MLB 2025 Season

tempo_n_groove

Poncier said:

TWIB was from a time when viewers had no access to footage from games outside of their local market or the national broadcast like Monday Night Baseball (that's how far back we're talking). So, the only way a guy in NYC would see what Dave Winfield did with the Padres (again, this is how far back we are talking), he could watch TWIB on Saturday afternoon before the Yanks' game came on.
It's like saying we should go back to just having the 3 TV networks plus a few local UHF stations. 

All the content a show like that had is readily available immediately. And as Juggler mentioned, kids these days will have no interest in something like TWIB. They want to check their phone and see how the LF on their fantasy team did that day, they don't care about seeing the catch he made up against the wall six days prior (cause if they wanted to see it, they saw it 6 days ago on their phone).

So just because i say TWIB don't think of it like that.

Its just an example so get that out of your head.  People watch the other shows that I mentioned so there is a market, you can't tell me there isn't.

You just added a great idea, pepper in Fantasy notes in there.

Also if people don't like watching great plays then youtube and reels would be empty places considering they are full of them...

tempo_n_groove

The Juggler said:

There was a newer version of TWIB that aired on Fox before their Saturday telecast back in the 2000's and early 2010's ish. I don't think it was as much highlights as it was educating kids on how the game is played. 

Yes I remember, it was awful.  It was nothing like what it used to be.

Wobbie

I am NOT a “learn to speak english!” guy but non-english speaking stars present MLB with an marketability issue the NFL, NBA, NHL and golf largely doesn’t have. Most of those non-americans are europeans and most of them are taught english in their school systems. not so in latin america, I don’t think.

P.S. the all white phillies don’t have this “problem.”

edit: NFL has very few non-Americans to begin with.

eeriepadave

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

There was a newer version of TWIB that aired on Fox before their Saturday telecast back in the 2000's and early 2010's ish. I don't think it was as much highlights as it was educating kids on how the game is played. 

Yes I remember, it was awful.  It was nothing like what it used to be.

TWIB was awesome! I think i taped a few highlights from them on my VCR (especially when Schmidt hit is 500th HR). If they're gonna bring that back can we also bring back the Baseball Bunch too

So do the Rangers close it out tonight? I think they can and a good possibility that they do since they are undefeated on the road this post-season.

igotid88

R.I.P. Frank Howard

tempo_n_groove

eeriepadave said:

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

There was a newer version of TWIB that aired on Fox before their Saturday telecast back in the 2000's and early 2010's ish. I don't think it was as much highlights as it was educating kids on how the game is played. 

Yes I remember, it was awful.  It was nothing like what it used to be.

TWIB was awesome! I think i taped a few highlights from them on my VCR (especially when Schmidt hit is 500th HR). If they're gonna bring that back can we also bring back the Baseball Bunch too

So do the Rangers close it out tonight? I think they can and a good possibility that they do since they are undefeated on the road this post-season.

Eavoldi pitching? yessir.

tempo_n_groove

eeriepadave said:

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

There was a newer version of TWIB that aired on Fox before their Saturday telecast back in the 2000's and early 2010's ish. I don't think it was as much highlights as it was educating kids on how the game is played. 

Yes I remember, it was awful.  It was nothing like what it used to be.

TWIB was awesome! I think i taped a few highlights from them on my VCR (especially when Schmidt hit is 500th HR). If they're gonna bring that back can we also bring back the Baseball Bunch too

So do the Rangers close it out tonight? I think they can and a good possibility that they do since they are undefeated on the road this post-season.

lol we are not bringing IT back but just a baseball show in general.  I don't think we can find a Mel Allen to do it.

The Juggler

Wobbie said:

I am NOT a “learn to speak english!” guy but non-english speaking stars present MLB with an marketability issue the NFL, NBA, NHL and golf largely doesn’t have. Most of those non-americans are europeans and most of them are taught english in their school systems. not so in latin america, I don’t think.

P.S. the all white phillies don’t have this “problem.”

edit: NFL has very few non-Americans to begin with.

Absolutely correct Wob. I am with you on this. 

