Tag Archives: MLB

30 Teams, 30 Posts (2015): The Seattle Mariners could save the baseball fan experience

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. This is the fourth post of the series- look here for the rest. Today, I look at how the Mariners may be the team to introduce a new generation of the American baseball fan experience.

Not too long ago, I lamented the state of baseball fans over at Hall of Very Good (which is somewhat recycled in this post). To make a long story short: American baseball fans are horrible when it comes to cheering at ballgames. With a few exceptions, the only cheers that happen are those prompted by the scoreboard or during or after plays. It’s a far cry from the days when Boston fans taunted Honus Wagner with rewritten songs, Brooklyn fans had a small amateur band of musicians and Wild Bill Hagy led the “Roar from 34” in Baltimore, and it is far more sedate than the madhouse atmospheres in Japan or the Caribbean.

However, there is a place where I believe American baseball fandom could make a return to the raucous years of old: Seattle.

Why Seattle?

A few reasons:

1) It’s known to be very loud and supportive of it’s other sports teams.

Seattle is famous for how much it supports it’s teams. The “12th Man” of the Seahawks is famous for how loud it can get, at times even registering on the Richter scale. Their soccer team, the Sounders, were featured on Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel due to how they have been able to replicate the European soccer crowd environment. The loss of the Sonics is a open wound that more was the result of corporate greed than any lack of support. Therefore, the residents of the Pacific Northwest know how to get loud and organized in support of their teams and can be ridiculously devoted to them.

2) It has deep Japanese connections

The Mariners are one of the most popular MLB teams in Japan, a result of the many Japanese imports who have come to Seattle, as well as Seattle’s large Asian-American population. Nintendo, a Japanese company, owns the Mariners. Is it really that hard to imagine that perhaps the Mariners would have the inspiration and the means to form some Japan-style cheering sections, perhaps throw in some ouendan?

3) The King’s Court provides a template/Jumping Point

A king reigns in Seattle. He is King Felix of the House Fernandez, First of His Name. And when he’s on the mound, the Mariners have a section devoted entirely to them, and it looks like this:

Look at that and tell me that wouldn’t make an excellent jumping-off point for forming Japan or Europe-style fan sections with chants and waving flags and all of that! You can’t, because it’d make a perfect jumping-off point for forming a Japanese or European-style fan section!

4) The Mariners are going to return to the postseason sooner rather than later.

It feels like, during the postseason, the fans who had to survive long droughts are wilder. In 2012, Baltimore was raucous while the Bronx was a morgue. Pittsburgh waited years to return to the playoffs and turned PNC Park into a madhouse. Atlanta was in the postseason for so many years that they ended up having trouble selling tickets to NLDS games.

The Mariners haven’t made the postseason since 2001. Guess what type of crowd they’ll bring when they make the playoffs next? The answer: a lot closer to the Baltimore or Pittsburgh experience. It’ll be loud. Very loud. And it is then, perhaps, that it will happen: Seattle will bring a new evolution of the baseball fan experience. And then, the Baseball Gods willing, nothing will be the same again.

 

 

30 Teams, 30 Posts (2015): Orbit of the Astros

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. This is the third post of the series- look here for the rest. Today, I look at the one of the great rising stars of the Houston Astros- their mascot, Orbit.

The Astros are going to be something. Sooner than you think, they will have one of those “What The Heck” seasons, bursting onto the scene and into the playoffs like the Rays, Pirates and Royals of past years. They will revive pro baseball on the Gulf Coast of Texas, and teach everyone the true meaning of the unit of measurement known as the Altuve.

But until then, the Astros can at least rest easy knowing that they have one of the rising stars of the MLB Mascot Circuit- Orbit.

Photo by Matthew Britt. Used under Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)

Yes, Orbit, the Alien Muppet… thing. Once the mascot of the Astros from 1990 to 1999, he returned in 2012 by popular demand. And, since then, he has made his return worth it, using puns, slapstick, dancing, and mock-feuds. It is no coincidence that Orbit was brought along with the MLB All-Star Team to Japan for a recent tour, considering how great he was in 2014? No wonder, as our good friend Michael Clair once pointed out, that Astro won the Mascot of the Year Award.

Go below the jump for some thoughts and observations about some of Orbit’s highlights:

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30 Teams, 30 Posts (2015): It’s not an even year, so why bother with writing something about the Giants?

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. This is the second post of the series- look here for the rest. Today, a tongue-in-cheek post about the San Francisco Giants.

The San Francisco Giants have won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

They did not win the World Series in 2011 or 2013. In fact, they didn’t even make the playoffs.

So, despite the small sample size of that trend, it’s obvious that the Giants will not make the playoffs this year. Sure, they still have a good rotation, a very strong bullpen, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Bruce Bochy, and the like, but they also no longer have Pablo Sandoval. Michael Morse is gone too, which removes a power threat.

