Why Casual Fans Aren't Turned On By Baseball
PLUS: CORPORATE NAMES FOR BALLPARKS GIVE THE SPORT A BLACK EYE
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
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Players elected in their 10th and final appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot: Tim Raines in 2017, Edgar Martinez in 2019 and Larry Walker in 2020 . . .
After Yankee Stadium I opened on April 24, 1923, fans paid a nickel for a subway ride from the Bronx to Manhattan . . .
Rhys Hoskins, the former Philadelphia first baseman, should be a big help to the power-starved Milwaukee Brewers.
Leading Off
Why Baseball Isn't As Exciting ... To The Casual Sports Fan
By Paul Semendinger
I recently had a discussion on why the casual sports fan doesn't find baseball as exciting as the other major sports - most specifically football and basketball. A host of theories were bandied about, but I believe I figured out the answer.
It is actually an easy answer and it explains why, in a fast-paced, what-have-you-done-recently world, baseball doesn't grab the attention of many casual or would-be sports fans as readily as football or basketball.
Many "experts" believe that baseball's problem lies in marketing. But the real reason has little to do with "star power" and the ways the various sports market their biggest players.
Others believe the reason is the pace of the games, and while that is part of the reason, the answer is actually much simpler than that.
The reason baseball is not as attractive to many casual sports fans lies in something much more basic and obvious to the sport itself. There is also nothing the caretakers of the game can do to fix this, because what makes baseball unattractive to many is actually what makes it great.
And the simple answer is failure.
In baseball, the players fail. Often. We all know and appreciate this. It is what makes the game special. We know that a .300 hitter fails seven out of ten times.
(So much of how we understand the world centers on language. Imagine if, instead of calling a player a ".300 Hitter," we called him a "30 percenter." Or, how's this, "The last great hitting season was 1941 when ol' Ted Williams failed just under sixty percent of the time. Truly remarkable!")
But I digress...
When fans tune in to watch a sport, they are, of course, attracted to the game's biggest stars. They want to see the stars showing their greatness, demonstrating why they are so exceptional. If the casual sports fan puts on an NBA game, that fan will see the stars scoring points. If LeBron James is playing, he'll score, time and time and time again. It isn't difficult to see the great players doing great things, it happens all the time in basketball.
If a casual fan tunes into the NFL, that fan is going to most likely focus on the quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, for example. The fan is going to want to see Patrick Mahomes doing something special. And in every game, he does, again - time after time after time. The fan will see that every single offensive play revolves around Mahomes. They'll see him run, they'll see him pass. In most games, probably all, they'll see Patrick Mahomes lead his team to at least one touchdown, probably more.
The cameras are always on the big stars of the other sports and in every single game, without fail, the big stars perform. It's the nature of those games.
But if a casual fan tunes in to watch baseball, most of the time, that fan is going to see the game's biggest stars fail.
If fans tuned in to see Aaron Judge in 2022 with the hopes of seeing him hit a home run, during his record-breaking season, the vast majority of the time, the fan will leave disappointed.
(Some quick math: A baseball season is 162 games. Aaron Judge hit 62 home runs in 2022. One might assume, then, that in 61.7% of the Yankees games played in 2022 that Judge didn't homer, but it's worse than that. In 2022, Judge had eleven multi-homer games. That means, he only homered in 51 different games. As such, in 68.6% of all the games the Yankees played in 2022, Aaron Judge failed to hit a home run.)
In the 2022 NFL season, there wasn't any game that the Chiefs played where they failed to score a touchdown. If fans tuned in to see Patrick Mahomes perform well, they would have seen it.
In the 2022-23, LeBron James' worst game saw him hit five baskets, two were three-pointers. The casual fan saw the star score multiple times.
But, in 2022, a casual fan might have tuned in to a Yankees game on July 27. The Yankees were playing the Mets — a premium game! Aaron Judge was already making headlines because he was having a great season. The fan that day would see Judge strikeout three times in five at-bats. In his other two trips to the plate, he flew out and grounded out. Judge played center field that game and made but one putout. In other words, to the casual fan, he basically did nothing.
Now, one might argue that fans might like watching great pitchers, but great pitchers, even in their best games, don't dominate like the stars in other sports.
In most games, pitchers allow lots of base runners. In most games teams score runs off even the best pitchers. No pitcher had more shutouts in his career than Walter Johnson (110). The other way to see that is that in 556 of his other career starts, Johnson allowed at least a run.
As baseball fans, we understand this. We appreciate it. It's part of the game. These facts are, in large part, why we love the game. But for the casual fans, the ones who the sport might hope to attract, the fact that most often, most of the time, the game's biggest players fail to do anything special, I believe is what makes them less interested in the sport.
Failure is one aspect of baseball that makes it great. It's what makes it special. It's also what makes it less attractive to the casual fan. (But don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a thing about any of that.)
