Anger over MLB’s Hall of Fame Sunday games and wonder about ESPN’s Sunday night choice.
The annual Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony was held on Sunday afternoon and three headliners were inducted – former Cubs and Expos outfielder Andre “The Hawk” Dawson, ex-Cardinals and Royals manager Whitey “The White Rat” Herzog and retired umpire Doug Harvey. Congratulations to them and the other new Hall members. (Link to induction speeches.)
I’ve had two Hall-related thoughts in my head about the day that I want to share here.
First, I am ashamed of Major League Baseball. I am ashamed of them for continuing to schedule a full slate of Sunday afternoon games during the Hall of Fame induction.
It wouldn’t have to be. The date is set long in advance – the last Sunday of July.
Why couldn’t and shouldn’t all MLB ballparks be dark on that one Sunday afternoon each summer? Encourage all baseball fans to take in a day of history. Move all the games to that night.
Why won’t it happen? Some owners somewhere will complain about a loss in revenue with a Sunday night gate compared to an afternoon and we all know exactly how the commissioner works.
I think it is incredibly disrespectful of the history of the game and especially a slight to the most worthy inductees each year.
Sticking with the money theme leads me to my second thought.
Sunday afternoon, my friend and Cubs Scout.com counterpart from InsideTheIvy.com Steve Holley wondered out loud why the far-below .500 Cubs were selected by ESPN to play on the Sunday night national broadcast for the third consecutive week.
It seemed clear as day… er night to me – ratings.
After all, we have the team of Herzog taking on Dawson’s club. (I also pointed out to Steve that the Expos were unavailable.)
The worldwide leader had previously lost out on their normal gig televising the induction to the in-house mouthpiece MLB Network. By picking this game, ESPN can take advantage of Hall of Fame Sunday as much as they can.
I don’t see that as a particular problem – just pointing out the possibility of something that seemed obvious to me.
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Yeah, they could either move the ball games or move the ceremony. Having them compete makes very little sense.
I’ve always thought the HOF induction and All-Star game should be all one event. Problem solved.
bb, in what city would those two events be?
It wouldn’t be on the most premium of days but I always felt they should extended the All-Star break by a day and have it the day after the ASG, They could finish the weekend on Sunday, activities on Monday, Game on Tuesday, HOF of Wednesday in Cooperstown, OFF on Thursday and pick back up on a weekend series on Friday.
M25, an interesting concept. You might need a day between the ASG and HOF, though. Consider this year – a night ASG in California and an induction ceremony the next noon in mid-state New York. Logistically very difficult.if not impossible. Then again, other than Bud, I wonder how many people need to be in both places.
I was thinking the HOF stuff would be moved into primetime if done during the week.
I was thinking the induction at Cooperstown on day 1, then wisk the new guys to the ASG on day 2 (along with anybody else that wanted to make the trip) have some further introductions and whatever in conjuction with the game, the an off day on day 3.
I’d personally not like to see the break expanded to four days, as I can barely stand no Cards game for three days in the middle of the season. Any proposed solution would avoid a lot of head wind if it doesn’t cut into revenue.
Make it part of the Sunday night telecast. Have it as an hour long pre-game. Let ESPN hype the crap out of it for their own means and MLB will benefit as well.
The problem emanates from the timing of the Hall of Fame induction event. The location becomes a problem, only when the event occurs smack-dab in the middle of Summer. If the season were to be divided in three segments of 54 games each, the teams would enjoy a two or three day rest period twice. The first segment could culminate in the Hall of Fame induction event (in mid- or late May). The second segment could culminate in the annual All Star Game (in mid- or late July). The final segment would, of course, culminate in postseason play.
We are getting some interesting ideas here. I think I like the two-break concept for another reason – it allows more games before selecting the All-Star teams. A pet peeve of mine for years has been that the ASG recognizes just one half of a season. This would help, increasing it to 2/3.
HOF at the start of June and ASG at start of August. 2-2-2 month season.
On the other hand, this way we would have to deal with all the MLB hype leading up to the ASG for an extra few weeks every year.
I like 57′s idea. I share your pet peeve about the ASG Brian. I have always argued that All Star candidates should be judged based on performance since the previous year’s ASG up to the next year’s game. That would ensure that the equivalent of one season of performance is taken into consideration. Judging players based on 3 months of play is silly and unfair to the players.
Another suggestion would be to have the All Star game at the end of the season. The NFL has their Pro Bowl after the Super Bowl. Why can’t MLB have the ASG after the WS?
Having the ASG in early-mid November would mean that most of the participants had not played in a game from between a month to six weeks. I don’t think that would fly.
