MLB Off-Topic

[kehlis]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

My uncle got his WS ring last night, not the same one (obviously) that the MLB non players got but cool nonetheless.

Jostens did screw up and put his first name on the ring instead of the last name but very cool.

[DamnYanks2]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Adam Eaton torn acl. Out for the season.

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[Bard]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Adam Eaton torn acl. Out for the season.

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I know that is a freak accident, but man the Nationals have to be kicking themselves over how much they dealt for him.

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[DamnYanks2]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I know that is a freak accident, but man the Nationals have to be kicking themselves over how much they dealt for him.

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Yep and to lose him in the first month, not good.

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[Sportsforever]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I finally got around to watching the MLB Network special on Mike Trout...I already loved the guy, but after watching that I don't see how anyone couldn't love the guy. We are truly blessed to get to watch him...what a special talent and above all seems like a great guy.

[ubernoob]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I finally got around to watching the MLB Network special on Mike Trout...I already loved the guy, but after watching that I don't see how anyone couldn't love the guy. We are truly blessed to get to watch him...what a special talent and above all seems like a great guy.

I know it was said on Twitter before by a few of us, and this doesn't just go for Trout.

It's a shame the MLB almost staunchly refuses to market it's young stars. There are parallels here that I could draw, but they'd go over most people's heads just because the parallels I do have are from stuff to do with gaming.

You have some of the most marketable talent and it seems to just... do nothing with it.

[Sportsforever]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I know it was said on Twitter before by a few of us, and this doesn't just go for Trout.

It's a shame the MLB almost staunchly refuses to market it's young stars. There are parallels here that I could draw, but they'd go over most people's heads just because the parallels I do have are from stuff to do with gaming.

You have some of the most marketable talent and it seems to just... do nothing with it.

I agree...and I hear that quite often. I am curious; what would that look like to you (or anyone else)? I want to see the stars marketed, but not the detriment of teams. For example, I don't want the Red Sox and Cubs to become Betts vs Bryant, or Dodgers vs Giants to be a Seager vs Posey type of thing. The NBA does that and the NFL to an extent...it's annoying, IMO.

[ubernoob]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I agree...and I hear that quite often. I am curious; what would that look like to you (or anyone else)? I want to see the stars marketed, but not the detriment of teams. For example, I don't want the Red Sox and Cubs to become Betts vs Bryant, or Dodgers vs Giants to be a Seager vs Posey type of thing. The NBA does that and the NFL to an extent...it's annoying, IMO.

Like it or not, that's what it is. People don't watch (I'll use the Brewers here as an example because that's the one right off the top of my head) Milwaukee to see Jett Bandy. They watch because they are a Milwaukee fan, or they watch to see (this year) what Thames will do next/if he can keep it up.

It doesn't have to be player vs. player.

Here's a gaming analogy I was gonna use, that will go largely ignored by most because it's eSports but it's a fitting analogy.

There's a player in League of Legends named Bjergsen, that plays for Team Solo Mid (TSM.)

Since coming to America to play for that team, they have been in every single LCS split Final (2 per year, this year was his 7th.) They haven't won all of them, they've just been there - for reference, they've won 4. RIOT Games is kind of like MLB. They market the game over the players, to their own detriment. Instead of building up Bjergsen (who is an absolutely amazing player) as somewhat of a 'Final Boss' type person that the other team has to overcome - which would be validated by him being in every final since arriving over here - they just do their own little basic thing, introduce both teams and don't play it up at all.

In that case, it's not "Bjergsen vs. challengers" or even "TSM vs. [Random Team]". It's just "Here's this years version of the finals." No playing up of storylines at all.

If the storyline HAPPENS to be Player X vs. Player Y, play it up. If Mike Trout dominates "X" pitcher, or even "X" team, play it up. Make a storyline interesting. Why was the PED era such an explosion of interest in baseball? Because they had entertaining storylines being chased.

Don't manufacture them, but certainly play into them as much as you can. It draws more people in and makes it better in the long run.

Here's a video that explains the point I made well, and is where I got my example from. It briefly references sports, so watch it if you want a more in-depth version of what I tried to explain.

Spoiler

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T3s1sipRhLc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Sportsforever]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Like it or not, that's what it is. People don't watch (I'll use the Brewers here as an example because that's the one right off the top of my head) Milwaukee to see Jett Bandy. They watch because they are a Milwaukee fan, or they watch to see (this year) what Thames will do next/if he can keep it up.

It doesn't have to be player vs. player.

Here's a gaming analogy I was gonna use, that will go largely ignored by most because it's eSports but it's a fitting analogy.

There's a player in League of Legends named Bjergsen, that plays for Team Solo Mid (TSM.)

Since coming to America to play for that team, they have been in every single LCS split Final (2 per year, this year was his 7th.) They haven't won all of them, they've just been there - for reference, they've won 4. RIOT Games is kind of like MLB. They market the game over the players, to their own detriment. Instead of building up Bjergsen (who is an absolutely amazing player) as somewhat of a 'Final Boss' type person that the other team has to overcome - which would be validated by him being in every final since arriving over here - they just do their own little basic thing, introduce both teams and don't play it up at all.

