Harper reflections at the Zimmerman retirement

[Five Banners]

I think baseball has the problem of a -huge- contingent of aging fans that long for the golden days of yore, vs the modern attention span of a fruit fly (I put myself in that latter category). If they change the game to appeal to younger fans, they'll alienate the guys who have disposable income and enjoy taking their grandkids to games. If they don't change something, kids will continue to use baseball as an excellent cure for insomnia.

Changing between-pitch extended pauses and step outs might be a significant difference maker

[Natsinpwc]

assuming Harper gets TJ in the off season, he'd be looking at a 6-9 month recovery I assume?

Here is what he said; Bryce is not good with the math methinks but he could return early in 2023. He says 4-6 months and Ohtani was 7 months to DH again.   

“It’s like the Ohtani rule,” Harper said. “That’s what we all say, just because he was a hitter. He was able to come back and it was the same [throwing] arm as me. I think he had a four- to six-month recovery.”

Shohei Ohtani had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 1, 2018.

He returned to DH for the Angels on May 7, 2019.

“I’ll be ready for Opening Day if I do have surgery, hitting-wise,” Harper said. “Outfield-wise, I wouldn’t be ready until May or around there. That’s just a schedule, right? That has nothing to do with how I’m feeling. That’s like perfect scheduling. It really just depends on how your body responds to it. It’s exactly like my throwing program now. It could be anything from 12-16 weeks. Or it could be more than that. It just depends on how it really feels.”


https://www.mlb.com/news/bryce-harper-playing-at-mvp-level

[Slateman]

There's a lot more to a player's brand than TV commercials. Him doing UA commercials are meaningless, for example.

He has a shoe deal with UA. He's also doing national level commercials for Dairy Queen and Gatorade. Like ... if he doesnt have a national brand, no one in baseball does.

[HalfSmokes]

He has a shoe deal with UA. He's also doing national level commercials for Dairy Queen and Gatorade. Like ... if he doesnt have a national brand, no one in baseball does.

Have you ever seen a kid wearing Harper shoes? I would agree that no one in baseball has a national brand.

[Slateman]

HoF trajectory over 10 seasons. 2 time MVP. Cover of SI. Multiple national level, major endorsements. A shoe line.

Like .... how is that fading?

[dracnal]

Changing between-pitch extended pauses and step outs might be a significant difference maker

I would hope so. I know people talk about cutting down the length of the game, but honestly what really matters is cutting down the time between things happening. Each pitch is a chance for something incredible to happen. But when you get five of those moments every seven minutes, it's really tough to maintain the intensity. In football, a team is either moving the ball down the field, or its a quick cut to a commercial. There's only so much time that can pass where absolutely nothing happens. They can get away with the 45 seconds between plays as a result. Baseball just doesn't have that luxury. Most of my peers that enjoy baseball (late 40's) still hate to watch it on TV. If they're at the game, it's fine. But on the television? Yeah, no. It's only slightly better than watching golf to them.

[HalfSmokes]

Baseball is just a lazy game by nature. It's something that you can have on in the background while you grill or have a few beers with friends. My wife watches it to fall asleep at night. It's just the nature of the game. There is nothing fast paced and there is no frenetic energy. Pretending that speeding up pitches will help seems ridiculous to me.

[Natsinpwc]

Have you ever seen a kid wearing Harper shoes? I would agree that no one in baseball has a national brand.

MDS just said he saw a whole little league team wearing them.

[UMDNats]

Baseball is just a lazy game by nature. It's something that you can have on in the background while you grill or have a few beers with friends. My wife watches it to fall asleep at night. It's just the nature of the game. There is nothing fast paced and there is no frenetic energy. Pretending that speeding up pitches will help seems ridiculous to me.

Right. I actually cringe at a lot of MLB's marketing because the boomer execs there simply do not understand why the game fails to connect with a younger audience. Just a complete fundamental failure and it doesn't help that baseball players, like hockey players, are actively against promotion. They're also generally boring people. But at its core baseball is a boring game with a lot of nuance and can't be sped up to some fake degree that will magically make people tune in.

MLB needs to wise up and actually go back to the secret sauce of growing the game.

[UMDNats]

HoF trajectory over 10 seasons. 2 time MVP. Cover of SI. Multiple national level, major endorsements. A shoe line.

Like .... how is that fading?

Cover of SI was over a decade ago. National endorsements are par for the course at his level, every athlete has them.

His shoe line is with the worst shoemaker in the national-level apparel industry and an apparel company that is completely dead (as of right now) with young athletes, but I'm sure does well in the baseball player demo considering UA's core audience and rural/suburban baseball players are basically a circle. Yawn.

Bryce was supposed to be the LeBron of baseball. No one is doing First Take segments on Bryce or spitting out hot takes on national radio shows about him. He's had like 8 managers in 10 years and no one even cares. An NFL QB farts and gets an hour on ESPN. Steph Curry is on TV 24/7. Part of that is baseball being baseball for sure, but I don't think it's all on the game being boring.

