the LOS between linemen and no one notices unless it's very obvious like Bradley Sowell taking out Dwayne Cherrington's knees on the last play of the Egg Bowl in 2011? And even then I didn't realize that happened until I got back home and saw people talking about it on the Internet. Plus in football if you retaliate by going helmet to helmet or fighting you get ejected and there's more of a penalty on the team. In baseball you can throw a long relief guy and have him hit someone and even if there's a fight and both players get ejected the hitter gets one base assuming they were hit by a pitch and the pitcher that gets kicked out was probably going to be subbed out anyway.
I think too with 162 games plus spring training plus exhibition games these players have to gear down and not put everything into the season emotionally because if they don't they'll flame out by Memorial Day. So, they're trained to be more even keel.
MLB does need to do a better job of promoting their best players. I think the WBC was a great opportunity to do that. But unlike most of the other countries in the world for some reason the Trout's and Kershaw's don't want to form up and have a "Dream Team" for baseball. If I was the commissioner I would have personally told the Trout's and Kershaw's that it's extremely important to the game that they participate and offer them significant compensation to be in it.
I think MLB is afraid to attach the success of the brand to individual players. When they did do a good job of marketing the individual player in the late 90s and early 00s - they got burned by PEDs. Every big name they pushed got popped except Griffey. I'd be leery too.
The Trout's and Kershaw's know it's a 162 game season (which in my opinion is WAY too long) so why would they burn themselves out or risk injury for a victory with very little meaning?Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
And I agree that MLB got burned by McGuire, Sosa, and Bonds. They were becoming superheroes and then got busted for roids and became villains overnight.
ESPN coverage sucks.
MLB does a great job promoting all players on social media...especially to the younger crowd. Look up "Cut 4" on FB or Twitter...very entertaining. All the teams have fun twitter feeds too. Couldn't say that a couple years ago.
There are 3 crowds of pro baseball viewers. The stat geeks that didn't play past junior high or HS that think they are smarter than everyone, the casual viewer who knows a ton of players and has a favorite team and then the bandwagon fans that only watch red sox/yankees or any Cubs game.
I'm happy with my MLB experience, but everyone needs something to bitch about.
You can't make the comment you just made about Trout and Kershaw and then complain about MLB not promoting itself well. What's the difference between Trout and Kershaw getting hurt in spring training vs. the World Baseball Classic? And getting hurt doesn't stop the best from the other countries from participating. It's mainly the Americans where it's an issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reason2succeed
But the difference is if they get hurt during the WBC they would at least be getting hurt doing something that promotes the game at the highest level.
162 game regular season kills any reason to watch it till playoffs. Just facts. I used to watch a lot of Braves when I was younger but that was bc we were good and had Chipper Jones
Baseball players are also very systematic with how they approach preparation and games. The article talked about Trout not wanting to get out of his routine which the WBC would do. It is going to take someone like Kris Bryant or Bryce Harper that embraces social media and has the endorsements that push players out of the normal practice. I think having the college game improve would also help. It builds in a fanbase for a player instead of someone being on the team that no one had heard of before. I know that I watch the Pirates and Padres highlights more now that Frazier and Renfroe are on the teams. NFL and NBA has had that pipeline type fan for a while but baseball doesn't have that as much. Most great players before don't go to college but more are now. Players are figuring out that college is a lot better stepping stone to prepare you than going into the shitty lower minor leagues. Professional sports just doesn't have as much invested in development unless you show something instantly or you are a high round pick that has a big signing bonus (investment).Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
Rooker would have probably already flamed out in the minors but was allowed to develop at State.
It's just overshadowed by most other sports now. Opening Day/Week is around the Final Four and the Masters. The younger crowd will only watch NBA playoffs in May and June. Then by July, when baseball is the only game in town, most people can't just decide to sit down and watch a game. Baseball is much more fun to watch when you know the context of the game, the pitch, the inning, the at-bat, etc... That's why many of yall on here only watch MLB to see MSU players. Then by September, it's football time and baseball is largely forgotten except for some mid-week playoff games in October.
I'm planning on going to see the M-Braves tonight. Without context, MiLB games can get boring. However, tonight Mississippi is throwing lefty Max Fried, who Atl traded Justin Upton for a couple years ago. He was just coming off Tommy John at the time, so some fans we're perplexed why we wanted him. Now after a nice stint in SIngle A, he's rated the 9th best prospect for Atl and has a chance to be another great young pitcher. I'm excited to see how he does tonight.
Nail on head! We are an instant gratification society. Interesting though that NFL ratings dropped like a rock but baseball has remained steady and attendance is strong too. Baseball has become a global game not as big as soccer but getting there and that helps. You see so much diversity in baseball fans you don't quite see in the other sports accept soccer.Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintDawg