Brett Jackson had a pair of hits and stole his 3rd base of the year and Anthony Rizzo continues to mash AAA pitching to the tune of .380 as the Iowa Cubs lost 2-6. It might be time for Jay Jackson to say goodbye as he is just terrible. Yesterday also marked the debut of Frank Batista in AAA. Batista started the year in AA and did well and he struck out 2 in 2 IP last night. Seems like the Cubs like this guy alot based on a sub 10 IP sample.
We should just stop talking about AA. The only player left who is worth a shit is a RP.
AGGRESSIVE BASERUNNING! is spreading. Last night Daytona had 3 guys caught stealing. Spellcheck Jr now has as many CS as SB's. Knuckleballer Joe Zeller had a decent 4 inning appearance and tonight Hayden Simspon pitches after getting a few days extra rest after his last debacle.
Taiwan Easterling hit a triple which drew a stern rebuke from the Chinese Embassy. Tonight the Cubs continue their annual game of Is He a Starter or RP? by switching Kyle(r) Burke from the pen to start the game. Because nothing is better for young arms than to keep doing this over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over
Peoria Chiefs FB just said they added Gerardo Concepcion to their roster.
Nice snark, btw.
I drank alot of RC Cola as a kid in NC
This amuses me.
Cherry RC is quite tasty as well. Just a public service announcement for ya’ll.
I propose this as your next sponsor:
Now that Concepcion has a team, any word on the enigma that is Jorge Soler? I’m assuming he still isn’t a free agent, but haven’t heard a lot on him lately. Then again, I live in a cave.
@ mikeakaleroy:
This might be the greatest thing to every happen to RC Cola. Tell me more.
I’ve only seen the regular stuff in stores and did not know that a cherry flavor existed. I am excited.
@ Rice Cube:
Here you go! It is quite tasty.
http://www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com/brands/rc-cola/
@ mikeakaleroy:
I didn’t know Dr. Pepper made RC. The cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper is awesome too.
I have learned something new today.
Who is spellcheck jr?
@ josh:
Szczur
@ Rice Cube:
They didn’t use to, must have bought them in recent years. RC was the first coke in a can according to wikipedia.
RC Cola will also now be the only cola-flavored soft drink available at Bears games. Along with Dr. Pepper and 7-up.
Who fears to speak of Easter Week?
@ WenningtonsGorillaCock:
I think I prefer that to the Pepsi products that are available in Cubs games.
But I will always be a Coke fiend.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2012.shtml
So what factors (other than the teams sucking) are suppressing offense this first month of the season? I was fairly confident the Cubs could muster 70 runs in April but the Pirates have barely scored two runs a game. I didn’t think that was possible. I assume it’ll equalize over the course of the season but what an epic fail.
@ Rice Cube:
I prefer Pepsi to Coke, but I mostly drink Coke Zero. Despite the commercials, Coke Zero does not taste like Coke (it’s better).
@ WenningtonsGorillaCock:
Have you ever tried the Mexican Coke with pure cane sugar? It’s more expensive but it’s so much better than regular Coke. There’s only so much high-fructose corn syrup one can stomach.
I’m not a fan of Pepsi. If I drink a non-diet cola it’s going to be RC, but I don’t drink them very often. I mostly drink water and tea, but enjoy the occasional Diet Mountain Dew. I don’t think I could ever turn down freshly squeezed orange juice. (dying laughing)
I try to avoid pop, but I like both Coke and Diet Coke, and usually drink the latter. I do like Coke Zero too, but I prefer to Diet Coke to it still. I’m not an anti-Pepsi person but will prefer Coke.
@ mb21:
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think I remember Wali said he does.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/24/the-royals-have-dumped-a-steaming-pile-of-crap-on-the-curb/
With a link to Rany’s blog about how he’s not happy with the Royals.
@ GBTS:
What did I do?
@ Rice Cube:
Rany is not a happy panda.
