Red Sox - Rockies World Series

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by Prodigal Son

Bottom line: Denver--and all of Colorado--is not a big market. They had an initial boom in interest, as is the case for pretty much all sports teams (the Marlins drew over three million--5th highest total in the NL--in 1993, when they went 64-98), but using that initial boom as the baseline for the market's size, or even the market's realistic potential is...well, stupid.

But we are talking about Rockies in 1998, not Rockies in 1993. Rockies maintained top level attendance number through the first 6 years, and stayed respectable after that.

Marlins' attendance in 1998 was already near the bottom. The attendance record of all other expansion teams dropped fast after the first or second year.

The Rockies' attendance only dropped below league average in 2004, their 11th year.

Marlins? 3rd
Arizona? 8th
Tampa Bay? 2nd
Seattle? 1st
Toronto? 3rd
Washington? 2nd


So I don't see "initial boom" is the reason at all.

[darkcloud4579]

I live in Wyoming, about 90 minutes from Denver. The Rockies don't brand themselves or take advantage of the huge swath of land here that would be happy to have a baseball game on each night, if only they'd find a way to get it to them. Or on the radio, as many of us who grew up on the east coast can attest...it's a powerful tool in terms of building fan loyalty over time.

So you have to "teach" fans who haven't grown up with the game how to appreciate it, this playoff run has really done that in ways that they couldn't buy, but given the tons of articles out there about the ineptitude of the Rockies ownership, the lack of overall success -- save for this year's run -- is no big shock, I guess.

That said, I'm glad this subject came up. I sure learned something about MLB revenue.

[Morty Ruth]

Originally Posted by silvam14

Its a good point, but when you look at the northeast region you speak of, besides the greater Boston are, the populations in NH, VT, ME, and RI aren't exactly booming. VT doesn't even have close to a million people and NH and ME are alonf the same lines.

I knew quite a few expos fans in northern vermont at one point -- many people in some of these place were quite antagonistic towards the red sox (and, of course, to Massachussetts in general). I would hesitate to paint the down easters as blanket red sox fans, at least when I was there.

but it has been a very long time, and I doubt many people are following the Nats at this point out of historic loyalty.

[yankeesrule]

looks like they are going with ortiz at first and youk off the bench, not sure about this one. with ortiz's bum knee and general lack of athleticism, I can see an errant throw/throw in the dirt or one that hes gotta jump for getting past him. guess we'll see how it works out

[Hazza]

With the way Youk's been hitting, i'd given Papi a break for a game, he can allways PH.

But then again, as Francona mentioned, the idea is to get a lead and then bring in Youk as a "Defensive Sub" (if it can be called that, with Youk's current form.)

[towerofpower]

Originally Posted by yankeesrule

looks like they are going with ortiz at first and youk off the bench, not sure about this one. with ortiz's bum knee and general lack of athleticism, I can see an errant throw/throw in the dirt or one that hes gotta jump for getting past him. guess we'll see how it works out

I really feel like this is a move made with the media implications in mind. As in, the Sox didn't want to deal with the fallout of the headlines reading "Ortiz Benched" seeing as many more people know who Ortiz is over Youk (reference this years All Star vote for proof of that).

I think this is a really bad move by Tito and I hope it doesn't come back to haunt him. Hopefully there isn't any close plays at first that Ortiz boches leading to unearned runs...and of course his bum knee...man if he commits an error (or two) and then goes 0 for 3...

Hopefullly Youk gets the nod for game 4.

[Joshv02]

I don't think the Red Sox make managerial moves in he 3rd game of he World Series based on media implicaions

Ortiz is a 10x better player than Youks, small sample size be damned.

[Jestre]

Originally Posted by towerofpower

I really feel like this is a move made with the media implications in mind. As in, the Sox didn't want to deal with the fallout of the headlines reading "Ortiz Benched" seeing as many more people know who Ortiz is over Youk (reference this years All Star vote for proof of that).

I think this is a really bad move by Tito and I hope it doesn't come back to haunt him. Hopefully there isn't any close plays at first that Ortiz boches leading to unearned runs...and of course his bum knee...man if he commits an error (or two) and then goes 0 for 3...

