Fuck the Dodgers and MLB

can you amend that for the manager?

which sport isn't?

So you'd rather have a guy who got shutdown last year with a sore arm and has a known gimpy back keep throwing in his first start in cold weather for an accomplishment? Ask the Mets how that worked out for Johan Santana. Big picture my friend. 

On a reality show years ago, a Marine corps DI was asked how he could yell all day, everyday at volume 11 and not lose his voice, and he replied, " I'm a Red Sox fan".

Golf, Turtle.

Just the Dodgers + MLB ?

I got a laundry list.

Redsox fans were, are and always will be inferior to Yankee fans. Your opinion on pulling Kershaw solidifies it. You don't win championships in the first week.

In 1975 there were maybe 9 channels on TV. Now the options are endless. People watched the World Series because there was nothing else on. Ratings for everything have gone down, not just sports. 

Roberts doesn't care about our entertainment, he's managing a team. The season is a marathon, spring training was short so pitchers didn't have the normal ramp-up time, and Kershaw has a long history of serious injuries.

If it was a different pitcher then Roberts might have left him in there, and being a perfect game makes it a tougher decision, but it's still just one game and an individual achievement, while the Dodgers are trying to win a championship and have over 150 games yet to play, and they want Kershaw for the entire season.

I'm sure it was a hard call for Roberts, but teams all around the league are wisely being conservative with their starters right now; that's why they call them 'managers'.

A more interesting baseball conversation might be about what the Giants did last night in a blowout win against the Padres.

The Giants had a 9-run lead in the 2nd inning and a Giant stole 2nd base, then in the 6th with still a 9-run lead a Giant bunted for a hit, both plays breaking the hallowed "unwritten rules" of baseball.

Personally, I thought the bunt was a little more egregious than the SB. Whatever the lead, in the 2nd inning anything can still happen and it's not good for a team's rhythm to stop being aggressive that early, but the Padres were pissed about both.

The Giants response is that they're trying to win a series, and especially with a day game the next day they wanted to keep the pressure on the Padres, force them to go deeper into their bullpen and wear down their staff. It's a strategy they've used before and I think it makes allot of competitive sense, but they're not making any friends playing that way.

So Mauricio Dubon, who bunted in the 6th, will almost certainly get drilled by the Padres at some point this season, and bunting WAS a bit in-your-face, but they were playing him deep, it was still only the 6th inning, the Giants were being aggressive and fuck you Padres.

And baseball is doing fine. People love to cry "THE SKY IS FALLING!!!" and stats can be made to say anything. "Attendance at games has declined steadily since 2008"... Average MLB attendance right now is a little over 30,000 a game, which is lower than 2008... by HUNDREDS, not thousands, and is twice what it was in the '70s & '80s. 

As for national TV ratings, they don't really mean much in this age of streaming, which is where all sports is heading. Broadcast money in baseball comes from local viewership, and that's all doing fine as well.

Ultimately, all you have to do is follow the money. Everybody involved in MLB is making tons, more than ever.

Most of the new rules are stupid and the league is run by buffoons, but baseball is still a beautiful game, is more popular around the world than ever before and is alive and well.

As are the Giants.

GG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>>Average MLB attendance right now is a little over 30,000 a game, which is lower than 2008... by HUNDREDS, not thousands<<<

Actually, that's not accurate.

Average attendance is down from 2008 by about 2,000, and at worst was down by about 4,000, but rebounded quickly and is holding steady at around 30,000.

Which is still double what it was in past decades, and with expanded playoffs attendance will remain higher into September as well.

Just to be clear.

In a few generations, our descendents will see baseball will outlast football because mothers don't want their kids to play football.

whatever, i almost lost my 3 front teeth and got a concussion from a hardball to the grill.

baseball is hardly "safe".

you shouldn't have been crowding the plate.

. As a Red Sox Fan<<<<<
 

Say no more.

..

If you believe the reporting... Doc asked Kersh after the 6th how he wanted to play it and Kersh said one more inning or 85 pitches.  Kersh also said he couldn't really locate his off speed after the 5th so he was having questions.  Plus it's cold as all get out in Minnesota right now.  So it's probably the right call.  The best I've seen Clayton pitch in a while. 
 

That being said, would've been fun to see him go for it. 
 

Lance, I am Dodger fan(sorry) but your post was spot on,,"and fuck you Padres".. I laughed out loud

Gotta love Baseball!

MLB just cannot help itself. Like Kmart, Sears and Blockbuster, it's just locked into a never ending downward spiral with no leadership in place to stop the bleeding.

The Kershaw situation is a perfect example. With only 80 pitches thrown he could have easily gone back out and tried to toss two more innings, no problem. If he did it, it would have been a great early season occurrence, creating positive buzz for the league and team. But he's pulled because of a math equation and a lame-ass excuse that he needs to be saved for the post season. It's early April LOL.  

I don't know where Lance is getting his information that MLB is doing well as he is the sole person in America with this intriguing viewpoint. 