[Slateman]

I hope Juan Soto fades as well as Bryce Harper

[UMDNats]

I hope Juan Soto fades as well as Bryce Harper

Literally read the thread where I'm not talking about his production at all. Guy still rakes.

[dracnal]

Baseball is just a lazy game by nature. It's something that you can have on in the background while you grill or have a few beers with friends. My wife watches it to fall asleep at night. It's just the nature of the game. There is nothing fast paced and there is no frenetic energy. Pretending that speeding up pitches will help seems ridiculous to me.

Only reason I think it might help was a game I attended way the hell back with my dad. It was one of Shairon Martis's early (and few) starts. He pitched the entire game, start to finish and the gametime was 2:05. By far the easiest game to keep mentally involved in for me, ever. Usually my attention wanders pretty hard unless I'm keeping score and noting pitch sequence in the AB.

[Slateman]

Literally read the thread where I'm not talking about his production at all. Guy still rakes.

I wasnt talking about hitting.

[English Natsie]

Any summer sport is never going to be frenetic, especially with the heat and humidity of many ballpark locations. Personally, I wouldn't want to see the game speeded-up artificially, or for misguided reasons - if you really want something fast, then do like cricket has, and introduce a new format separate from the 'game proper' (so you have five day Test Matches, the more up-tempo One Day Matches, and the blast away T20 for the attention impaired). Baseball is about strategy and tactics - if it was a board game, it would be chess. Ironically, with the introduction of floodlights, at cricket grounds, any days play (in a Test) can now go on almost indefinitely. How would baseball fare if each day started at 10:30 and went on until at least 19:00, and was like that every day for five days  - and, even then, could end in a tied game?...

[Natsinpwc]

Remember when Pedro Jr. and Tatis Jr and Ohtani were talked about all the time on ESPN?  All the way back to last year.  They only talk about the NBA and NFL.  And now sometimes hockey.  Saying Harper did not become the Lebron of MLB sounds like some silly high bar no one can reach.  Don't forget that they always talk about Lebrin by mentioning he is not MJ.   

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Remember when Pedro Vladi Jr. and Tatis Jr and Ohtani were talked about all the time on ESPN?  All the way back to last year.  They only talk about the NBA and NFL.  And now sometimes hockey.  Saying Harper did not become the Lebron of MLB sounds like some silly high bar no one can reach.  Don't forget that they always talk about Lebrin by mentioning he is not MJ.   

right?

[imref]

A Harper Dairy Queen commercial aired during tonight's game

[JCA-CrystalCity]

A Harper Dairy Queen commercial aired during tonight's game

yes. That's him v tim anderson

[nfotiu]

Have you ever seen a kid wearing Harper shoes? I would agree that no one in baseball has a national brand.

Harper baseball cleats are pretty popular amongst the kids.   At least they were a few years ago.


On the other topic, taking the most possible money for the longest period of time and winning championships can be mutually exclusive.   

[HalfSmokes]

Harper baseball cleats are pretty popular amongst the kids.   At least they were a few years ago.


On the other topic, taking the most possible money for the longest period of time and winning championships can be mutually exclusive.   

Sure, but not many kids are playing baseball and none of them are wearing his branded shoes casually

[nfotiu]

Sure, but not many kids are playing baseball and none of them are wearing his branded shoes casually

Youth baseball seems pretty popular in this area (Richmond). 

I think only endorsed basketball shoes get worn casually, and from only a handful of basketball players.   Baseball, Golf, Football, hockey, soccer endorsements are usually about selling sports specific equipment and apparel.

[HalfSmokes]

Youth baseball seems pretty popular in this area (Richmond). 

I think only endorsed basketball shoes get worn casually, and from only a handful of basketball players.   Baseball, Golf, Football, hockey, soccer endorsements are usually about selling sports specific equipment and apparel.

Indoor soccer shoes are regularly worn. I think in the last couple of years, I've seen markedly less baseball shirts and hats too around here. The caps have definitely retaken their place from the nats

[Senatorswin]

The biggest mistake Harper made by signing with Philadelphia is he has to live in or near Philadelphia.

[van lingle mungo]

Um

I think baseball has the problem of a -huge- contingent of aging fans that long for the golden days of yore, vs the modern attention span of a fruit fly (I put myself in that latter category). If they change the game to appeal to younger fans, they'll alienate the guys who have disposable income and enjoy taking their grandkids to games. If they don't change something, kids will continue to use baseball as an excellent cure for insomnia.

Then it's up to the older generation to educate the younger generation about baseball and explain how and why baseball became the national pastime and how turning it into a circus like the Savannah Bananas are doing in order to supposedly make it more entertaining is horsecrap. If left up to me, I wouldn't change a damn thing about it - no replay, no pitch clock, no robot umpire calling balls and strikes, no zombie runner, no pitchcom gadget, no nothing. Leave it the hell alone! Anyone who lacks the patience to appreciate it in its purest form is a low brow idiot IMO. Let those people turn the channel to WWE to get their kicks. Or if they're actually attending a game, they can go troll around the concourse in search of entertainment since most ballparks now are doing double duty as amusement parks and places where dimwits can pay huge amounts of $ to sit behind home plate and stare at their cell phones.