And, again, it really doesn’t matter, since it’s an odd year, not an even year. They could have Willie Mays and Barry Bonds available in the outfield, Juan Marichal in the rotation and Willie McCovey at first, and they still wouldn’t be making the playoffs this season. So, really, why even bother previewing them? Go eat some cookies or play video games or something. Maybe read a good book.

So, yeah, maybe the Giants will be worth writing about next year, when they are next scheduled to win the World Series. Until then, though, what they do will probably just be kind of meh.

30 Teams, 30 Posts (2015): The Philadelphia Phillies are a pit of doom and despair

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. This is the first post of the series.

Let’s start this off with the most depressing of all Major League Baseball teams: The Philadelphia Phillies. After all, there is nothing more depressing than seeing something that was once great, only to have fallen into horrible disrepair and general despair.

And, man, that totally fits the Phillies. It was less than seven years ago that the Phillies won the World Series, less than six years since they lost to the Yankees in the World Series, and less than four years since the grand rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by the Cardinals, with Ryan Howard injuring himself on the final play of the series.

It’s been all downhill from there. And now, they are, without question, the most hopeless of all teams in Major League Baseball. Some teams like the Twins may well end up being worse than the Phillies in the standings, but they have better prospects for the future and better people at the helm. The Phillies, meanwhile, have… Ruben Amaro Jr.

Ruben Amaro has become something of a bogey-man in baseball internet circles. It is a scary place to be in, where Dusty Baker stalks young pitchers by night attempting to ruin their arms and Joe West purposely gets calls wrong just to piss us all off.

The internet’s characterization of Amaro can perhaps best be described as seeing him as Nero, fiddling while Rome burns. And, to a certain extent, there is some truth to that. The results of the Phillies have to a certain extent gotten worse with every passing season since he took over after the 2008 season, and the playoff appearances early in Amaro’s tenure can more be drawn up to the after-effects of Pat Gillick‘s work. He was the one who gave Ryan Howard a 5-year extension that was recently named the 7th-worst in baseball, and they remain one of the few- perhaps the only– team to not hold statistical analysis in a high regard (perhaps that is why he is known to overvalue the players he does have). Last year, I attended a Moneyball screening with a post-show discussion on statistics by FanGraphs editor/writer Dave Cameron. He said that the Phillies have one statistical analyst, and that Major League Baseball more-or-less may have forced them to take it.

I think he was only half-joking.

And so, as a result of all of this, the Phillies enter this spring training as one of the few teams that can truly be said to not have any chance. Jimmy Rollins is now gone to Los Angeles, and Amaro is still probably trying (perhaps in vain, given how much he wants for them) to get rid of Hamels and Howard. Oh, and did I mention that Amaro has literally said that the team would be better off without Howard? Because he totally did.

No wonder some are saying this might be one of the most awkward spring trainings in the team’s history.

Now, to be fair, it isn’t all bad for Philadelphia. They do still have some prospects left, including young SS J.P. Crawford, who is MLB.com’s 21st best prospect, #37 prospect Aaron Nola, a RHP who made it as high as AA last season, and #55 prospect Maikel Franco, a power-hitting corner-infielder who made his debut in the bigs as a September call-up.

They won’t nearly be enough to turn around the Phillies anytime soon however (Keith Law recently named the Phillies the 25th best farm system in baseball), and so, the team that only a few years ago was a perpetual contender for the World Series crown is currently in a holding pattern of horribleness, filled with has-beens, never-will-bes, and players who may just be a year or two away from falling into one of those categories. It somewhat reminds me of the Orioles of the mid-to-late 1990s, who went from two straight ALCS in 1996 and 1997 to a team not unlike the Phillies of today.

The Orioles didn’t return to the playoffs until 2012. It’s not that out of the realm of possibility that the Phillies could be facing a similar wait.

Coming this weekend: The start of 30 Teams, 30 Posts

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Beginning this weekend, I begin my previews of the 2015 MLB Season!

Well, sort of. You see, they won’t be true previews. I’m not going to be making any true predictions (yet) on how the season will go down. Instead, for each team, I’ll just write my thoughts about them. Maybe it will end up a preview, maybe it will end up a reflection on a specific player, maybe it could be a wild tangent about the club’s theme song or mascots. Anything is possible.

So keep an eye open, because starting this weekend…. 30 Teams, 30 Posts.

For Super Bowl Weekend: “Famous For Something Else” Football Players

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Here are the previous “Famous For Something Else” installments about players who dabbled in baseball but who are more famous for playing (or coaching) football:

Urban Meyer

Herman Wedemeyer (also an actor)

Ernie Nevers

Russell Wilson

Vic Janowicz

Jim Thorpe (also, perhaps most famously, an Olympian)

George Halas

Josh Booty

John Lynch

John Elway

Ricky Williams

 

There are, of course, still others who have played both baseball and football, and they will be covered in future “Famous For Something Else” installments!

 

 

Baseball Continuum Continuucast 3: Scherzer, Around the Continuum, and What’s Ahead

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Click above for the latest Baseball Continuum Continuucast, or press here to download it.

