Just heard on the news that a strike date will be set Monday.
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Originally posted by Undertoad
Oh, so you're the one still going to see the Phillies. What do they draw now, like 15,000?
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Nah, I haven't been to a Phillies game yet. Last game I saw was a Cardinals-Giants game in St. Louis last summer.
The Phillies are averaging about 20,000 a game, down 10% from last year. In looking at their history, they've never drawn large numbers on average (no more than 39,000), so the new smaller stadium will be more appropriate. It doesn't help that Ed Wade and the Montgomery family are cheapskates. Sell the team to Comcast...if they want it.
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I dunno. The way I see it, every big stadium bought by taxpayers and named after a company, every TV time-out, every big-timing ballplayer that doesn't give a crap is another piece of soul taken from the actual games. At this point, there's hardly any soul left.
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I agree with you to a point. A lot of what you mentioned is pure business. Yeah, it sucks, but someone is always going to push the money issue (be it FOX buying the Dodgers, or the owner of the Rangers paying A-Rod $25 million per season). Not to mention, folks have to pay to sit on top of the buildings on Waveland and Sheffield Aves. in Chicago.
At the same time, I think there's definitely been a push to get back to the basics. Camden Yards was the beginning of that...now we have these retro-style parks to make the game more intimate...we have one going up on Pattison Ave. In the region, we have a plethora of minor league teams (Camden, Trenton, Wilmington, Reading, A.C., Lakewood), which I think make the game more fun...and are certainly more affordable.
(And that's one of my goals this year...to get to a minor-league game in Trenton.)
And you still have the "good guy" players out there (few and far between as they may be). Look at the home run races in recent years. Barry Bonds is a great player, but has the personality of a jackass. That's why people weren't as interested in last year's record, as they were with Sosa and McGwire.
And the Phils pulled off a hidden-ball trick today, although it was reversed by the umps. You gotta like creativity.
Be optimistic Tony. There's still time to save the season yet.
