2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

Two weeks ago was the first time I'd gone to a major league game in, I believe, 12 years. I'm not one to count every penny, but the outlandish cost of getting there, parking, food, concessions ... it certainly was the main reason. I easily put down $150 on the trip.

But there's still something about being in the ballpark that lures me in. It's still something majestic. Not as majestic as when I was a kid, but still.

 

I'm taking my 3-year-old son to his first game here soon. Probably late this month. I'm very excited. He flipped out the other night when they announced four White Sox at the All-Star Game. He kept saying, "Another one! Another one! Another one!"

I'm usually not one to shed tears, but considering how important old Comiskey was to my childhood and my relationship to my own dad, it's bound to get a little dusty when we first see the field.

My brother also bought my son, for his birthday, tickets for me, my brother, my son, and my dad to go to a game. Three generations.

 

Went to my first ML game, when the Yankees were in Cincy, last summer. Went with a friend of mine, who paid for gas on the way back home. Ticket was $49 ($50-something after tax), one tank of gas was $35, parking was split ($10 each, IIRC), lunch was another $10, Coke was $6 (I think) and the one adult drink I had was $7.

Then we stopped for dinner on the way back, and I spent another $12 or $13.

So yeah, it can get damn expensive, but it was worth it to finally see my favorite team.

 

So that makes TODAY (minus PSU story) the slowest sports day of the year, then? Not even any Espys to fill time.

 

Hell, ESPN showed me highlights of the Giants-Cowboys Week 14 game from last season this morning for some odd reason.

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned on here before but it's pretty cool: a cancer survivor is trying to see all 162 Brewers games while raising awareness for the Be The Match registry.

http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/article.jsp?content_id=33030472

The guy's blog:

http://brewersmission162.mlblogs.com/

 

Good times, Boston. Good times.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/8162350/boston-red-sox-manager-bobby-valentine-seems-encountering-problems-all-directions

 

No Bobby Valentine fan, but I think my first move would be to fire the three coaches and go from there. They sound like clubhouse poison.

 

These new rules specifically are definitely not screwing small markets specifically. They are screwing teams that want to invest heavily in amateur players, but that's a mix of small market and large market teams.

It's silly to complain that the new rules are preventing the Pirates from signing Appel, because there was approximately a zero percent chance that Appel would have dropped to the Pirates without the new rules.

Meanwhile, sometime soon (I can't be bothered to look up the exact date), the Pirates will be one of 13 teams put into a lottery for 12 free draft picks (half in the first round, half in the second). And given the new rules, those picks are more valuable than ever because of the extra bonus pool they bring with them.

Small market teams still don't have parity with large, but these new rules helped them more than they hurt them. Between this and expanded league-wide revenues, this is the best time to be a small-market team in the last few decades.

At least until the players notice that the open market has ballooned and stop signing these team-friendly deals in their pre-FA years.

 

So, you don't drive or eat meals unless you go to ballgames?

 

Most people drive longer to go to a ballgame.

And a lot of people eat less expensively if they aren't going to a ballgame.

 

The new rules make it even harder to sign elite-level prospects. The Pirates had gone the route of spending on draft picks to try to build their system. Small markets need the draft to be an equalizer, and this makes it less of one.