MLB 2014 season thread

Calvin Coolidge was in the White House when Chicago Cubs baseball began airing on WGN AM 720. With the exception of just a few odd years, the National League franchise and the Tribune Broadcasting radio flagship have been synonymous since 1925.

But now one of the most enduring partnerships in sports broadcasting is coming to an end. The Cubs and WGN Radio are splitting up after this season, Jimmy deCastro, president and general manager of WGN, confirmed Tuesday night.

The Cubs are expected to announce Thursday that they have finalized a seven-year agreement to broadcast on CBS Radio all-news WBBM AM 780, starting with the 2015 season. Sources familiar with the deal said the Cubs could move to CBS Radio sports/talk WSCR AM 670 if the Score loses the White Sox broadcast rights after next year.

http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/06/03/why-wgn-radio-lost-the-cubs/

 

A Legend in the Making by Richard Tofel

He had a brief cup of coffee with the '37 Newark Bears and a few games with Montreal in '46. Looks like the war took up most of his prime.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gallag002jos

 

Yeah, those non-guaranteed multi-year deals are much better for the NFL players than the guaranteed multi-year deals enjoyed by members of the MLBPA.

 

Final score in Cincinnati: Foul Ball 1, Writer's Computer 0.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2014/06/03/pablo-sandoval-destroys-reds-writers-computer/9939565/

 

Did I say it was better for the players? No I did not. I just didn't dig deeply into it because I have stated my opinion on this clearly and in great detail many times on SportsJournalists.com.

 

If the Buccos played in the NL West they'd win 150 games.

 

With the MLB draft starting tomorrow, ESPN.com's Andrew Marchand has an "oral history" on the rise and fall of Brien Taylor, one of the biggest draft busts of all-time:

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/11025655/mlb-draft-rise-fall-new-york-yankees-pitcher-brien-taylor

 

Say it isn't so! What's next, putting giant scoreboards behind the Wrigley bleachers to prevent those lovable apartment dwellers from watching the games on the rooftops?

Seriously, I wonder how the economics work for ANY radio station carrying baseball radio broadcasts. The average age of listeners has to be off-the-charts old, even older than newspaper readers.

And they can't make money online from the broadcasts, because that's all funneled through MLB.com. Talk about greedy bastards ...

 

The number of in broadcast sponsorships -- at least on Yankee games -- makes it nearly unlistenable. I know they need to try and make their nut back, but holy crap.

 

Apparently, Gallagher, liked to smash watermelons with a sledgehammer.

 

A baseball radio announcer who is still working so I won't give the name once told me he broadcast by envisioning his audience as shut-ins. I hope he never tells a sponsor that.

 

Do you really wonder that?

Obviously the money coming in tells you it works. The sheer number of people trapped in their cars during games is a great audience. I would say that out of 162 Giants game, there are at least 100 that I hear in part on the radio.

You also have all the bumper programming (manager's show, broadcaster's show, GM's show and any players who do it) that are now on that station throughout the day.