In that case, it's not "Bjergsen vs. challengers" or even "TSM vs. [Random Team]". It's just "Here's this years version of the finals." No playing up of storylines at all.

If the storyline HAPPENS to be Player X vs. Player Y, play it up. If Mike Trout dominates "X" pitcher, or even "X" team, play it up. Make a storyline interesting. Why was the PED era such an explosion of interest in baseball? Because they had entertaining storylines being chased.

Don't manufacture them, but certainly play into them as much as you can. It draws more people in and makes it better in the long run.

I can see that...I think it's a fine line to walk though. The players change all the time, but the teams are the constant. I think it's fine to champion/push the player storylines, but at the end of the day it's the Cubs that win the World Series, not Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo. Baseball errors all the way to the other side, but I definitely don't want them to go NBA either. I saw an NBA ad for an upcoming game and I swear, if I didn't know what teams the players played for you wouldn't even know who was going to be playing.

[ubernoob]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I can see that...I think it's a fine line to walk though. The players change all the time, but the teams are the constant. I think it's fine to champion/push the player storylines, but at the end of the day it's the Cubs that win the World Series, not Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo. Baseball errors all the way to the other side, but I definitely don't want them to go NBA either. I saw an NBA ad for an upcoming game and I swear, if I didn't know what teams the players played for you wouldn't even know who was going to be playing.

You watch anyways, they aren't marketing to you.

Conor McGregor isn't the best fighter in the world. You'd be hard pressed to find someone that more people watch, though. There's a reason for that.

[CMH]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I agree...and I hear that quite often. I am curious; what would that look like to you (or anyone else)? I want to see the stars marketed, but not the detriment of teams. For example, I don't want the Red Sox and Cubs to become Betts vs Bryant, or Dodgers vs Giants to be a Seager vs Posey type of thing. The NBA does that and the NFL to an extent...it's annoying, IMO.

For local games, I get this.

For national games, they should sell the players because most local / regional fans don't care about the other team. But they may care about the star player.

That's what the NBA and NFL have done well. I don't care about Thunder games but I am interested in what Westbrook is going to do against a rival team.

Why not tell a Marlins fan that they should tune into an Angels vs. Mariners game because "Mike Trout vs Felix Hernandez!" Flash some highlights of previous matchup, results, and rev up their next 3 at bats?

Maybe a casual would want to know what happens.

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[TheMatrix31]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

The problem with that is baseball doesn't quite work that way. Trout could face Felix and (even though Trout owns Felix, lol) those 4 at-bats that game can be completely inconsequential that day and a casual fan who, on the off chance they actually tuned in due to that marketing, might be like "uh, what happened?"

Mike Trout will never end up becoming marketed the way he could and should be until he and his team do something amazing and remarkable and memorable on the biggest stage. Merely being in the playoffs isn't enough either. There has to be some signature moment that happens with everyone in the country watching an LCS or World Series. Like Jeter's homer in 2001, his flip against the A's, etc. Also didn't hurt that Jeter was a Yankee and everyone knows the Yankees. This is why Bryant and Rizzo are likely to become bigger stars. They're Cubs. Everyone knows the Cubs. Most people only know the Angels because of the movie.

Count me in as someone who'd rather market teams anyway. The attention on the players come naturally. Honestly the best everyone can do to help the popularity of baseball is word of mouth. It's on us, not national sports media (because we all know what they've done to baseball) to promote the sport. Every time you're with your non-baseball loving friends, talk it up. Tell them about Trout. Tell them about Kershaw. Tell them about Bumgarner. Tell them about Bryant. And Rizzo. And Betts. And Cutch. Tell them about Arenado and Machado. Tell them about Stanton and Judge hitting 460 foot homers.

There's so much to tell. Impact your sphere of influence.

[Speedy]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

For local games, I get this.

For national games, they should sell the players because most local / regional fans don't care about the other team. But they may care about the star player.

That's what the NBA and NFL have done well. I don't care about Thunder games but I am interested in what Westbrook is going to do against a rival team.

The media coverage surrounding the NBA/NFL drives a lot of that interest though, right? Whether it's ESPN, Sports Illustrated, FoxSports, USAToday or some other sports news articles that the user is viewing...MLB hasn't been at the top.

I think one of the MLB headlines one day was when Coglan jumped over Molina one day...nothing about scores, matchups, etc. Just a 10 second feat.

On a side note: I think Fangraphs should be getting way higher credibility than it does. There are a lot of analytical articles that are a good read and have made me rethink how I view players, situations, statistics, etc.

[TripleCrown9]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Random fact.

The last World Series to have 0 home runs was 1918, between the Sox and Cubs.

[Sportsforever]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

On a side note: I think Fangraphs should be getting way higher credibility than it does. There are a lot of analytical articles that are a good read and have made me rethink how I view players, situations, statistics, etc.

See, I try and give fan graphs more of my time and I always feel like I have to weed through the crap to get the gold. Look, I am a HUGE Bill James fan...literally have all the abstracts and read them over and over. When I read fan graphs I see a LOT of writers who want to be/think they are James...and they come across as condescending, close minded, arrogant, etc. If I wasn't into saber metrics, reading the majority of fan graphs content WOULD NOT make me interested.