So youre saying the Dodgers might actually win another “world series”?
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Yeah, adding 2020 and a 60-game 2022 … that would make 0.74 championships.
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There is consensus that the three week “Summer” camp which restarting the covid reason was too short, as has been mentioned. Today is four weeks before what was to be opening day… so we can start counting a daily delay to the regular season today. How long will that delay be for?
At this point we can write in pen… a minimum of three weeks.
Here is why IMO…
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This is a lockout. The purpose of lockouts is to deprive the wage earners of wages, hoping they will knuckle under and agree to what is effectively “give backs”. When the coal mine owners pull that shit, it works under threat of starvation/homelessness/etc. The MLB owners can’t threaten that… but otherwise the tactic works exactly the same.
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The threat of a lockout rarely works. Instead, to work for the owning class, significant wages need to be withheld prior to “coming to the table”. Three weeks is 3/27th of a player’s salary… or 11.1%.
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The MLB owners didn’t have to call the lockout on Dec 2nd. They could have waited to opening day. But they didn’t. Which tells us they have intended their course of action all along. Everything has all been planned this way so far by the MLB owners.
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According to reports, The Athletic is reporting behind their paywall that the MLB owners have a clause in the tv contracts that significantly lowers their payments if the cancel more than 25 games (although there is no reason to believe the MLB owners won’t cancel the entire season).
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After a three week delay, it will be effectively impossible to play a complete season. Just like in 2020, a shortened season is a positive goal for the MLB owners.
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I have also read that the MLBPA has insisted that players be paid for 162 games this season. So by canceling games, they’ve added another issue to fight about.
MLB’s bad faith “OMG we thought we were making progress and then the players’ tone changed!” is super annoying. I’m sure the majority of casual fans still blame the owners and the players equally, but it seems pretty obvious the owners are causing this.
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Exactly. The default is the last agreement remains in place while the new one is negotiated. Nothing and nobody forced the MLB owners to call a lockout.
A majority of fans will always back the team owners, always have. Fools who say “a pox on both sides” in any labor dispute are 100% backing the owning class. Fuck them. Mostly millionaires -vs- mostly billionaires changes nothing.
One thing that has happened, both over time, and in this example, is the basically captive sports press has picked up it’s game. Back in the 1990 MLB owners lockout, the press almost universally called it a strike. Here in 2022 the press is universally calling it a lockout, and a sizable number of columnists are calling out the MLB owners directly as the bad guys.
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TIL…
- Aren’t you forgetting MLB has an antitrust exemption?
No, I’m not. MLB’s antitrust exemption is an often-misunderstood point of law. MLB’s antitrust exemption has been narrowed considerably.
Per the Curt Flood Act of 1998, the exemption no longer applies to labor matters involving MLB players. The exemption is not at issue with the lockout or potential litigation stemming from it.
The reason this could be of some importance is this…
Under labor law, MLBPA could disclaim interest (decertify) in representing MLB players. The players would then become individual employees of their teams.
The purpose of that maneuver would be to enable players to sue MLB and teams. Relying on federal antitrust law, they would challenge the lockout and workplace rules that restrain competition.
The option to decertify wasn’t available the last time there was a baseball labor dispute back in 1994-5. I hadn’t been aware the law had been changed. A reason why the players might not want to decertify is that the NBA and NHL players haven’t seemed to have any luck doing so when they’ve been locked out.
Maybe i’m the only one but from growing up a fan of the game as a kid to I just don’t care if baseball ever gets played again, I don’t care about the players, I don’t care about the owners, I just don’t care.
except get the minor leaguers some real food ffs
Kinda wish Bezos was into baseball and could start the BBL.
Get 300 of the top players.
8 teams.
Amazon covers all broadcasts.
Player owned league is the NBA future. Get the top 10 players and it’s all over.
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I personally won’t be happy until MLB attains futuristic cloning technology. I want, no, I DEMAND, to see a game between 9 Ichiros and 9 Adam Dunns.
I don’t think this is just grumpy old man stuff. Baseball does really suck. It was always slower than sports like basketball, soccer, and hockey but it’s gotten to the point where they probably need a big rules change to invigorate the sport. But it might just be all futile at this point. When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, baseball was still considered to have some element of “tradition” that was baked into the value proposition. I think that the other sports have actually caught up somewhat on that. Basketball for sure had a golden age in the 1990s that has really created a terrific legacy, for example, and established life long fans. The NFL has also been a huge success for long enough now that it’s also built up it’s own legacy and multigenerational fan bases. Baseball seems doomed to settle in as a niche regional sport.
They need to deaden the ball. Maybe make it noticeably dead. This will make hitters more likely to stop going for homers and start putting the ball in play. Pitchers won’t be as stressed because they won’t have to fear that every popup has a chance of going over the fence. Currently, starting pitchers have to pitch with the intensity of closers just to keep from being lit up. That’s why they barely last five innings and throw 100 pitches with long times in between each pitch. That’s why strikeouts and walks are up and fewer balls are being put in play. Its all about the ball.
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If they do these things will anyone care? I’ve got my NHL pass and I filled with delight constantly while watching hockey. I imagine NBA fans and soccer fans feel the same way. I have loved baseball before, but I don’t feel terribly motivated to go back to it, even if they try to recreate the 1970s. Like I agree with you that they should try some things but I don’t think there’s anything they can do to get baseball back to it’s prior share of sports fan attention.
Okay then. More beanballs and brawls. I’m getting desperate. It is quite telling though, that the lockout isn’t more of a story. You have to go to the 2nd tier of sport listings on ESPN’s website to even find baseball. I’d agree that the future of the game is bleak.
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I’m personally not getting desperate because my team is still in a tanking phase. They can kill the whole season and I won’t notice much either way. I’d watch some of the playoffs and world series. But I almost have to force myself to do that now.
I am an Ortiz fan boy and assume every good player used steroids, but I want to note two things.
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the one test Ortiz failed, the MLB noted had a number of false positives and was a crummy test. He was then tested from 2004 through the end of his career and never failed again.
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Look back at his swing with the Twins, it’s quite a bit different than what he did with the Sox, and he wasn’t really maximizing power. His leg kick was a lot different. I firmly believe he basically just copied lots of what Manny Ramirez was doing swing wise.
Seems pretty close to a Bonds fanboi saying that Barry never tested positive for anything and therefore was clean. We all know otherwise, and it would not be surprising in the least if Ortiz was gassed
7 inning games, and 2 designated non-hitters. (Teams choice)
7 person line-up.
Shorter games, but get rid of at bats by scrubs.
Limited pinch runners that can run for slow guys, who can then re-enter the game. (Yeah fat guys who can hit)
Robo-Plate umpires. Must have!
I completely discount what Manfred said about those 2003 tests. He was basically begging HOF voters to not shun guys that Ortiz, Piazza, Bagwell, etc. who were likely steroids users but not proven. He knew that if no one from the steroids era (other than a few guys like Griffey, Pedro, that were deemed “clean”) it would be a terrible look, so he made that plea using Ortiz as his example - likely because he’s a guy everyone loved as a person.
As for testing - other than Manny and Palmeiro, I don’t think any of the known users tested positive, so that’s not really something to hang your hat on.
Agree with a lot of this. Time between pitches needs to be reduced to as close to zero as possible, more balls in play.