Rogers said this:
@ Mish:
I like that it took one win for Theo to become The Wizard of Oz again.
@ Mish:
Phil Rogers is the dumb version of MGL.
@ Rice Cube:
Mexican Coke rocks. I don’t drink soda very often (it’s pretty much just water, coffee, and beer) but I usually pick up a bottle or two at the grocery store if I know I’m going to be doing stuff outside. Having it in just about all the grocery stores is one perk of living here.
Usually the only soda I drink is root beer, and even then not that often. Diet sodas are anathema. My in-laws are all diet coke fiends and my wife always gets re-hooked on it when we visit.
Mish wrote:
@ Berselius:
If you’re near a Costco you should check and see if they carry it in bulk. 24-pack of 20-oz bottles for $19 or so.
Berselius wrote:
Mexican coke rocks are why the cartel is killing kids in Mexico. There’s a thread in the forum about this:
http://www.obstructedview.net/forum.html?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=46
I prefer water/tea/beer myself, but if I need caffeine (like if I’m driving on a road trip) then I drink Coke Zero Cherry or Diet Dr. Pepper
I’ve had Colombian Coke.
Sounds like that ridiculous Royals ranking is mostly based on 3 weeks worth of UZR, despite the fact that they have a below average DER (dying laughing)
(dying laughing), and Cameron is defending the ranking on FG
@ Berselius:
Seriously? This should be used as a teaching moment. That ranking was fucking absurd. The entire thing was. I liked what the guy said about the Cubs. Volstad and F7 have poor ERA’s but they should be good the rest of the year because of some shit that means very little to this point in the season.
@ Berselius:
Shit like this certainly doesn’t help the sabermetric movement.
“Hey, you know the worst team in baseball? Better than the Tigers, for reasons you don’t understand.”
@ Berselius:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/evaluating-the-royals/
@ Berselius:
(dying laughing)
@ Berselius:
It’s pretty wearying how dogmatic the all too many of the FG and BPro folks have become.
THIS. Exact same thing as the SIERA silliness a few months back.
This I did not know. Or it happened in the blink of an eye and nobody noticed.
@ Rice Cube:
Nice to see Pittsburgh dodge a bullet for once.
@ Rice Cube:
@ GBTS:
As a Royals fan, I approve this message. (dying laughing) (dying laughing) (dying laughing)
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
A Royals fan AND a Cubs fan? How do you sleep at night in October with all that excitement?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I second your THIS.
@ josh:
It’s a good thing I follow EPL and NFL with greater fervor. (dying laughing)
Pitching coach Don Cooper on Humber:
Something about the way people talk about a pitcher’s “stuff” all the time always skeeves me out a little.
No baseball at all till tonight? Day: ruined.
Too much Hope Monster.
Will someone please start #7mlb if it hasn’t been started already?
The best part is that when the Cubs acquired him from SD, he was a OF. (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
Hendry said he didn’t want to make any deals at the deadline because it was the next GM’s responsibility. Hendry already knew he had been fired so in my opinion he did the right thing. No reason for him to be making those kinds of decisions. Besides, it’s not like keeping Soto has set the Cubs back several years. He’ll hit and when he does there will be plenty of interest. And when the Cubs trade him they’ll be much worse behind the plate than they have been.
Does anybody have MLB the Show 12′? Is it me or is it impossible to rip a double down the line or hit the ball in the gaps?
Jarritos!
@ mb21:
Indeed, I understood Hendry’s position, I was just surprised that this potential Pittsburgh trade came up because I hadn’t seen anything on the interwebs about it except from Levine.
@ josh:
Would you rather they talk about his “junk”? (dying laughing)
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
I meant to say that earlier, but forgot. It’s more like a game of “is he a RP, SP or position player?” If there was only a way to tell.
@ Rice Cube:
I don’t believe for one fucking second a trade was in place. Levine is full of shit.
