Protest Denied
The Mets protest from Saturday’s game has been denied. The game was played under protest after San Diego pitcher Akinori Otsuka entered the game. Otsuka has an odd delivery that Art Howe claims is illegal and should be called a balk. It didn’t take a prophet to see that the Mets would lose this protest.
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Now Playing First Base… Spider-Man
MLB announced an agreement today that will put ads for the upcoming Spider-Man 2 movie on the bases at Major League parks the weekend of June 11-13. I previously criticized the advertising frenzy when commenting about the Yankees opening the season in Japan. (Ralph Nader agrees with me but I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.)
I’m going to go out on a limb now and suggest that this deal should invalidate the MLB’s contention that they should be exempt from antitrust laws because baseball is a game and not a business. This deal clearly shows that business is the order of the day and not the game itself.
MLB marketing is saying how this promotion is a way to reach out to a younger demographic. They say “It’s the future of how we generate excitement inside the stadium and about the game itself.” Shouldn’t the game itself be generating the excitement? It all seems a bit much on the marketing end and not enough on game issues (such as drug/steroid use, the strike zone and the balk rule).
What does it say for your game when you charge $3.6 million for prime advertising and “5-7%” of your athletes are using steroids? It says your game is really a big business. And if it’s a business then it shouldn’t be exempt from antitrust.
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Other Miscellany From Last Night
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Root For The Mets (Not Their Opponents)
Attendance at Shea Stadium was up 7,000 over the average Mets home game last night as fans flocked to Flushing for a chance to see one of the games greats, Barry Bonds, on his teams only trip to New York this season. While I didn’t see much of the game I did manage to see a lot of the local coverage surrounding it and feel obliged to say something I tend to say a few times every season. If you are a Mets fan going to see a game at Shea (or to see the Mets at any other venue) root for the Mets and not their opponents.
I saw at least a dozen people on the various local news and sports broadcasts last night claiming to be Mets fans but when asked why they went to Shea on this particular night their answers were all the same. “We came to see Barry Bonds hit home runs.” In other words they came to see their home team give up runs to an opposing player. If this is your reason for going to the game then you are not a Mets fan.
I can understand the draw of going to see a player like Bonds play. In fact I would have made a better effort to watch the game last night if Bonds were in the lineup. When you have a chance to see a future hall of famer and possible future HR record holder you go for it. But to root for him to beat your team is what being a fan is about.
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Good Win Last Night
With Barry Bonds sitting out with a sinus infection the Mets did exactly what they were supposed to do last night. Beat the opposition when their best player is out of the lineup. And they did so convincingly outscoring the Giants 6-2. Several bright spots included:
It was nice to see Edgardo Alfonzo last night even though he had a very bad night. Playing second base Alfonzo committed 2 errors and misplayed a ball before being lifted in the bottom of the eighth inning.
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Bonds To Sit Out?
Rumor has it that Barry Bonds will sit out tonight’s game at Shea because of a sinus infection. If this is true then we can look forward to more of the “do you pitch to Bonds?” nonsense in tomorrow’s paper. More importantly it takes a great bat out of the game for the Giants and gives the Mets a much better chance at winning. (I know that sentence mentions an obvious point but I just had to say it.)
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Bonds Rising
With the San Francisco Giants coming to town to open a three game set today there’s a lot being written in the New York media about Barry Bonds. He’s obviously the cornerstone of the Giants’ lineup as he would be the cornerstone of just about every lineup in baseball history. And rightfully so, I might add. But I think the attention is getting a little out of hand and the questions are getting silly. When you see a guy like Bonds in the opposing lineup you obviously take note but you can’t change your approach. A Major League pitcher must approach every hitter the same way. From the pitchers perspective no one hitter is any less or more important than the others in the lineup. You go at each batter with 100% of what you have. If you get the guys around him out then you limit the damage he can do and you can pitch to him as you would pitch to anyone else.
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Blog Maintenance
I made a few improvements to the right sidebar of the blog in the last week or so. I added the calendar to help readers access recent posts easier, a scoreboard under the blog links for live updates and re-arranged the list of blog links to put some of my favorite (and more active) blogs toward the top of the list. All this has be done to add to the blog readers experience so enjoy. If you have any opinions about these changes or have suggestions for more improvements then please click the comment link below to let me know.
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Flushing Local: When Glass Returns
Flushing Local had a good posting today about how to adjust the lineup when Cliff Floyd returns. Read it here.
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I Need Help Please
I noticed tonight that when I view this blog using Internet Explorer from home the fonts are very large. When I view it in IE at work the font size appears normal. Can someone else please verify with me if the fonts appear very large or average size? This will help me know whether I need to change the font size on the blog or if I have a messed up setting on my home PC. Please click the comment link below to let me know.
Thanks.
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