Non-Phillies 2023 Major League Season Discussion

Lucky_Beagle 2023-10-02 16:38:25 UTC #502

It really is amazing how 1 single game can really impact certain teams. After playing 162 games look at the teams that just made it or just missed the playoffs (or placing within the playoffs) by a single game. That game won/lost that impacted multiple teams could have happened in late September or early April. It could have happened due to an injury, poor call by an ump, lack of hustle by a player, managers not changing or changing pitchers too soon, etc.

zambonir 2023-10-02 18:46:13 UTC #503

Votto one of the all-time class acts.

I cannot holler at the umpire from our teams bench. He was completely justified in ejecting me.

For those that wanted to see me play today, I am sorry.
— Joey Votto ( @JoeyVotto ) October 1, 2023

The ump made the wrong call, but he wasn't wrong to throw him out, since that's a cut and dried rule. And he couldn't have possibly known or cared that it might be Votto's last game (especially since Votto doesn't even know what he's doing) - nor should it have affected things if he did.

bkox 2023-10-02 23:48:31 UTC #504

Openings now in SF, NYM, Cleveland, and LAA

zambonir 2023-10-03 00:16:15 UTC #505

Any team that can't keep a manager for more than two years has bigger problems (not that this isn't obvious with Anaheim and the Mets... as it was for the Phillies a couple of times too).

Pretty fascinating that Aaron Boone is coming back. Wonder if next year really is Cashman's last ride if it doesn't work out.

bkox 2023-10-03 23:45:28 UTC #506

Phillies lost the 4th least days, 890, and about 20% of that is Rhys.

dicemen99 2023-10-04 01:48:30 UTC #508

I believe that is a satire post. Don't think Showalter actually said that.

bkox 2023-10-04 01:54:30 UTC #509

you are right.. It was retweeted by someone I trust so I didnt independently verify like I normally do. Mad at myself for that because I hate posting bad stuff

zambonir 2023-10-04 20:42:18 UTC #510

Looks like Eflin's season won't be very long.

Philsmania 2023-10-05 10:48:27 UTC #511

Rays draw only about 21k for a Postseason game. The new ballpark needs to change much of the fan support dynamic.

zambonir 2023-10-05 12:13:45 UTC #512

That one is really on MLB. Weekday games on short notice and if you are a Rays fan just playing the wild card round is not that big a deal (even though they have now blown it two years in a row). Obviously if they had a larger season ticket base the floor would be higher and both the stadium and the cheap ownership/lack of revenue remains an issue.

Phillies of course still would have sold out their day games but this market is riding the high of a decade of pent-up demand combined with last year's success. IIRC the Braves don't always draw well either.

andyb 2023-10-05 13:05:05 UTC #513

Don't most teams sell postseason packages well in advance? They make you pay for all the rounds and rebate you later.

Rays problem is zero season ticket base. So nobody was there to buy the tickets. Single game sales help, but imagine most teams get up to 80% capacity for any postseason series (midweek, short notice, whatever) before they even start single game sales.

Whether a new stadium will change this is an interesting and unanswered question.

Philsmania 2023-10-05 14:26:56 UTC #514

And speaking of the Rays...whenever they get to October in a normal non-2020 season, it's either win the AL pennant or bow out in their first series.

As for Florida's other ML team, after winning their first seven Postseason series in franchise history, the Marlins have now lost their last two.

Philsmania 2023-10-05 14:50:01 UTC #515

Also for the record...

There have been 245 instances all-time where there were at least 4 series in a given round of the MLB, NBA or NHL playoffs.
This MLB Wildcard round is the first time all of them ended in sweeps.

zambonir 2023-10-05 16:07:00 UTC #516

I think that number is more like 50%, maybe even less. Phillies base was just 10,000 last season and 15,000 this year. Though I guess that includes all accounts so yeah if they let all the half-season people buy for every playoff game and the partials buy more than one (which they have so far, must not automatically) they probably do get pretty close to 30,000 quickly. I don't think there was even a public on-sale for the wild card round.

Anyway, all the things are true with Tampa. They don't have enough season ticket holders, and a lot of people weren't going to buy tix or be able to go once those times were announced. And the stadium and the location still bad. The new stadium will probably be a better experience as well as an attempt to create a new entertainment district. It still won't change the reality of the location but that doesn't seem to stop Arlington or Gwinnett.

Philsmania 2023-10-05 16:10:26 UTC #517

Supposedly dowtown Atlanta was the problem and Gwinnett supposedly solves that. Atlanta is an uber-car town (little public transit) and the suburban location is more accessible to the driving folks.

The problem with St. Pete is that it is difficult to access for those in Tampa and suburbs to the east (got to travel through Tampa and accross the bridge to Ste. Pete). And, traffic is a big problem in Florida. Getting to a Rays game is surley something of an exercise in aggravation.

zambonir 2023-10-05 16:18:00 UTC #518

How many of those were only best-of-three (besides the other two years of baseball doing it).

andyb 2023-10-05 16:20:43 UTC #519

The Atlanta stadium was more of a real estate deal for the team too. Not sure the attendance is necessarily much better. The team just got a billion dollars in extra real estate and all the income associated with that. BTW it is in Cobb (western suburbs rather than Gwinnet towards the east).

Fangraphs wrote about the Tampa deal a couple of weeks ago:

zambonir 2023-10-05 16:24:46 UTC #520

I don't think Gwinnett solved anything other than lining the pockets of the Braves and its associated real estate developers. They actually weren't drawing especially well/better there until they finally won the World Series. There is plenty of public transportation in that region and the Hawks and Falcons have no problem drawing people. I imagine it is incredibly inconvenient if you live downtown or anywhere other than north of the city. But, relative to Georgia, DFW or even our own sports complex (to say nothing of Los Angeles and Arizona) the people of Tampa-St. Pete probably protest a bit too much. And, of course, they need more transit.

bkeich 2023-10-05 20:20:10 UTC #521

Not sure how much you have been in Atlanta, but almost no one lives downtown (I did for a year, I NEVER went outside at night). It is really just office buildings and one huge slum (read Gang territory). There is no night life downtown except around Georgia Tech and the small Theater area. Atlanta is a strange city, with almost no exception the entire middle and upper class is north of the city, the south is very impoverished (except for Peachtree City). There is a military base south of the city, but it is like a small island, isolated from the area. The layout is different than any other city I have ever seen.

zambonir 2023-10-05 20:46:05 UTC #522

I haven't been there in probably longer than you've lived there but I'm still not buying it. The Clermont Lounge (which I realize is not downtown) is a freakin' boutique hotel now! It's a showcase city for major sporting events and music, as well as a hub for black professionals. Now, maybe that also says something about baseball's fan base. But the Braves didn't have to leave, anymore than the Sixers have to leave Broad and Pattison or any team has to move anywhere really. They wanted the sweetheart public $ and the real estate deal. And so do the Rays.