@ mb21:
Didn’t Randy Bush make some other deadline deal last year? I’m blanking on who it was.
@ Berselius:
I think there was an insignificant trade, but I can’t remember. The 2011 season seems like it happened in the 80s.
They traded Fukudome for Abner Abreu and Carlton Smith. Haven’t heard of either of them since the trade, but that’s not surprising.
Looks like Carlton Smith may have been released. He was at AAA last season and hasn’t played this year. Abreu hasn’t played this year either and he was in high A last year. That’s just the type of players you get for someone who has no value (see Byrd, Marlon).
mb21 wrote:
I wouldn’t think we would get a blue-chipper or anything. But paying all of Byrd’s salary should get us a low-level prospect that has decent upside. I have a hard time believing we pay his salary and we get a below replacement level RP and the PTBNL is a Michael-Brenly-type prospect (dying laughing).
@ jtsunami:
Michael Brenly could be an All Star catcher. You Never Know.
@ jtsunami:
That’s a good point. If we assume Byrd is as good as he’s projected (league average in the NL). That’s roughly 2 WAR per 700 PA in the NL and 1.5 in the AL. Say he’s worth 1.25 WAR the rest of the way. That’s roughly $6 million in value. That’s what he’s owed the rest of the way so the Cubs should get something. According to this they should get a grade b hitter or pitcher: http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/3/3/777412/al-west-farm-system-values
This assumes he’s as good as his projections. It sees most people don’t think that’s true. How much worse? I have no idea. I think he’s the same player. I just don’t see any reason to adjust expectations on him based on a few weeks.
Prior to last season I’d have said Brenly isn’t all that bad a prospect, but then he had a ridiculously bad season last year: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=sa455866&position=C
http://deadspin.com/5904716/more-interesting-than-watching-a-royals-game-from-behind-home-plate-books?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Wow. He could’ve saved however much a home plate seat is and sat on a more comfortable chair at home.
@ mb21:
I’m not in a hurry to get rid of Soto. I like watching him play. But if they get a good offer, I understand taking it at this point. I’m not getting attached to any player from the Cubs for a while.
Late to the party. Cheerwine. Hands down the best pop out there. You didn’t drink this in NC, Nate? @ Nate:
@ mobile skip:
Cheerwine is great. I was shocked when I saw it being sold in WI a few years ago, even more strangely I only ever saw it in gas stations.
@ Berselius:
If he’s transformed, a new sample space has been inaugurated, so we can safely disregard all prior stats at this point.
@ Berselius:
Wow. I’ve never seen Cheerwine outside Central NC.
Rankings at SI: Crap. Houston at 16 and Balt at 19. 16 suggests that Houston ought to be equal to a replacement team right? NOT
Note to SI: getting the Rangers and Cubs correct in a ranking only means that 2011 Adam Dunn hits better than you.
Q for all you computer-savvy baseball OVblog people…
MLB.com videos used to have an embed button that you could use to paste a HTML code into a blog so that the video could just play in the blog body. That button is no longer there, but I recall one of your previous articles had an embedeed video. How’d you do it?
@ Rice Cube:
I think that was from before they got rid of that button.
@ Berselius:
I wonder if there’s a way to reverse-engineer the code such that you can embed it anyway. MLB is no fun sometimes.
@ mobile skip:
Drank a ton of it as a kid in NC. Sun Drop too. Coke is too sweet for me now; i stick to water coffee and booze
@ Rice Cube:
It’s pretty amazing to consider the great lengths to which they go, likely at some expense, to prevent their customers from enjoying their product.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I’m still laughing at the ridiculous gif policy that was recently announced.
@ Berselius:
Yeah, that’s so unenforceable and dumb…Selig’s tenure as commish in a nutshell: inept, reactionary policies that will only cost them money and fans in the long run.
Re: the stupid gif policy:
I guess Selig reads every word.
