No Surprise To See Stars Non-Tendered
ALSO: MLB LOSES YOUNG FANS WITH GAMES THAT START AND END LATE
Pregame Pepper
Did you know ...
Tommy Lasorda made a gutsy call when he sent gimpy Kirk Gibson to the plate as a ninth-inning pinch-hitter in the opener of the 1988 Oakland-Los Angeles World Series. Gibson hit a game-winning, two-run homer against future Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley and thus became the only World Series MVP who had just one at-bat in that series . . .
Lasorda never won a major-league game as a pitcher but he did have one distinction: his roster spot with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers was taken by a bonus baby named Sandy Koufax . . .
Six Degrees of Separation: Pete Rose became the career hits leader on the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb’s last game . . .
Bob Feller attended Cy Young’s funeral but never won a Cy Young Award. The pitching trophy was not offered before 1956, the year Feller retired . . .
If the National League plays without the DH in 2021, look for the Braves to bypass free agent Marcell Ozuna and spend his projected payload on relievers Mark Melancon, Shane Greene, and the just-non-tendered Darren O’Day, free agents vital to Atlanta’s 2020 success. The Braves would love to land lefty closer Brad Hand but fully expect Philly or Washington to grab him on an earlier waiver claim.
Leading Off
No Surprise To See Big Names Non-Tendered By Payroll-Cutting Clubs
By Dan Schlossberg
Former big-leaguer reliever Eric O’Flaherty predicted a few days ago that this winter would be the worst ever for baseball free agents. Judging by the volume of name players non-tendered by their clubs, the one-time Atlanta lefty ain’t just whistling Dixie.
Look at the All-Star team already thrown into the free-agent pool: Ryan Braun, Brett Gardner, Howie Kendrick, Adam Eaton, Eric Thames, Corey Kluber, Anibal Sanchez, J.A. Happ, David Robertson, and Charlie Morton – the only pitcher ever to win four Game 7 assignments. That group includes two Cy Young Awards (Kluber), an MVP (Braun), and an NLCS MVP (Kendrick).
Uncertainty over revenues, caused by the still-spiraling coronavirus pandemic, is pushing the panic button for team treasurers. Even the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers lost $125 million – hard to imagine for a team believed to be rolling in money.
But that’s what happens when a pandemic prohibits spectators at games, forcing teams that draw well to have the most significant losses. With no virus to interfere, the 2019 Dodgers made an estimated $60 million, according to Forbes, on an average ticket price of $43. The team’s average crowd was 49,061 last year – when 81 home games were played – but zero this year.
“We lost as much as any team, or more, because we have so many fans and we take in so much revenue in an ordinary year,” team president Stan Kasten told CNBC. “Most of that we didn’t receive this year.”
The New York Yankees, with an average ticket price of $65, are also in dire straits – explaining the team’s decision to cut ties with Gardner, a lifetime Yankee, after 13 years. His $10 million option would normally be a non-brainer but not under current conditions.
Even more surprising was Cleveland’s decision to place Brad Hand on outright waivers in an effort to avoid a buyout of just $1 million. Somebody is certain to claim the star lefthanded closer off waivers but the point here is that the Indians are desperate to save as many dollars as they can. Look for star shortstop Francisco Lindor to be traded soon – perhaps filling the void created by the free agency of Andreton Simmons with the Los Angeles Angels.
Houston did the same thing with its closer, Roberto Osuna, by placing him on outright waivers. But Osuna’s history of domestic abuse may make it difficult for him to find a new home easily.
Kluber, who pitched just an inning for Texas in an injury-riddled year, should have multiple offers now that he’s a free agent, but age could work against Happ, Sanchez, and Morton, three starters who enjoyed recent success.
With scouts banned from ballparks in 2020, recent success might not mean as much as usual. In addition, the short season (60 games) did not provide the usual barometer of the 162-game marathon.
Newly-freed players will also find there’s not strength in numbers. With so many free agents and non-tenders crowding the field, it will be a buyer’s market – with progress likely to be slow if not glacial. And that will certainly complicate pending negotiations between the owners and players over the Basic Agreement, which expires after the 2021 campaign.
