Tuesday, June 19, 2007
You're Never Too Old To Play Baseball
I can't remember the last time I saw a Major League Baseball game where the pitcher and the batter facing each other were both older than I am.
Friday night at Yankee Stadium I saw 44-year-old Roger Clemens face 48-year-old Julio Franco of the Mets. Remember the senior baseball league of the early '90s? This was what they had in mind, but baseball has been watered down and juiced up so much since then that "Senior Circuit" actually stands for the National League again.
Last summer, Negro League Legend Buck O'Neil actually participated in a minor league game at the age of 94. Unfortunately for Buck, he died less than four months later, so I'm not saying everybody on social security should try to play baseball again, but is the game better with older players? The Yankees spent $20 million to have Clemens pitch every fifth day for a little more than half a season. They spent it because they know folks will shell out the cash to see him, even though he's half the pitcher he used to be.
By contrast, Justin Verlander of the Tigers throws a no-hitter but do you think the Tigers will offer him $20 million for half a season next year?
That brings us to Monday night's Nationals loss to the Tigers. The announced crowd of 22,000 saw an exciting game of baseball -- not necessarily a good game, though. Had the Nationals won would it have increased the attendance for the next game? Since you can't count on an exciting game every night to bring in the fans, you resort to other marketing gimmicks such as giveaways, new stadiums, and even older marquee-name players like Clemens.
The Yankees can get away with a limited amount of these marketing gimmicks because of their traditions and payroll. Their new stadium being built for 2010 is not to attract new fans but to simply improve the facilities for those already committed. The Nationals have a new stadium and, as we learned in Baltimore and Philadelphia, that will give you three to five years of attention if it's done right. But you can't stop there.
The Nats in Stan Kasten's vision are building for the future, but will that future arrive before the new stadium aura wears off? Stan has seen it work with the Atlanta Braves, although it didn't hurt that the Braves had already become winners before Turner Field was opened. Be careful though, Stan, there's always the Oriole model. Peter Angelos and company got several good years out of a new stadium but they failed to follow through in the right ways. The Orioles tried the marketing gimmicks and adding big name players (does the name Albert ring a Belle?) but ultimately they've lost for 10 straight years.
Invest wisely and don't put all your faith in any one area to make the club a profitable winner. For the Nationals and all teams with limited financial resources, it's like the stock market -- sometimes you're up, and sometimes you're down, but you're never too old to play.
Friday night at Yankee Stadium I saw 44-year-old Roger Clemens face 48-year-old Julio Franco of the Mets. Remember the senior baseball league of the early '90s? This was what they had in mind, but baseball has been watered down and juiced up so much since then that "Senior Circuit" actually stands for the National League again.
Last summer, Negro League Legend Buck O'Neil actually participated in a minor league game at the age of 94. Unfortunately for Buck, he died less than four months later, so I'm not saying everybody on social security should try to play baseball again, but is the game better with older players? The Yankees spent $20 million to have Clemens pitch every fifth day for a little more than half a season. They spent it because they know folks will shell out the cash to see him, even though he's half the pitcher he used to be.
By contrast, Justin Verlander of the Tigers throws a no-hitter but do you think the Tigers will offer him $20 million for half a season next year?
That brings us to Monday night's Nationals loss to the Tigers. The announced crowd of 22,000 saw an exciting game of baseball -- not necessarily a good game, though. Had the Nationals won would it have increased the attendance for the next game? Since you can't count on an exciting game every night to bring in the fans, you resort to other marketing gimmicks such as giveaways, new stadiums, and even older marquee-name players like Clemens.
The Yankees can get away with a limited amount of these marketing gimmicks because of their traditions and payroll. Their new stadium being built for 2010 is not to attract new fans but to simply improve the facilities for those already committed. The Nationals have a new stadium and, as we learned in Baltimore and Philadelphia, that will give you three to five years of attention if it's done right. But you can't stop there.
The Nats in Stan Kasten's vision are building for the future, but will that future arrive before the new stadium aura wears off? Stan has seen it work with the Atlanta Braves, although it didn't hurt that the Braves had already become winners before Turner Field was opened. Be careful though, Stan, there's always the Oriole model. Peter Angelos and company got several good years out of a new stadium but they failed to follow through in the right ways. The Orioles tried the marketing gimmicks and adding big name players (does the name Albert ring a Belle?) but ultimately they've lost for 10 straight years.
Invest wisely and don't put all your faith in any one area to make the club a profitable winner. For the Nationals and all teams with limited financial resources, it's like the stock market -- sometimes you're up, and sometimes you're down, but you're never too old to play.
Posted at 9:08 AM by Jeff Greenberg
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