@ Nate:
What booze would/did you mix with Cheerwine? I imagine almost anything would make it taste like Robitussin.
If I could consistently get unsweetened tea in NC and PR, I probably wouldn’t drink pop at all.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
@ Berselius:
(dying laughing) kudos to colin for never missing an opportunity to shit all over his (less competent) competitors
@ GW:
He seems to take special glee in skewering FG.
And truth be told, they deserve it.
He finally posted a new one…
http://dontevenreply.com/view.php?post=110
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
I’m not a big fan of MLB’s business practices in general under Selig (mostly over pushes for public stadia) but it’s not driving many fans or money away (just look at the $$ they’re getting from the RSNs). We can complain about the petty stuff but MLBAM has been insanely profitable and forward looking for MLB relative to all the other sports leagues. For every fan they annoy with this gif crap there’s a thousand people who are glad to have access to mlb.tv, even with their archaic and idiotic blackout structure.
Can’t wait to see if Mather is in the lineup again today (dying laughing)
@ Berselius:
Right, that’s why I said long-term. It’s just going to keep costing them more money to keep up all these security measures and restrictions and such. And more and more people are going to get weary of it.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I just don’t think enough people give a shit. It’s amusingly petty, but not going to stop anyone from consuming baseball.
@ Berselius:
Also, a bonus gem from Muskat:
@ Berselius:
It is stopping people from consuming it already. Me, for one. I can’t afford any of the shit from MLB.tv, and now I can’t even catch a radio broadcast, and am confined to the scraps of highlights they throw out. It’s only going to become a bigger problem, and people aren’t going to fork over the money in the amounts MLB wants forever.
http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/4/24/2971680/royals-power-rankings-si-com
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Their point is that they want you to watch the highlights on their site instead of here. It’s not like you have to pay to see those highlights. I don’t find it that unreasonable, and watched plenty of them in years that I didn’t have mlb.tv. The gif stuff is pretty laughable though.
@ Berselius:
But their site is clunky and inconvenient, and they don’t even put up complete highlights. At least EPL does stuff like BBC Match of the Day and lets Sky do Sky Sunday and such. MLB just keeps ratcheting up their little scheme. I think it won’t last 5 years.
I agree with MO. Highlights are nothing but advertisements for their product. By restricting those, they will do fine in squeezing their existing fanbase, but not so much in spreading to younger viewers.
someone at the nba understands this, even if stern does not.
@ GW:
Right. People who have MLB.tv will probably keep it. A few might drop off. But they aren’t growing their fanbase with shit like this. The NHL did the same thing.
@ GW:
That someone needs to talk to some folks at the NFL, then.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think they’ve been doing one free mlb.tv game a day, at least for the month of april. And mlb network is on a lot of cable carriers.
I’m just remembering how much better all of this video stuff is now compared to ~10 years ago and am lucky to have what we have (dying laughing).
I suspect the gif/pfx stuff is more due to the fact the fact that, from what I’ve seen, 98% or so is to bitch about umpires or make fun of misplays.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I thought the NHL’s problem (well, one of hundreds) was that no one could watch their games due to shitty media negotiations. Apples and Oranges if we’re comparing to MLB restricting highlights to its own site.
Seeing as I couldn’t find an embeddable video of Longoria’s game 162 walkoff for Rays opening day, I’m firmly with GW and MO. (dying laughing)
@ Berselius:
The free game is a smart move. But MLBN is just another iteration of the money grab. Attendance is already down (I know it’s up so far this season, but that’s after 3 years of decline), because cost are prohibitive there, and I’m not sure a lot of those people are going to be willingly herded to MLB.com to do all their baseball viewing. It’s a business move that will garner them short-term profits, but 5-10 years down the road, I think MLB is going to be dealing with a serious decline in the amount of people willing to hand them money.
@ Berselius:
The last thing on MLBs mind should be how I choose to consume their product. That’s like Hershey’s refusing to sell people chocolate bars because they melt them in coffee instead of eating them piece-by-piece.
