There’s a new meta-argument I’ve been seeing a lot in my e-mail lately: if all franchises were run by Billy Beane, or those of his ilk, wouldn’t market inequities resurface and make success solely about revenue? The case is made with a resigned air, almost to suggest that maybe it’s best if we give up pushing the idea that smart, low-revenue franchises can hold their cards close and still compete with mega-funded teams like the Dodgers. If you look at what the future of enlightened baseball might hold, though, you’ll see it’s a pretty cool place.
There’s a new meta-argument I’ve been seeing a lot in my e-mail lately: if all franchises were run by Billy Beane, or those of his ilk, wouldn’t market inequities resurface and make success solely about revenue? The case is made with a resigned air, almost to suggest that maybe it’s best if we give up…
DISCREPANCY "It’s the same information the Blue Ribbon Committee has worked off of and the players’ association has, everybody has. It’s very disappointing and just plain wrong. It’s one thing to be wrong and it’s another thing to know when you do it that you’re wrong and you just go ahead and do it anyway….
“That’s not like a fight. Mike could have taken his head off and thrown it in for a souvenir.”
My recent articles about competitive balance generated a ton of e-mail in which many people made reasoned, passionate, and most of all intelligent arguments about why competitive balance is so important to them as fans of baseball.
I’ve been convinced. Baseball is entertainment, and what’s more entertaining than parity?
So I solicited the other authors and with their help (particularly Keith Woolner’s), I’ve assembled this list of sweeping reforms that will guarantee the competitive balance I think we all can agree would be best for the game. Now, some of them run into each other a little, but we’re putting these out in the hopes that they’ll generate new ideas and elevate the level of discussion.
My recent articles about competitive balance generated a ton of e-mail in which many people made reasoned, passionate, and most of all intelligent arguments about why competitive balance is so important to them as fans of baseball. I’ve been convinced. Baseball is entertainment, and what’s more entertaining than parity? So I solicited the other authors…
The Seattle Mariners are currently one of baseball’s most successful franchises, playing in a beautiful, expensive stadium they didn’t pay for, and fielding a well-funded team that won 116 games last season. According to Bud Selig’s Guaranteed Accurate 2001 Financial Statement, they paid $18.8 million into the revenue sharing pool, a figure that matched the Florida Marlins’ withdrawal from same.
The Seattle Mariners are currently one of baseball’s most successful franchises, playing in a beautiful, expensive stadium they didn’t pay for, and fielding a well-funded team that won 116 games last season. According to Bud Selig’s Guaranteed Accurate 2001 Financial Statement, they paid $18.8 million into the revenue sharing pool, a figure that matched the…
A recap of the funniest and most poignant quotes in baseball over the course of the last two weeks
NOOOOOOOOOOO "He would always say, `Why are you letting that guy throw the pitch right down the middle?’ It didn’t matter if I got three hits. If I let one go right down the middle, he’d just want to go home. It bugged him the worst." —Nick Johnson, Yankees infielder, on his grandfather "There are…
There is no competitive balance problem in baseball, even in the latest period of Yankee pennants. Supposedly, the Yankees play an entirely different game than other teams. If this is true, we should see this in almost any metric we choose, but it’s not there.
I recently wrote a column in which I explained about how boring I found payroll caps, and how I felt that they forced everything in their leagues to become about the cap. I got a ton of e-mail, much of which read (and I’m omitting some colorful language here) "What about competitive balance? That’s what…
“What we have is a 28-year-old, very athletic guy with two Gold Gloves under his belt. When you’re 28 years old and you’ve played five seasons in the big leagues, most players have shown you what they are.”
–Dave Littlefield, Pirates GM, on signing infielder Pokey Reese
STEERING THE SHIP, ONLY NOT "I know during the controversy in Boston there were people saying that ‘Bud wants his pals in there.’ That wasn’t true. That franchise is so critical. And I knew that in the hands of John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino, you were putting it in the hands of people…