MLB & Division Watching (2010)

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Bono strikes again

NEW YORK -- A three-game series between the Florida Marlins and Mariners June 24-26 has been moved from Miami to Seattle because of a U2 concert.

Major League Baseball said Thursday the change was made because of the scheduling conflict at Sun Life Stadium. The rock band U2 is scheduled to play at the stadium June 29 and the Marlins must vacate the stadium to allow setup time for the concert.

Florida will remain the home team and will bat last, and the series will be played under NL rules, without a designated hitter.

The Marlins are scheduled to move into their own retractable-roof ballpark in 2012.

guessing DPM did not close his quote of the ESPN article. When you quote his text, all you get is one /quote in [ ].

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Move it to one of the Spring Training camps. Or a AAA ballpark.

The Marlins AAA franchise is New Orleans.  You want to know how much good publicity MLB could have gotten by bringing a series to that town?  Loria and Bud really look dumb.

[HalfSmokes]

The Marlins AAA franchise is New Orleans.  You want to know how much good publicity MLB could have gotten by bringing a series to that town?  Loria and Bud really look dumb.

how many seats though? It might look bad if they finally sell out a game in a 7,500 seat stadium

[houston-nat]

Havana.

[Potomac Cannons]

how many seats though? It might look bad if they finally sell out a game in a 7,500 seat stadium

10,000 plus an extra 1,000 on "the levee."

[mimontero88]

The Marlins AAA franchise is New Orleans.  You want to know how much good publicity MLB could have gotten by bringing a series to that town?  Loria and Bud really look dumb.

Yeah they are really dumb for not attempting to exploit a tragedy for financial gain like other major sports leagues did.  What idiots.

[Vega]

Yeah they are really dumb for not attempting to exploit a tragedy for financial gain like other major sports leagues did.  What idiots.

Win post.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Yeah they are really dumb for not attempting to exploit a tragedy for financial gain like other major sports leagues did.  What idiots.

The team has an affiliation with the city through the AAA team.  Some of the players probably played there.  How is giving away a homestand better for the Marlins?  Major league teams should support their affiliates when they can. It was just too perfect. I would not stick away from it because the publicity might also be good.   The folks I've talked to in New Orleans don't take exception to anything that helps their tourism.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Wanna buy a piece of the Mets?

[PANatsFan]

Duscherer is holding a workout - all teams invited except the A's. OUCH.

[Potomac Cannons]

Duscherer is holding a workout - all teams invited except the A's. OUCH.

Unfortunately he's only going to complete about 38% of the workout at which point his elbow will explode, he'll have a nervous breakdown, and he'll go on double DL for the rest of time.

[mimontero88]

The team has an affiliation with the city through the AAA team.  Some of the players probably played there.  How is giving away a homestand better for the Marlins?  Major league teams should support their affiliates when they can. It was just too perfect. I would not stick away from it because the publicity might also be good.   The folks I've talked to in New Orleans don't take exception to anything that helps their tourism.

But they might take exception to a Marlins-Mariners series going to New Orleans in an obvious publicity grab by MLB since a Marlins-Mariners series would obviously not help their tourism at all.  What is the average combined attendance for Marlins and Mariners games?  I can't remember if it is 8 people or 9.

[PatsNats28]

But they might take exception to a Marlins-Mariners series going to New Orleans in an obvious publicity grab by MLB since a Marlins-Mariners series would obviously not help their tourism at all.  What is the average combined attendance for Marlins and Mariners games?  I can't remember if it is 8 people or 9.

Seattle's not exactly a small sports market. Say what you will about the Sonics, but it's not like Miami.

[mimontero88]

Seattle's not exactly a small sports market. Say what you will about the Sonics, but it's not like Miami.

Yeah but Seattle is also not a baseball town.  Qwest Field is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL because Seattle sports fans love their Seahawks and are somewhat indifferent to the Mariners.  Their average attendance was only about 2K higher than the Nats' and their fans aren't exactly known for traveling.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

That's because they were worse than the Nats.

Say what you want about Seattle as a baseball town, but when I went to Safeco last summer, the atmosphere at the park was way better than it's ever been at a Nats game, save for really special games (opening week 2005, opening night 2008, Strasmas, etc.)

The Yanks were in town and there were far more M's fans than Yanks fans, unlike when the Yanks came to RFK.

[mimontero88]

That's because they were worse than the Nats.