@ Berselius:
No, NHL moved all their programming to cable and tried to control how and where fans viewed the game. They lost everyone but the die-hards, and are only just now recovering.
@ Berselius:
I used to watch the NHL all the time when they were on ESPN and ESPN2, but then they moved to VS for whatever reason and I had no access to that channel with my cable package, so there was a period of about five years where I basically watched nothing except for the Stanley Cup Finals games that were on NBC. Ridiculous decision on their part. Not sure if that’s what you were referring to.
@ Rice Cube:
That’s it. They also took games of local networks, i.e. WGN. Only a matter of time before MLB does the same thing.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think MLB is going to be doing just fine in 5-10 years.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
If it costs them potential revenue, it should.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
That’s what I was trying to say (dying laughing). No one could find the games because of the cable move to some relatively obscure channel at the time after they got frozen out from, IIRC, NBC and/or ESPN
Narveson ——–> donezo for the season
@ Berselius:
We’ll see. The NFL, NBA, and hell, even the MLS, already have a more accessible product. MLB is being completely backwards in their approach (although the NFL seems to be trending backasswardsly under Der Kommissionar).
@ Berselius:
That sucks.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
How are the other products so much more accessible?
The NFL has even more leverage due to the scarcity of its games. You’re fucked if you live out of market and don’t have directTV. Radio streams cost $$ from them now too.
@ Berselius:
it’s not just about the current bottomline. in terms of profits, i think they will be just fine in 5-10 years, as well. that’s not really the question, though. it’s all opportunity costs at the margins. the biggest knock on the mlb audience is that they are old. they are doing very little to adapt to that right now.
there are hundreds of people that would love to spend their own free time making custom advertisements for their product and force it into the faces of the casual internet user. in their wisdom, mlb has said, nah, we’re good, we’ll just squeeze our existing customers dry.
@ Berselius:
Readily available highlights, games televised on multiple networks on a regular basis, better websites with more readily available content, and for MLS and NBA, lots of games televised on local channels. And MLS and NBA at least are moving towards more free content, not away from it
@ GW:
Exactly. They’re focused on extracting maximum profits from the fans they have now and almost completely ignoring the fans they need to be gaining, i.e. the way the Cubs were run for most of the 80′s and 90′s (dying laughing)
I can watch an NFL game on NBC, FOX, ESPN, ESPN3, and, Ticket, NFLN. I can watch NBA on ABC, ESPN, ESPN 3, TNT, the local FOX affiliate and League Pass. I can watch MLS (!!!) on local cable, and the local FOX, on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN 3, FSC, and FSC+. I can watch MLB on some local networks, FOX, ESPN, ESPN3, Extra Innings, and MLBN.
try a quick experiment. see how long it takes you to find a blake griffin dunk montage, and then try to find a matt kemp home run montage.
It’s easier for me to watch golf than it is to watch baseball. If I was Selig, I’d be trying to remedy that.
@ Berselius:
Yeah, I’m not happy about or encouraged by the way the NFL is trending. The owners have become incredibly short-sighted and I fear they will soon kill the golden goose, i.e. more games on non-basic cable.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/24/dontrelle-willis-is-filing-a-grievance-against-the-orioles/
Liriano ————–> being skipped this week
Phillies ————-> lost Pence and Howard for at least a week
Rice Cube wrote:
It’s still there. They didn’t change anything with regards to embedding content. The issue is that the videos aren’t available to be immediately embedded except on a rare occasion. Here’s a video from 2009 that has the embed button: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8140947&c_id=mlb
@ Berselius:
It reminds me of a comment that was in, I think, the first episode of Ken Burns’ Baseball where the narrator said baseball is one of the most conservative sports in the world, but many times they are ahead of the others. Their video policy is an example of them being conservative and MLBAM is an example of them being ahead of the others.
