MLB 2014 season thread

Add my name to those who appreciated exmediahack's story.

 

The goal in baseball is broad-based regional revenue (and club valuation) growth -- not big World Series ratings. For that to happen, it's imperative that smaller markets not just reach the postseason but be in position to compete well and possibly win championships. The Royals reaching the World Series is great for the industry in the long term.

 

Thanks, all, for the good words. The call came out of nowhere -- I hadn't talked to him in 2 weeks or so.

I did ask if there was a way he wanted to join us. He said no - that his wife is sick and they're also about 800 miles from KC. Even in retirement, he can't really turn on a dime.

In an odd way, I think he didn't want to ruin it. Part of our issues are that he's often said the wrong times at the wrong times in major milestones in my life. Did his best to upstage my college graduation, wedding, birth of our first kid, with hurtful comments.

Perhaps this is his olive branch for all that.

 

That's a cool story, exmediahack. Thanks for sharing it, and have fun with your son at the game!

 

Right. Baseball is awash in cable TV money for 2 reasons: 1. It's guaranteed prime-time programming for 6 months a year; and 2. Advertisers will continue to throw money at it, because people watch it live, which means they don't skip the commercials while watching on the DVR the way they do with ratings darlings like NCIS and Big Bang Theory.

 

And 3) like ESPN, the cable networks can just about name their price to providers/subscribers. That's a way bigger deal than the advertising part.

 

Maybe the ratings are down because all but about two games of the NL playoffs were buried on deep cable.

 

Deep Cable? What's that, an anonymous source for ratings? The Series will help set a record for football, or cooking shows, or whatever else is on.

 

And next year MLB revenues will set another record high.

 

I was betting on the Cardinals forcing a Game 6.

 

I never understand the sniping about baseball's ratings.

What are people hoping for? That we suddenly say, "Fuck! This sport does suck! I was wrong the whole time!"

 

If he wasn't going to use Rosenthal, he should have used Neshek for another inning. The one benefit you get from Wacha is that he can give you multiple innings, but the pitcher's spot was due up third in the top of the 10th, so it was one inning regardless for Wacha.