Blah blah Red Sox whatever. Will A-Rod be a Dodger?

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

You can't tell me that the rise of the closer, the set-up man, starters who only go five innings and the longer time between pitches have made baseball more watchable.

As a fan of strategies, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in my book. While I don't necessarily like how it extends the game, the increase in specialization has not been a distraction for me.

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

Nor have the tough-guy chinbeards, mohawks and "cowboy up" nonsense made baseball players more worthy of being boyhood heroes in my book.

I'm not paying attention to what the players have on their face when I watch baseball.

Originally Posted by Moonliner

Beer sales went through the roof. Apparently, depressed people are heavier drinkers.

Did they ever figure out a parking strategy?

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Did they ever figure out a parking strategy?

Yes. The strategy is that fans are expected to use public transportation (aka the metro). It fits well with the drink more beer philosophy.

Attendance was way way way off projections for the new stadium (even allowing for the craptastic team).

Family attendance fell the most, and that's a bad group to lose. I blame the parking issue, the team is blind to that or at least won't admit it's a problem.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

As a fan of strategies, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in my book. While I don't necessarily like how it extends the game, the increase in specialization has not been a distraction for me.

Joe Madden's having his right fielder play infield to maximize the chance of a force at home was an interesting strategy. Pinch-hitting for your catcher--or your starting pitcher--or taking a big bat out of the line-up for a late inning defensive replacement are interesting strategies. They are interesting to the viewer because they can backfire in dramatic ways. Lefty against lefty is not interesting because if it fails, so what, that happens, and it's not worth the ten minutes spent on the conference and the pitching change.

[quote=Kevy Baby;249796]I'm not paying attention to what the players have on their face when I watch baseball.[quote]

What do you look at when they show a close-up of the pitcher's face before every pitch?