James McMurtry has a waggish description on his FB page that states "Steadily Shedding Fans since 1989". Maybe MLB could use this as it's new corporate tagline.

I love James McMurtry but he is not where I go for my baseball commentary.

The idiots in charge keep trying to fuck things up, but the fans are strong.  And the game itself is better than ever. All the new young talent coming into the league is very exciting. I see a continued big future for baseball.

And I hope it does not go to the games being streamed rather than on the good old tube.

I went to the Giants game yesterday, it finished under 3 hours which seems like some sort of record. Great game all around and for a 12:45 weekday game, it was pretty crowded!

>>>I don't know where Lance is getting his information<<<

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/misc.shtml

Simple stats = facts.

Attendance is holding steady and is as high or MUCH higher than it's ever been.

Payroll is higher than ever, teams aren't moving (expect probably the A's, but that's because their owner is even greedier than most of the other greed-meister owners) teams aren't folding, teams & players are all making bank.

All that money and all those people going to the games are coming from somewhere, and when I go to games & watch on TV I see as many people in their 20's & 30's as those in their 50's & 60's.

It's romantic to imagine that the game was more popular in early era's, but the numbers say no.

Is the game BETTER than it used to be? That's a completely different discussion. Is baseball the MOST popular sport in the US? Not anymore, but people are still following the game, they're still going to the games, they're still watching and the money is flowing in like never before. The NFL may now rule the day, but MLB is still heathy and isn't going anywhere.

>>>If he did it, it would have been a great early season occurrence, creating positive buzz for the league<<<

If Kershaw had completed the Perfect Game it would have been a national story for about three days. By next week no one except Dodgers fans would have remembered or cared. And that's a commentary on the short attention span of modern society more than whether people care about baseball anymore.

This story has gotten a huge amount of play, with lots of outrage expressed from fans, ex-players & the media, and there is a good argument to be made that for the sake of history and because he'll probably break down at some point anyway he should have been allowed the chance to finish the game, but as a very valuable & very expensive asset to his organization, and considering his history, age and the particular circumstances of that game, the argument that he needs to be managed very carefully is valid as well. And I have to believe that Kershaw had a voice in the decision, and that he also considered the bigger picture issues.

Ultimately, IMO the only people who have a real reason to be pissed are Kershaw himself and the fans who were in the stands, but since it was an away game even that wouldn't have mattered as much, because who wants to see a perfect game thrown AGAINST your team?

(In full disclosure, as a fan who has seen a Perfect Game from the stands - Matt Cain's - every time another is thrown the rare specialness of my personal experience diminishes. And that's a commentary on my personal selfish nature)

GO BASEBALL!!!

GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Differing opinion from Lance for those curious.   

Baseball Is Dying

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/opinion/baseball-nationalize.html

Kershaw seems fine with the move.  And honestly I wish the mets had pulled Scherzer earlier and he wasn't even in a perfect game.     

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/misc.shtml

Simple stats = facts.<<<<<

Thanks for sending the link Lance. As a measuring stick let's look at 2019, the year before COVID.

- 2019: 68,506,896 total attendance from 2,429 games

Now let's look back at 2008:

- 2018: 78,624,315 total attendance from 2,428 games

So in 10 years, in a league that was once the most dominant of all, MLB shed 10 million in-stadiums fans. And it occurred during a time of population growth, prosperity growth, etc. All factors should point to way more people (not way less) attending games. As a comparison, the NFL has continued to absolutely skyrocket over the same period.

The TV ratings have also dropped through the floor. The bifurcation of content and programming has made sports very valuable. Networks and streaming companies fight over the rights for pro sports because they need them. This money just masks the dwindling viewership.

I still watch quite a bit of MLB and have the MLB package. It's always on in my house. I'm a dying breed however and people like us who grew up with MLB as the national pastime aren't being replaced. It's still a viable league obviously but the downward spiral has been something to watch. A case study in strangling the golden goose.

So it goes.

The city of Las Vegas basically just told the A's they're welcome to come to town, but they wouldn't be getting any public help building a stadium because baseball doesn't really create any demand or revenue. 

Comparably, the city did just subsidize almost a billion dollars to build a stadium the raiders will play just eight games a year in. Because very profitable.

And no I don't think public dollars should be building stadiums for privately owned sports teams at all. The point (and fact) is that at least in the city of entertainment; baseball is cited specifically as being a financial dud.

Tatters, is that ten years or one?  Looks like either the dates are wrong or the description.  

I just find games unaffordable these days for a family of four and then not as enjoyable.  The experience just is less exciting and feels more forced.   Not sure why though.  

I am Sick of Kershaw ( Wimp ) and Dave Roberts   - Can;t wait till they are No Longer Dodgers.

Tatters, is that ten years or one?  Looks like either the dates are wrong or the description. <<<

Sorry yes, that should read 2008, not 2018.

PLF,,,why the Kershaw Roberts hate?

Kershaw and Roberts are classy dudes. Need to redirect that vitriol to Trevor Bauer 

And as star-studded as the Dodgers are this year, Trea Turner is the straw that stirs the Dodger Michelada.