Lerxst1992

The Juggler said:

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

tempo_n_groove said:

The Juggler said:

igotid88 said:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38782354/game-1-least-watched-world-series-game-recorded-history?fbclid=IwAR2-PVqZGqDU0CCZ4TYTDY27y4u4Ko5yndryi9cd8wEW5eYKvdO7r95Ryhw

Called it.

Gets worse too:
https://frontofficesports.com/world-series-tv-viewership-continues-to-reach-new-lows/


I watched more NBA than I did World Series tonight.

15 million watched that Raiders game? Really?  Dear lord.

So Baseball has 8 million viewers.  Don't blame it on not having Harper like the article says.  Didn't they have Harper one year w a low rating too?

I see it as good.  At least they still have viewership.  They just need to get some momentum with it.

Baseball does a pisspoor job at promoting players and their brands.  Jung and Carroll should have been celebrated all year but they didn't do squat for them.  

Espns coverage of baseball is pathetic.  They push NFL all year long and probably because they have them on their tv schedule.  I see more Hockey shows than baseball shows on ESPN...  MLB needs to get in bed w them to get some more viewership.

Ohtani and Judge can't be the only 2 players they care about.  Bring back TWIB to show highlights.

Thoughts?

Oh yeah.  Good game last night.  Yes I enjoyed it.

Last year's World Series averaged 4 more million viewers than this years'.
https://www.mlb.com/news/2022-world-series-tv-ratings-and-viewership

Again, see my other reasoning for it.  I listed quite a few of them...

You asked if they had low ratings last year too. They did. But still had 4 million more viewers. I knew this would be less and the reasoning is what I said last week. Lack of star players and nobody cares about these two teams outside of Texas and Arizona. Baseball is much more regionalized now than it was in the past. Plus, obviously, tv ratings for most everything are down. 

Agree on the ESPN coverage and baseball's poor job at marketing. I would definitely watch TWIB but that's not going to increase tv ratings significantly. Kids like other sports more nowadays. 

Give them a reason.  Explain why launch angle and MPH a ball is hit matters and how a HR actually happens.

I went to a Mets game because they were playing my Halos.  We stayed until the 9th to see a final AB by Shohei.  They walked his ass, we walked out, lol.

As we left the Mets fans were all yelling the same thing, "boo" and "who do u think we came to see?".  If you have players like this it will make people interested.

Toronto has Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero, great players.
Seager has been in purgatory until now in Texas.
Alvarez for the Astros is literally one of the best players in baseball and gets zero love.
Pete Alonso has hit more HR than anyone the past few years and no one cares... Mets have a great RC Japanese pitcher in Senga and no one outside of NY has even heard of him.
Padres have a hell of a team that can't do shit together.
St Louis same thing.
Cubs had Canairio come up.  Well they do have Alcantara to look forward to also and that Suzuki kid wasn't bad.

There are tons of stories out there that Baseball doesn't showcase.

Baseball has struggled to promote their players for decades. It's not a new problem. I don't think teaching about launch angle will do anything. The more older people hear about that stuff it turns them off actually. 

I do think the rule changes this year made the game more entertaining to watch. No doubt about it. So that is a step in the right direction. 

But part of the problem with the modern game is nobody wants to see bullpen games and everyone hates that most pitchers can't seem to hang for more than a couple runs through the order. That turns people off. I understand the reasoning for why managers do this but it's not what fans want to see. Literally everyone I know pines for the days when pitchers routinely went 7+ innings and bitches and complains that managers are over managing (most of these people I am talking about think it's just the Phillies who do this, which also speaks to the regionality in that they don't watch enough other teams to realize that is how the game is now). 

And the regionality thing has been baked in for multiple decades now. Even last year when we did have more star players and bigger markets, it still only drew 12 million viewers. Baseball is just not as popular, nationally, as it once was.

So this year's WS was just destined to draw way less. 

Wasn’t attendance up ten percent this year? Hasn’t baseball addressed a lot of the pacing concerns with the clock and limits on number of pitching changes? If the pitchers improved wouldn’t the casual fan complain it’s too low scoring?

Baseball is a summer sport we love to attend in person  that thrives when the weather is warm. Pushing the fall classic into November closer to the winter doesn’t help. Plus the WS has the misfortune of running into the buzzsaw of American football. Americas attention cannot look beyond football.

