2014 MLB Season Thread

[CS85]

Spring training ≠ NFL Preseason. One serves a purpose, the other serves a similar purpose but is basically extortion to it's fans and a needless exposure to career/season-threatening injuries.

[FiddySicks]

Going to the Phillies Vs Blue Jays spring training game on Thursday. Not sure how I feel about Spring Training. I've read some interesting articles about just getting rid of the whole thing entirely or cutting the thing in half.

What's your guys' take on it?

It's awesome. Cheap baseball a month early, and you get to see an organization's entire system play together rather than just the big league guys.

And they'll never cut out Spring Training entirely, or even cut it in half. Not just because of the reasons that have already been mentioned about it actually serving a purpose, but as well because places like Phoenix have poured so much public money into these Spring Training facilities and absolutely rely on the tourism dollars it brings in.

[Soarindude]

Going to the Phillies Vs Blue Jays spring training game on Thursday. Not sure how I feel about Spring Training. I've read some interesting articles about just getting rid of the whole thing entirely or cutting the thing in half.

What's your guys' take on it?

It's awesome. Cheap baseball a month early, and you get to see an organization's entire system play together rather than just the big league guys.

And they'll never cut out Spring Training entirely, or even cut it in half. Not just because of the reasons that have already been mentioned about it actually serving a purpose, but as well because places like Phoenix have poured so much public money into these Spring Training facilities and absolutely rely on the tourism dollars it brings in.

Yeah, I agree. I could never see them getting rid of them for the business perspective. I'm sure they make a killing, and the athletes aren't "really" getting paid to play right now. I'd rather see some extra baseball games added instead.

And to your cheap baseball statement, that isn't actually true. It's cheaper for me to buy Rays regular season tickets than it is to buy Phillies spring training tickets. That's the Rays though, im assuming it's not like that everywhere.

[FiddySicks]

Going to the Phillies Vs Blue Jays spring training game on Thursday. Not sure how I feel about Spring Training. I've read some interesting articles about just getting rid of the whole thing entirely or cutting the thing in half.

What's your guys' take on it?

It's awesome. Cheap baseball a month early, and you get to see an organization's entire system play together rather than just the big league guys.

And they'll never cut out Spring Training entirely, or even cut it in half. Not just because of the reasons that have already been mentioned about it actually serving a purpose, but as well because places like Phoenix have poured so much public money into these Spring Training facilities and absolutely rely on the tourism dollars it brings in.

Yeah, I agree. I could never see them getting rid of them for the business perspective. I'm sure they make a killing, and the athletes aren't "really" getting paid to play right now. I'd rather see some extra baseball games added instead.

And to your cheap baseball statement, that isn't actually true. It's cheaper for me to buy Rays regular season tickets than it is to buy Phillies spring training tickets. That's the Rays though, im assuming it's not like that everywhere.

Yeah sorry about that, I misspoke a bit, so allow me to elaborate.

That's not 100% true, but if you know where to look, you can find some pretty good deals. It depends on when you go to Spring Training games, and how far ahead you get tickets. If it's in the first week or so, you can usually see just about anyone play for under ten backs. If you wanna see the Cubs play the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium right smack in the middle of the Spring training schedule and want to buy tickets the day of the game, you might as well forget about finding anything for cheap (In fact, I bought opening day tickets to see the D Backs play the Giants for about a third the price of some Giants games). The last week or so (which is right about now) is also usually pretty affordable as well. Location is important as well. You can get cheap tickets to just about any game in Goodyear or Surprise, but you're gonna pay a pretty penny to see games at Scottsdale Stadium or the brand spankin new Cubs park in Mesa.

I can't speak for Florida, but if assume it's similar.

But yeah, to the other point, good luck telling the City of Mesa that they're canceling Spring Training and that they just built a 100 million dollar facility for the Cubs that won't ever get used.

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

[Sport]

Where is anybody talking about cancelling spring training? Is that real?

[Soarindude]

Where is anybody talking about cancelling spring training? Is that real?