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
I don’t see that happening. MLB’s blackout restrictions barely even affect me. There are literally 2 or 3 games each year I’m bummed that I can’t watch. I just don’t care enough about that to get even the least bit upset. I spend less than 30 minutes each year being upset at MLB’s blackout policy. I realize the number of games may be higher for others, but I’m not them and it just doesn’t affect me.
As annoying as their video and new gif policy is, I don’t really care either. I rarely embed videos and I’m one of the few fans who blogs about baseball. I could probably count on both hands the number of times I’ve embedded a video in articles I’ve written. I’ve never made a gif so although that policy is retarded it will never affect me.
@ mb21:
It’s only going to get more restrictive. If it doesn’t affect you now, it will soon.
mb21 wrote:
As local Gif Secretary, I say you’re either with us or against us.
@ GBTS:
Solidarity! (dying laughing)
Maybe now we know why the Cubs beat guys are so slow with the info. They have to wait a couple of days until MLB makes the video available.
@ mb21:
Shut Mish right up.
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
I don’t see that happening. If I can watch fewer games I have less incentive to buy MLB Extra Innings.
I don’t watch the NFL, but last year I was looking to see if the Raiders were televised. I think they were 3 or 4 times. Basically 25% of their games were on here. I could have paid a million dollars to get Sunday Ticket and I’d have gotten all of the games. I get 98% of the Cubs games and pay half as much as I’d have to pay to get Sunday Ticket. If I don’t want to pay for that I get about 60 games on WGN or a higher percentage of games than the Raiders were televised last year. For people who don’t want to get MLBEI or MLB.tv there’s an issue, but it’s just not one I’m concerned about. If it starts to affect me maybe I’ll care. This just isn’t a fight worth fighting for me.
MLB isn’t growing their audience here in the US. They’re trying to create a global market for MLB and they’ve done pretty well at that.
@ mb21:
I guess b was right. (dying laughing)
Seriously, though, if you like watching baseball, do not move to the PacNW. It’s not easy to find, and no one here gives a fuck about it.
@ GBTS:
I don’t know how old a video has to be before it can be embedded, but they do allow it.
I’m not saying there isn’t more MLB could do. I’m just saying there’s not more they could do to appease me.
@ mb21:
Well clearly I’m an asshole. (dying laughing)
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I remember when I moved to Portland my cable provider didn’t have WGN. That was unbelievable. There was this bar down the road that did so I spent way too much time there watching the Cubs. (dying laughing)
mb21 wrote:
but with bud as nothing more than a pawn for the owners, and the rsn fees skyrocketing, i wouldn’t be surprised.
we’d be remiss not to mention the plight of fans in iowa and oklahoma, who basically can’t watch baseball
@ GW:
I don’t have much interest in seeing either, but do we know for sure allowing more access to videos increases the number of fans? I don’t know if it does or not. It makes sense that it would, but that doesn’t mean it does. I do find it very hard to believe that some non-baseball fan is going to see a home run montage of Matt Kemp and think to himself, I’ve gotta go home and watch the Dodgers. More likely that person will watch the video and in two months check to see if there’s a new video montage of Kemp’s home runs.
Baseball’s problem isn’t their video policy or even their blackout restriction. It’s that they have a 162 game season, which leads to very little drama down the stretch. If baseball wants to create more interest in their sport they’ll consider having 2 seasons per calendar year. Each season is 80 games or so.
Does anyone see MLB doing this?
GW wrote:
I don’t know about Oklahoma, but that’s not true in Iowa. You get WGN and CSN Chicago all throughout Iowa. I think you get about 140 Cubs games per year. I have family still in Iowa who are Cardinals fans and I think they get 100 games per year.
Last summer I went back to Iowa 3 different times and could have seen every Cubs game. I didn’t have time to do so, but would catch an inning here and there. I had better luck watching the Cardinals since they tended to play at night more.