I agree with the regional problem. For example, as ive gotten older, I started caring less and less about teams out of my market, for every sport, so I tend to watch much less of the championship series for all of the sports, which is a bit sad.

I am intrigued about cricket. Imagine a ball game with hundreds of runs. FWIW yesterday I watched more cricket than WS. Intrigued by something new I guess.

igotid88

This is a game that should have a higher rating. Clincher and a very close game

Cliffy6745

Smoltz is the worst announcer in the history of baseball and it’s not close 

F Me In The Brain

Haha.  Dan dickdorf of basebal

igotid88

Chapman has 2 W.S. rings. None with the Yankees 

Wobbie

The better team won. Sewald shit the bed, twice. If he’s a free agent, I don’t think the d-bags will want him back.

d-bags were obviously not the best team in the NL. rangers may have been the best in the AL, the orioles stellar win total notwithstanding.

and, damn, bruce bochy

Ledbetterman10

Wobbie said:

I am NOT a “learn to speak english!” guy but non-english speaking stars present MLB with an marketability issue the NFL, NBA, NHL and golf largely doesn’t have. Most of those non-americans are europeans and most of them are taught english in their school systems. not so in latin america, I don’t think.

P.S. the all white phillies don’t have this “problem.”

edit: NFL has very few non-Americans to begin with.

I saw Stephen A. Smith make this argument a few months ago regarding Shohei Otani, and I disagree. Think of all the biggest baseball stars of the past 30 years: Bonds, Griffey, A-Rod, Jeter, Trout.....I have never heard any of these guys ever say anything remotely interesting. Ken Griffey Jr. could've just as well spoke Japanese and I would've never noticed. 

Speaking of Griffey, how awkward are those terrible Geico commercials with him and his wife? 

Gern Blansten

I watched about 10 minutes of the WS. When the playoffs started I was really looking forward to it.

Wobbie

Padres took out a $50M loan in september to meet payroll (they wanted $100M but MLB said no)….they thought a playoff run would cover those costs. Whoops!

Johnny Abruzzo

I actually watched a couple innings. Texas is a really good team. It's a shame we blew it - would've been a great series. Whats-his-face missing the game with "side tightness" is so totally lame. He can start fights but he can't be bothered to fight through in the damn World Series. Definitely goes back to why MLB has trouble making stars of their best players.

The Juggler

Ledbetterman10 said:

Wobbie said:

I am NOT a “learn to speak english!” guy but non-english speaking stars present MLB with an marketability issue the NFL, NBA, NHL and golf largely doesn’t have. Most of those non-americans are europeans and most of them are taught english in their school systems. not so in latin america, I don’t think.

P.S. the all white phillies don’t have this “problem.”

edit: NFL has very few non-Americans to begin with.

I saw Stephen A. Smith make this argument a few months ago regarding Shohei Otani, and I disagree. Think of all the biggest baseball stars of the past 30 years: Bonds, Griffey, A-Rod, Jeter, Trout.....I have never heard any of these guys ever say anything remotely interesting. Ken Griffey Jr. could've just as well spoke Japanese and I would've never noticed. 

Speaking of Griffey, how awkward are those terrible Geico commercials with him and his wife? 

I'm gonna make me a big salad.

Actually think those are funny

Ledbetterman10

The Juggler said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Wobbie said:

I am NOT a “learn to speak english!” guy but non-english speaking stars present MLB with an marketability issue the NFL, NBA, NHL and golf largely doesn’t have. Most of those non-americans are europeans and most of them are taught english in their school systems. not so in latin america, I don’t think.

P.S. the all white phillies don’t have this “problem.”

edit: NFL has very few non-Americans to begin with.

I saw Stephen A. Smith make this argument a few months ago regarding Shohei Otani, and I disagree. Think of all the biggest baseball stars of the past 30 years: Bonds, Griffey, A-Rod, Jeter, Trout.....I have never heard any of these guys ever say anything remotely interesting. Ken Griffey Jr. could've just as well spoke Japanese and I would've never noticed. 

Speaking of Griffey, how awkward are those terrible Geico commercials with him and his wife? 

I'm gonna make me a big salad.

Actually think those are funny

Oh you probably like that cotton Dockers commercial too.