More so just a bunch of sports writers that 'want' it removed. The money surrounding Spring-Training will make it so that it'll never get cancelled, as stated so perfectly by Bucsfan56. He summed up the situation perfectly.

Personally, Spring training is kinda lame. I'd much rather see it shortened and for them to get straight into action. I think there is a lot of injuries that happen with spring training and I think it is way too long. And a lot of writers, columnists, fans, etc. agree with me. But the business world will never have that happen.

Personally, I wouldn't mind to see it shortened. Then you could still have the first few weeks of the regular season still occur in Florida/Arizona (keep the snow-birds happy. Yes, this idea is completely unrealistic. But chance of injury would be shortened, the niche of spring-training still exists but just not as much, and players can still get into the groove of things with 10-12 games. That way, the MLB players will be showcased a lot more for these games, and the double A journeymen aren't shown in 50% of the games.

[rainmaker17]

Man, the Texas Rangers are turning into a M*A*S*H unit.

[HedleyLamarr]

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

WGN.

Just as the Braves were hot garbage for many years, but they were popular due to playing 150 games annually on TBS. If your market didn't have a team but you liked baseball, you got your near-daily fix from the Braves and/or Cubs. Fast-forward these last 15-20 years, these folks still have a soft-spot for the Braves or Cubs and come out to see their games.....whether it be taking a trip to Wrigley/Turner Field or coming to see the Braves/Cubs play a road game in the nearest stadium.

[cmm]

Tougher PED penalties (and more lenient penalties for inadvertent PED use) coming soon:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-mlb-hopes-new-drug-deal-week

[TalktoChuck]

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

WGN.

Just as the Braves were hot garbage for many years, but they were popular due to playing 150 games annually on TBS. If your market didn't have a team but you liked baseball, you got your near-daily fix from the Braves and/or Cubs. Fast-forward these last 15-20 years, these folks still have a soft-spot for the Braves or Cubs and come out to see their games.....whether it be taking a trip to Wrigley/Turner Field or coming to see the Braves/Cubs play a road game in the nearest stadium.

That's exactly why I follow the Braves, when I was a kid they were on TBS all the time. And they were a lot more fun to watch than Larry Walker and rest of the AA level Rockies.

I don't exactly have a favorite team, but I follow the Braves, Giants, and A's pretty regularly. The Braves, because I have fond memories of watching them on TBS, and the A's and Giants because I have an Aunt who lives in the Bay Area and would always take me to games when I visited.

I imagine my interest in the Braves is very similar to lots of people's interest in the Cubs. When you have access to a specific team all year, why not take a rooting interest in them?

[FiddySicks]

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

WGN.

Just as the Braves were hot garbage for many years, but they were popular due to playing 150 games annually on TBS. If your market didn't have a team but you liked baseball, you got your near-daily fix from the Braves and/or Cubs. Fast-forward these last 15-20 years, these folks still have a soft-spot for the Braves or Cubs and come out to see their games.....whether it be taking a trip to Wrigley/Turner Field or coming to see the Braves/Cubs play a road game in the nearest stadium.

That's exactly why I follow the Braves, when I was a kid they were on TBS all the time. And they were a lot more fun to watch than Larry Walker and rest of the AA level Rockies.

I don't exactly have a favorite team, but I follow the Braves, Giants, and A's pretty regularly. The Braves, because I have fond memories of watching them on TBS, and the A's and Giants because I have an Aunt who lives in the Bay Area and would always take me to games when I visited.

I imagine my interest in the Braves is very similar to lots of people's interest in the Cubs. When you have access to a specific team all year, why not take a rooting interest in them?

That makes sense. I wouldn't have even thought about how both teams were on networks that were carried nationally for as long as they were, but I can certainly see how that would be a heavily contributing factor. I haven't noticed that the Braves have a following quite like the Cubs do, but that may just be due to where I've lived. Were the Cubs on WGN for a significantly longer period of time than the Braves were on TBS?