Paul Semendinger runs the Yankees site Start Spreading the News. His newest book, 365.2 Going the Distance - A Runner's Journey, documents his quest to run every single day for a year. That book will be released in March. Paul's other books include From Compton to the Bronx, The Least Among Them, and Scattering the Ashes.
Cleaning Up
Ballpark Naming Rights Was Never A Good Idea
By Dan Schlossberg
The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers had it right: they play in facilities named after their teams.
But not every ballclub is so thoughtful. In fact, some of the ballparks change their names more frequently than Elizabeth Taylor changed husbands.
Consider the poor Chicago White Sox, for example. Comiskey Park, named for the man who owned the team during the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, was replaced in 1991 with a new ballpark right across the street.
Its name? Comiskey Park II.
But that monicker didn’t survive the test of time — mainly because the Chisox, like every other team caught in the runaway salary spiral sparked by free agency, needed another revenue stream in order to meet payroll.
Hello, U.S. Cellular Field and later Guaranteed Rate Park — possibly the two worst ballpark nicknames in the history of corporate naming.
On the plus side, a few of the new names at least sound good. CitiField, the home of the New York Mets, avoids having the word Flushing — location of the park — anywhere near the title. And Great American Ballpark, actually named for Great American Insurance, sounds logical to the naked ear.
But oh, those others!
No major-league park has ever been named after a player, though several, such as Turner Field, Wrigley Field, and Comiskey, have been named after owners.
Same with the late, lamented Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and many more.
In a tribute to common sense, good planning, and quirks of fate, nine parks do not carry corporate names.
Here’s how the 30 existing ballpark names rate, from worst to best:
Guaranteed Rate Park, Chicago — A name no better than U.S. Cellular Field.
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (1966–1998, 2008–2011, 2016–2019, 2020, 2023–present), formerly called Network Associates Coliseum, McAfee Coliseum, Overstock.com Coliseum, Overstock.com Coliseum, O.co Coliseum, and Ring Central Coliseum. With that weighty history of bad names, it’s hard to blame the Oakland Athletics for skipping town.
loanDepot Park, Miami — As bad a name as the team it hosts (Marlins)
Minute Maid Park, Houston — Named for a breakfast drink or a quick cleaning woman?
American Family Field, Milwaukee — Previous name of Miller Park was better
Progressive Field, Cleveland — Is it a political thing or as bad a name as Guardians?
Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia — “The Vet” was a better name but not a better stadium
Oracle Park, San Francisco — Even a true Oracle won’t predict much for the host Giants
Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX — Host of 2024 All-Star Game, not to mention 2023 World Series, is tied for absurdity with previous Globe Life Park
Comerica Park, Detroit — What is Comerica and why does it have tiger stripes?
PNC Park, Pittsburgh — Beautiful, pedestrian-friendly park stuck with bad name
Truist Park, Atlanta — The former Sun Trust Park should be Hank Aaron Stadium
Petco Park, San Diego — Barking up the wrong tree
Coors Field, Denver — Beer should be banned, not promoted
Chase Field, Phoenix — Bank One Ballpark was no better as a ballpark monicker
Angel Stadium, Anaheim — The Big A has had various names, most not good
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City — Aptly called Royals Stadium for its first 20 years, it is now named for an owner nobody remembers
Rogers Centre, Toronto — Originally called Skydome, no reason to change
T-Mobile Park, Seattle — No wonder Mariners are only team with no pennants
Tropicana Field, Tampa — At least Florida and orange juice are synonymous
Target Field, Minneapolis — Short, sweet, easy to remember, but not good
Fenway Park, Boston — History is on the side of this park named for nearby section of city
Busch Stadium, St. Louis — This corporate nickname has lasted forever
Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati — Reads well but doesn’t say who plays there
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore — More than a mouthful, this name usually is shortened to just “Oriole Park” or “Camden Yards”
CitiField, Flushing — Could be spelled “City Field,” it’s named for a bank
Nationals Park, Washington — Feeling persists Nats still hope to sell naming rights
Wrigley Field, Chicago — This North Side living history lesson is a bastion of tradition even though it carries the name of the chewing-gum magnates who once owned it
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles — After lavishing $1 billion on Ohtani and Yamamoto, even the Dodgers might consider selling stadium naming rights, though the park is often called “Chavez Ravine” by fans
Yankee Stadium, Bronx — The third iteration of The House That Ruth Built dates back to 1923 and stands the test of time well
Former AP sportswiter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ has visited each of the active ballparks except Globe Life but will cover the 2024 All-Star Game there. E.mail him via ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
“I tried to put together the best coaching staff of teachers I possibly could.”
— New Angels manager Ron Washington after hiring four black coaches
International games on the 2024 schedule include Dodgers-Padres in South Korea March 20-21; Astros-Rockies in Mexico City April 27-28; and Mets-Phillies in London in June . . .
Even though he had 226 fewer plate appearances than Willie Mays from 1963-68, Harmon Killebrew hit just as many home runs (an MLB-best 219) . . .
Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are following in the footsteps of former Dodgers Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda, and Kenta Maeda, all acquired from the Japanese majors.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.