Say what you want about Seattle as a baseball town, but when I went to Safeco last summer, the atmosphere at the park was way better than it's ever been at a Nats game, save for really special games (opening week 2005, opening night 2008, Strasmas, etc.)

The Yanks were in town and there were far more M's fans than Yanks fans, unlike when the Yanks came to RFK.

Comparing them to us isn't really fair though.  They've had way more time in Seattle to build a fanbase than the Nats have had in DC and they've also had more success (though it's been marginal given they have never appeared in the World Series).

EDIT:  And yes I'm aware of the irony that I compared the two teams attendance but I do make a distinction since my comparison was to prove their irrelevance in the greater scheme of Seattle sports.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

There hardly is a "greater scheme."  There's football and baseball in Seattle, and football is king in nearly every market.  The Mariners have a respectable fanbase.

It's not as good as that of the Cubs, but not as meager as that of the Padres or Blue Jays.

[mimontero88]

There hardly is a "greater scheme."  There's football and baseball in Seattle, and football is king in nearly every market.  The Mariners have a respectable fanbase.

It's not as good as that of the Cubs, but not as meager as that of the Padres or Blue Jays.

Fair enough but they were still only 19th in MLB in terms of average attendance.  That doesn't exactly inspire the image of the kind of dedicated fanbase that would go to New Orleans for an away series (especially a meaningless interleague one).  Again, I don't see Mariners fans playing any role in boosting New Orleans' suffering tourism.

EDIT:  And the Pads were 18th in average attendance so they actually beat the M's.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Did you put any consideration into the kinds of seasons both teams had?

[mimontero88]

Did you put any consideration into the kinds of seasons both teams had?

Yes, thus the "fair enough" in my statement.

[tomterp]

The Yanks were in town and there were far more M's fans than Yanks fans, unlike when the Yanks came to RFK.

It seems pretty plain that there are a lot more ex-New Yawkers living in the greater DC metro area than in the greater Seattle area, not to mention that there were fair numbers of Yankees fans commuting down from NJ or NY for the series.  None of that happens in Seattle, 3k miles away from NY.

[PatsNats28]

Fair enough but they were still only 19th in MLB in terms of average attendance.  That doesn't exactly inspire the image of the kind of dedicated fanbase that would go to New Orleans for an away series (especially a meaningless interleague one).  Again, I don't see Mariners fans playing any role in boosting New Orleans' suffering tourism.

EDIT:  And the Pads were 18th in average attendance so they actually beat the M's.

That wasn't your point, you were saying that they have like no fans here:

But they might take exception to a Marlins-Mariners series going to New Orleans in an obvious publicity grab by MLB since a Marlins-Mariners series would obviously not help their tourism at all.  What is the average combined attendance for Marlins and Mariners games?  I can't remember if it is 8 people or 9.

That was the argument I was refuting. I doubt that the Mariners fanbase travels anywhere east of the Rockies.

[mimontero88]

That wasn't your point, you were saying that they have like no fans here:

That was the argument I was refuting. I doubt that the Mariners fanbase travels anywhere east of the Rockies.

That statement was a bit tongue-in-cheek referring to the fact that neither the Mariners or Marlins have a reputation for filling stadiums, particularly those that are pretty far away.  Beyond that though, the greater point here was that having the series in New Orleans would not help the New Orleans economy and I don't think I've seen anyone make a point that would counter that.

EDIT:  In fact, I think the best argument that could be made for the series helping New Orleans hasn't been mentioned yet which is the fact that Louisiana has no major league team and having any series there may be a draw for big baseball fans who would otherwise not have the opportunity to see a major league game.  That is a decent counterpoint but I still think MLB could help New Orleans a lot more just by making donations and not making a huge publicity stunt out of it.

[blue911]

It seems pretty plain that there are a lot more ex-New Yawkers living in the greater DC metro area than in the greater Seattle area, not to mention that there were fair numbers of Yankees fans commuting down from NJ or NY for the series.  None of that happens in Seattle, 3k miles away from NY.

Sounds like you work for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

[EdStroud]

Freddy Garcia signs with the Yankees

Ken Rosenthal reports

The Yankees continued to add rotation depth Monday, signing free-agent right-hander Freddy Garcia to a minor-league contract, according to a major-league source.

Garcia will join a similar free agent, righty Bartolo Colon, when pitchers and catchers report to the team's spring complex in Tampa in mid-February.