Hopefullly Youk gets the nod for game 4.

You gotta be kidding me!!!! The impact of Ortiz' absence from the #3 spot in the batting order would be tremendous. Ramirez would not see a decent pitch the entire game, the entire batting order would have to be shuffled. With Youky out of the lineup you just insert Ellsbury in the #2 spot and slide Lugo up one spot and you are good to go. Youky will be inserted into the lineup by the 7th or 8th inning of any game the Red Sox lead and can be used to pinch hit in a strategic spot. Ortiz is not a bad fielder, sure he isnt on a par with Youk but the impact of Ortiz absence from the lineup would be devastating.

[thehatfield]

I think I heard Ellsbury leading off and Pedroia dropped to the 2 hole.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by Jestre

You gotta be kidding me!!!! The impact of Ortiz' absence from the #3 spot in the batting order would be tremendous. Ramirez would not see a decent pitch the entire game, the entire batting order would have to be shuffled. With Youky out of the lineup you just insert Ellsbury in the #2 spot and slide Lugo up one spot and you are good to go. Youky will be inserted into the lineup by the 7th or 8th inning of any game the Red Sox lead and can be used to pinch hit in a strategic spot. Ortiz is not a bad fielder, sure he isnt on a par with Youk but the impact of Ortiz absence from the lineup would be devastating.

I have to agree with this. The lineup hit with Ortiz out that Jestre talks about outweighs the defense hit with Ortiz in. Youkilis is hot right now, but any streak comes to an end sooner or later. I go with this comparison:

Ortiz  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BA
2007  149 549 116 182 52 1  35 117 .332
 
Youk   G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BA
2007  145 528  85 152 35 2  16  83 .288

Of course, I also like the idea of Youkilis in for Ortiz with the Red Sox in the lead in the late innings.

[Tony M]

1998 Yankees,

Has Rudy shot himself in the foot in New York with his comments about rooting for the Red Sox in the WS?

I've seen a lot of comments around the web criticising him.

[Prodigal Son]

So, when's the game?

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by redsoxford

1998 Yankees,

Has Rudy shot himself in the foot in New York with his comments about rooting for the Red Sox in the WS?

I've seen a lot of comments around the web criticising him.

Nah, not really. He's like me, rooting for the AL now that the Yankees are out of it; that was his explanation. Most people who know baseball would agree with that. Others who think they know baseball and who would overreact to something like that are probably not voters anyway.

Besides, and not too off topic I hope, right after that story was published came the news that back in the 80's, when Giuliani was a U.S. district attorney, local mobster John Gotti wanted to put out a contract on him. Gotti had the support of the Colombo family but those two families were outvoted by the other New York mobs, the Bonanno, Lucchese, and Genovese families.

So, it may very well be that Giuliani is only running for president today because he won that vote, 3-2. Needless to say, his local popularity soared with this news and his Red Sox rooting was forgotten, if it ever was a meaningful issue for the election.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by Prodigal Son

So, when's the game?

NOT SOON ENOUGH! Let's play ball! Fire up (ice down?) them humidores!

[Tony M]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

Nah, not really. He's like me, rooting for the AL now that the Yankees are out of it; that was his explanation. Most people who know baseball would agree with that. Others who think they know baseball and who would overreact to something like that are probably not voters anyway.

That's good. I always want the AL to win the World Series, and as a few comments I've seen have said, wanting someone to win doesn't mean you're a fan of said team.

Two hours to go tonight. Why not an afternoon start for the weekend

[Tony M]

Really missing the DH tonight

[Hazza]

I'm trying to study, and I log into Gameday, just to see Daisuke knock in an two RBI single.

Whooo-Yeah!

[Kekkonen]

What's that ruckus? Is it the fat lady getting ready to sing?

[Tony M]

OK. I've just worked out why this game is going fast. The clocks went back an hour 40 minutes ago, so it's only 1.40am again! the game started at 1am here.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by redsoxford

OK. I've just worked out why this game is going fast. The clocks went back an hour 40 minutes ago, so it's only 1.40am again! the game started at 1am here.

Our clocks don't go back until November 4th I think.