Any person who tells you there are many Twins, Royals or White Sox fans in Iowa is lying. There’s very little interest in any of those teams, but because of WGN and CSN Chicago you get a lot of the White Sox games. When I was a kid we used to have a network that aired the Royals games, but it’s been a long time since that network aired in Iowa. Based on my stays in Iowa over the last 5 years that is the only difference I’ve noticed. You used to be able to watch the Royals once a week and now you can’t. The number of Cardinals games has increased. The number of White Sox games have too and the number of Cubs games has remained the same.
mb21 wrote:
do we know that advertisements increase the number of fans? no, but if they don’t, someone should tell them.
mb21 wrote:
then mlb is lying, because they claim it’s their territory.
it’s pretty fuckin simple; if you can’t get the games on tv, there should be no blackout.
@ GW:
Why black out? If they aren’t going to bother to watch the game in person, and you prevent the fans from watching the game where they want to, that’s not exactly going to make them suddenly want to buy a ticket to watch anyway.
mb21 wrote:
I knew two guys from Britt who were big Royals fans, so there’s that.
/smallsamplesiz’d
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It looks like the mobile site ate my comment, but everyone gets the FOX games, and ESPN and TBS games are carried in all basic cable packages. There’s also MLBN and whatever local RSN, which are a little spottier in standard packages to varying degrees. MLB highlights are available on their own site, and FWIW I hate the NFL site as much as I hate mlb’s. I’ve never been to NBA/NHL since I don’t follow those sports at all.
I don’t think MLB directs teams not to do deals with local channels, I think it has more to do with how much MLB is desired by the local stations. No networks want to cut into their weekday primetime ratings (though I think NBC affiliates should push harder for live sports considering their ratings). And the big problem is volume. The NFL has it easy because it’s such a weekend sport and there’s just one a week so you don’t want to miss it. With mlb, it’s more meh with 162 games. It’s going to be a lot harder to slice up that package across various channels unless they’re all owned by the same media corp (Like the Trib with WGN/WCIU/the stake in CSN).
One other thing that I’m too lazy to look up is what the market penetration is on cable tv and other video outlets. MLB.tv has expanded to a TON of streaming platforms (basically anything that has netflix), and young people value broadband and cable tv access far, far more than older folks these days. GW has a good point with the advertising and the interwebs stuff but I think most of the younger generation has access anyway.
Then again, the entire internet exploded when netflix was going to raise its fees by $3 or something so I don’t know shit about what most people want to pay for streaming video (dying laughing)
Our views could also be pretty skewed having grown up with so many free games on WGN. Growing up in the DC area you couldn’t get jack shit as far as live O’s broadcasts even if you did have cable went but fan sentiment was still very strong.
Game thread up
http://www.obstructedview.net/games/game-thread-cardinals-at-cubs-424.html
GW wrote:
Where exactly are these things posted, GW? I don’t visit any sites that embed NFL videos. I’m not being subjected to youtube after youtube of NFL highlights that grab my attention and make me want to be a fan. I’d guess I see more NFL videos embedded on this site than I do on all the other sites combined (that I visit). I see 50 times the number of baseball videos embedded. Probably a lot more than that. Most of the people who visit this site are already baseball fans.
That’s what I’m asking. Where exactly are these awesome advertisements that I’m apparently not seeing? Are these really advertisements? I don’t think so. I see embedded baseball videos because I visit a lot of baseball sites. I visit no NFL, NBA or NHL sites.
Here’s the only question that matters: does MLB make more money forcing people to come to MLB.com to view recent videos or would they make more money if they allowed them to be posted elsewhere? Considering how MLB has maximized their revenues over the last decade I’m going to say that they’re making more money forcing people to come to MLB.com. No sport has maximized their revenues like MLB has over the last decade. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I’ve also added it up before and forcing people to watch those videos on mlb.com generates MLB at least $5 million per year in ad revenue.