[Tigers6884]

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

I think the better question to ask would be “Why does any root for their awful cross-town rivals, the White Sox?". Their fans are jerks, their in a division where the best they can wind up is second place (thanks to the Tigers, my favorite team), and they have one of the worst commentators (not named Joe Buck) in the history of the game (“Hawk" Harrelson).

[McCall]

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

I think the better question to ask would be Why does any root for their awful cross-town rivals, the White Sox?". Their fans are jerks, their in a division where the best they can wind up is second place (thanks to the Tigers, my favorite team), and they have one of the worst commentators (not named Joe Buck) in the history of the game (Hawk" Harrelson).

An even better question is why does a 14-year-old seem to feel like he has the knowledge to ask a stupid question like that. They've had a long history with a good amount of success. Hell they won a World Series a lot more recently than your Tigers.

[pcgd]

In addition to the broad Cubs and Braves fan bases, the Cardinals have a similar reason for a large midwestern following. KMOX had a really powerful signal in the days before TV so people from Wisconsin to Arkansas heard the Cardinals games. Success helped but the primary reason was it was the only baseball they could hear.

Its interesting to me to see how many Cardinals fans there are still in Indiana and I'm sure a big portion of that is their parents grew up with them on the radio. There are even a couple radio stations based in Indiana that carry Cardinal games still. In fact Mississippi has 2 as well!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals_Radio_Network

[The_Admiral]

Were the Cubs on WGN for a significantly longer period of time than the Braves were on TBS?

The Cubs have been on WGN since it went on the air in 1948. They've been on WGN-AM even longer than that, and benefited from the same clear channel and wide network as the Cardinals with KMOX.

KMOX still has a 50,000-watt clear channel; I don't know that TV would have anything to do with it because television signals are FM and not AM. I can pick up KMOX and WLW well up around Chicago on clear nights.

[Tigers6884]

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

I think the better question to ask would be Why does any root for their awful cross-town rivals, the White Sox?". Their fans are jerks, their in a division where the best they can wind up is second place (thanks to the Tigers, my favorite team), and they have one of the worst commentators (not named Joe Buck) in the history of the game (Hawk" Harrelson).

An even better question is why does a 14-year-old seem to feel like he has the knowledge to ask a stupid question like that. They've had a long history with a good amount of success. Hell they won a World Series a lot more recently than your Tigers.

They may of won a World Series more recently, but the Tigers still have won more.

[Kramerica Industries]

not really sure why that matters. If that were the case, there wouldn't be a single Mets fan in New York; instead, that's very likely the more passionate fanbase of the two teams in the area. And as much as Mets fans probably hate the fact that they're Mets fans, I doubt they would trade it for anything else.

[McCall]

Speaking of Cubs fans, there's a trend here. Why the hell does that awful team have such an insane following? Any other team that played as bad as they have for as long as they have probably wouldn't have even survived. What is it about that baseball team that people can't turn away from?

I think the better question to ask would be Why does any root for their awful cross-town rivals, the White Sox?". Their fans are jerks, their in a division where the best they can wind up is second place (thanks to the Tigers, my favorite team), and they have one of the worst commentators (not named Joe Buck) in the history of the game (Hawk" Harrelson).

An even better question is why does a 14-year-old seem to feel like he has the knowledge to ask a stupid question like that. They've had a long history with a good amount of success. Hell they won a World Series a lot more recently than your Tigers.

They may of won a World Series more recently, but the Tigers still have won more.

By that logic everybody should be a Yankees fan.

[TalktoChuck]

I've been thinking about splurging and getting MLB TV, and was wondering if anyone here has experience with it? Is it worth it?

[See Red]

I've been thinking about splurging and getting MLB TV, and was wondering if anyone here has experience with it? Is it worth it?

I had it about six years ago, so I'm not sure what's changed with it between then and now (particularly in regards to price) but I absolutely loved it. That was when I had a lot more time on my hands but it was well worth it for me.