Further, the Pro Bowl has become pretty irrelevant, at least in part due to its timing. Other than a free vacation to Hawaii, most NFL players would probably come up with an injury to avoid it and many still do. You don’t see MLB players ducking a chance to play in the All-Star Game as it still means something.
Since there is always a money undercurrent, I don’t know what the ratings are, but I bet the ASG is more watched than the Pro Bowl by a considerable margin. Stick it in mid-November during the height of the NFL races and college FB and BB and many fewer will care.
Okay, so that wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.
Roy Oswalt update. The Astros have not come down on their demands. Sources say Mo not confident of getting Oswalt. Oswalt says he will not go to Philly and there does not appear to be any other buyers at this point. Astros will have to lower their price or keep Oswalt, so says the scuttlebutt.
THE COLBY PROBLEM
Some food for thought…
A P-D reader with the screen name, “Hearts in ole St. Lou”, said the following:
“I would have his dad come in for a couple days. If he needs more time, send him to Memphis with his dad to work it out. I don’t want to loose him though. He should own centerfield for the next 15 years. A lefty in the lineup with pop is hard to come by. Seems the Cards are at a crossroad. Are we rebuilding or are we going for broke? Trying to do both would take a magician.”
(whoever that reader is, he is a man after our blingboy’s heart)
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_4d4eb156-98d8-11df-9c69-00127992bc8b.html?mode=comments
What year did the Cards not go for broke while rebuilding?
The 70′s.
2-2 reds and brewers in the 6th
A question arising from grave concern about Thursday’s game…
Assuming that our offense will produce at least 4 runs per game against the Mets, I have no worries about either Jaime (2.21) against Niese (3.54) or Adam (1.94) against Takahashi (4.52). What worries me is the Thursday match-up of Suppan (6.18) and Santana (2.79). Make the comparison of Suppan (against him, righties are .371 and lefties are .339) with Santana (against him, righties are .231 and lefties are .250) and you will know that there is no reason for any degree of confidence.
The fact that Blake Hawksworth’s most recent outing was an atrocious mess does not place him in the same category as Suppan, any more than the fact that an Ace’s occasional bad outing could possibly place him in the same category as a mediocre. Having said that…
Do we not attempt to establish the rhythm of an “every 5th day” rotation for our starters? Isn’t the “5th Starter” the odd man who is employed only when the normal weekly rest day does not occur (on a Monday or Thursday)? Why, then, is Suppan slated to start against the Elegant Contender on Thursday? We wince at the thought of Blake being sent against Santana, but a Suppan-Santana game is a mismatch made in Hell…
Matt Garza pitched a no-hitter tonight for Tampa Bay…
Isn’t Thursday Oswalt’s day to pitch?
Lohse’s line tonight at Memphis 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Don’t know about pitch count or if the early exit was as planned. Harden went 6 innings.
You just don’t give up do you 57
Lohse was scheduled for 40-50 pitches. He didn’t have great defense behind him.
Thanks Brian. I Like the 3 Ks and 0 BBs.
Well, 1 ER in 3 IP looks like a 3.00 ERA to me (good enough for the very first competition start). I’m very, very encouraged!
40 year old Jimmy Baseball smacks an impressive homer and puts the Brewers ahead 3-2 going into the 9th…
The Axe Man comes on and turns the lights out (two K’s!)… The Reds are now a full game behind!
I come home from visiting my mother to see the good news that the Red lost.
57, Waino is pitching against Neise, not Jaime.. Tony switched the order.
Well 57, your nightmare matchup of Suppan v Santana is off. Now its Hawk v Santana.
We will see how the unflappable rookie Garcia likes pitching in the Big Apple. The game is also on ESPN.
Whoa Nellie. Twins are beating the Royals 19-1. There is a lopsided game if I ever saw one.
Greinke was pitching.
Yeah, in one game you’ve got a no-hitter. In another, you’ve got on the same team two players with four hits each and one with five!
What a relief! If I had stayed online just a short while longer last night, I wouldn’t have gone to bed with the nightmare! Although we certainly do “wince at the thought of Blake being sent against Santana”, he is certainly the lesser of the two evils and Tony made the necessary correction in order to maintain the rhythm of an “every 5th day” rotation for our principal 4 starters. Now, we also have even better match-ups, with Adam (1.94) going against Niese (3.54) tonight and Jaime (2.21) going against Takahashi (4.52) tomorrow night. Indeed, there is warrant for even more optimism!
KYLE MCCLELLAN
(from “Taking stock of Cards personnel”)
I thought the following comment by Jeff Gordon was rather interesting:
“The good news: He is pitching very well in short relief, allowing opponents to hit just .206. The bad news: The Cards could really use another starter with his make-up and stuff in the rotation.”
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/jeff-gordon/article_95d95188-9973-11df-870c-00127992bc8b.html