Teams are already selling tickets for spring training and the regular season but fans would be wise to wait until the gates open again.
In this Halloween forecast, that looks like more trick than treat.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of 38 books and national baseball writer for forbes.com. His e.mail is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
By Dan Schlossberg
MLB Turns Off Future Fans With Late Starts Of Big Games
According to the calendar, last night was Mischief Night – the night before Halloween – but baseball fans in the Eastern Time Zone think otherwise.
To them, Mischief Night occurs every time the evil empire of FOX Sports and Major League Baseball insists on starting a World Series game at 8:08 New York time.
That deprived half the country from staying up to see the end – or even reading about it in over their morning coffee a day later.
I can verify from personal experience. There wasn’t a word about the game in either The New York Post or The Bergen Record, the two dailies delivered to my front door, and the only way I got to see the ending was to watch MLB Network and mute Harold Reynolds – a necessary balancing trick.
As petulant Phil Mushnick wrote in his Sunday Post column Oct. 20, “Game 2 of the World Series. Rays 6, Dodgers 4: 12 pitchers, 22 strikeouts despite the DH, five home runs, time of game 3:40. With an 8:10 start on a Wednesday night, half the country knew before it began that they’d never make it to the end. But it’s only the World Series.”
Two games later, the game was better but the situation was worse. Rays 8, Dodgers 7: 25 hits, nine walks, six home runs, one man out at home, the same man caught stealing, and two critical ninth-inning errors that contributed to the outcome. Thanks to the prolonged postseason commercial breaks between innings, game time was a ridiculous 4:10 – long past the bedtimes of viewers even if they didn’t have jobs during the pandemic.
For a sport that desperately needs to court kids – the hoped-for fans of tomorrow – that is a performance that can only be graded pathetic. And it’s all on you, Rob Manfred.
Ever since Bud Selig became Commissioner of Baseball on July 9, 1998, the job has not been about “the best interests of baseball” but about sacrificing tradition for revenue.
Yes, Major League Baseball made $10.7 billion last year, enriching owners and players, but at what cost to the future? Kids these days seem more attracted to other, faster sports whose showcase games are usually presented during daylight hours.
There’s no excuse for MLB to stage weekend World Series games at night – especially when competition for entertainment dollars peaks after dark on Saturdays and Sundays.
Before this year, when all Fall Classic games were squeezed into the Texas bubble of Globe Life Field, it was often too cold or too wet for games to be played in teams’ home parks – especially after dark.
In fact, all World Series games were daylight affairs until 1971, when Charlie Finley finally convinced the Office of the Commissioner to play weekday games at night. His reasoning was sound: people who worked or went to school could watch the games after they got home.
But there is no reason that all World Series games – or playoff games, for that matter – should be night games. Yes, there was a 4:30 ET start in the Braves-Dodgers series but that followed a 9:08 start the night before. The logic of that one has yet to be explained to me, though I suspect FOX refused to cancel some sitcom or its player-heavy pre-game show.
Since so many parks have domes, weekend games should be played during the day when baseball can maximize its audience – and its future audience. I became a fan while watching Game 7 of the 1957 World Series on an old black-and-white Zenith with the sound turned down. My father’s commentary was all I needed. More importantly, I got to see the end of the game – and the World Series.
How many young fans today can say that?
HERE’S THE PITCH Weekend Editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is a former AP sportswriter who is now national baseball writer for forbes.com, senior writer for Latino Sports, and author of 38 baseball books, including The New Baseball Bible. His e.mail is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
The average price of a 2020 World Series ticket was $665.66 . . .
With 21 World Series appearances, the Dodgers rank second in the major leagues to the Yankees, who have been there 40 times . . .
To make the Yankees feel at home during the Subway Series in 2000, team owner George Steinbrenner hired a moving van to bring couches and chairs containing Yankee logos into the Visitors Clubhouse at Shea Stadium . . .
New (and old) White Sox manager Tony La Russa graduated law school in 1978 – before ANY current major-league player was born!