In this edition of the Continuucast…

Dan does a much better job this time around as he talks about Max Scherzer’s signing, going-ons in Global Baseball (including the Premiere 12 tournament being announced), and also talks about Ichiro Suzuki. Finally, he announces he’ll finally get these on iTunes. Yeah!

Music/Sounds Featured:

 

“The National Game” by John Phillip Sousa

 

“Ichiro’s Theme” by Ben Gibbard

 

“Ichiro Goes To The Moon” by The Baseball Project

 

“Flight of the Bumblebee” (AKA The Green Hornet Theme) by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov performed by the US Army Band (special “Bizarre Baseball Culture” remix by Dan Glickman featuring the Pablo Sanchez Theme and clips from previous and future Bizarre Baseball Culture pieces)

 

All sound and music used is either public domain or is a short snippet that falls under fair use.

 

And, keep an eye on iTunes, as sometime within the next week the Continuucast will be on iTunes!

 

Thanks!

Continuucast 2: Electric Boogaloo (AKA: “That Could Have Gone Better”)

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Dan Glickman’s second foray into podcasting turns into a disaster during the second segment as he tries to tie together pitch clocks, Rob Manfred’s “One Baseball” idea and the Anti-Trust Exemption into something coherent but finds that what sounds good in his head is kind of a bit of rambling when he speaks it. He totally is going to have to write down stuff more in the future, and also expand upon what he was TRYING to say in a blog post.

Also, he said he’d discuss the 2016 All-Star Game being rewarded to San Diego, and ended up not. What a doofus.

Oh well, better luck next time, Dan!

The download link can be found here. The Continuucast will arrive on iTunes and similar services in the near future.

Music/Sounds Featured:

“The National Game” by John Phillip Sousa

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas, as performed by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1941

“The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin

“Entry of the Gladiators” (AKA The Circus Clown music) by Julius Fucik

All sound and music used is either public domain or falls under fair use.

Baseball Continuum Continuucast 1: Intro, News and Thoughts, Bizarre Baseball Culture, and a short tribute to Justin Huber

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The first Baseball Continuum Continuucast, presented by Dan Glickman. In this episode, you finally hear the voice behind the Baseball Continuum blog as he boldly tries to make a podcast despite having a voice that was made for the written word. Hear his thoughts on the Cubs and the Hall of Fame, get updated on what’s going on outside of North America and MLB as he takes a look “Around the Continuum”, learn about the “Bizarre Baseball Culture” that Dan has never been able to do, and hear a short tribute to Justin Huber.

The podcast can be heard using the player above, or can be downloaded from here. You may need to click “Save Link As…” I am currently working on getting it up on iTunes and similar services.

Music/Sounds Featured:

“The National Game” by John Phillip Sousa

“Chicago” by the Paul Elkins Orchestra

“Flight of the Bumblebee” (AKA The Green Hornet Theme) by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov performed by the US Army Band (special “Bizarre Baseball Culture” remix by Dan Glickman featuring the Pablo Sanchez Theme and clips from previous and future Bizarre Baseball Culture pieces)

“News Intro” by Maximilien

“Waltzing Matilda”, written by Banjo Paterson, tune by CambridgeBayWeather on Wikipedia

“Advance Australia Fair” instrumental written by Peter Dodds McCormick and performed by the US Navy Band

All sound and music used is either public domain or falls under fair use.

Best of 2014- Future Possibilities for International Games

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Originally published on July 27, 2014.

At the start of the season, regular season games were held in Sydney, Australia.* Whether you like it or not, it was not the first and won’t be the last time that MLB opened overseas. But, where will MLB go next? Here’s an overview of possibilities:

 

* This was partly written immediately following those games, but fell by the wayside until now, so here it is.

A Return to the Tokyo Dome

Used under Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en), taken by “DX Broadrec”.

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Baseball Pedigree: Has hosted baseball since it opened in 1988, home of the Yomiuri Giants, hosted WBC games in 2006, 2009 and 2013, hosted MLB season-opener games in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. Japan is one of the preeminent baseball nations on Earth and host to the world’s 2nd most prominent baseball league.

Capacity: Between 42,000 and 55,000 (depending on configuration)

Pros: Japan is baseball-mad, has shown it can pack the stadium for MLB games, and the Tokyo Dome is highly-familiar to MLB officials and some players thanks to it’s many previous MLB-related events. Being a dome makes weather considerations non-existent, and Tokyo’s status as one of the world’s greatest cities allows for plenty for players to do when not playing.

Cons: It’s been done before several times, it’s a type of stadium that has been phased out of MLB, and, while this isn’t much of a factor that MLB cares about much, there is the time difference issue, with night games in Tokyo being early morning games in the Eastern USA and very, very, very early morning games in the western part of the USA.

Likelihood of return: It’s inevitable that MLB will return to Japan again sometime in the future, the question is whether the Tokyo Dome is the place it will happen. More-than-likely yes, but I’ll be looking at other possible Japanese sites later on.

(HIT THE JUMP FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE)

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