Major League Baseball has tried killing the golden goose so
many times yet fans keep flocking to the ballyards as if they
were all wearing the same rose colored glasses Bud Selig and
his cronies have loaded in their storerooms.
Strikes, steroids, ticket prices nearing that of winter sports,
idiot owners, insolent players and a clueless commissioner have
not stopped the numbers from rising in record number year after
year, which I never seem to get.
Maybe I am one of those leftovers from an era gone by where
tradition was a word that had some meaning and kept this very
beautiful sport sitting on top of the world compared to the
likes of the NFL, NHL and the NBA.
Even so, I have grown used to the influx of new rules, fake
grass, designated hitters, domed stadiums because those that
have the almighty power believe that this is all in the name
of progress.
Not all of it has been good my friends, like they have fished
it out of some unkempt cesspool on the outskirts of New York
City where the offices of MLB are.
Today's "traditions" are stolen from other sports
with words like playoffs and wild card and fans love it. That's
because their teams, who cannot compete with the New Yorks or
Bostons or Atlantas or Chicagos in spending, get the illusion
of something that isn't there - being a winner.
To borrow an auto racing phrase, second is nothing more than
being the first loser and that is what the wild card brings
to the table - rewarding the lack of excellence. Despite hating
it with a deep passion I have to admit it works and anything
that will get this game to its lofty heights once again, I say
go for it.
I also hate, no let's make that despise, the designated hitter,
not due to what it does or doesn't do but rather because it
is a rule that is not equally applied in the sport. It makes
a mockery out of Interleague play, All Star games and the ultimate
spectacle, the World Series.
As a lifelong National League fan I found myself rooting for
a team in the Junior Circuit, the Devil Rays, when I moved to
Tampa Bay.
I could have gone over to the east coast where all the folk
from the northeast flock when pension checks and Social Security
are the sole sources of income just to keep my NL roots but
wanted to be part of what I thought was something special -
being part of two expansion teams in one lifetime (I was in
New York when Casey Stengel and the Mets popped out of the MLB
womb).
While I still (an likely never) throw darts at the two letters
on my dartboard, I have learned to accept it because we have
a major league team, which sure beats the alternative.
Part of the progress I spoke about earlier is the influx of
big league games available for viewing, whether it be FOX on
Saturday, ESPN on Monday, Wednesday and when there is nothing
else on their busy docket, stick a Thursday nighter on us because
it's the BoSox and Yankees, a sure ratings grabber.
For the die-hard baseball fan like myself, there are never
enough games on the tube although some have made an issue out
of overexposure and maybe that is why the NFL has passed MLB
by as the top sport. That's another story for another day.
Speaking strictly as fan, I applaud Rays ownership, past and
present, for getting as many games on television as possible
but it comes at a cost. When the team in on the road some don't
make it back to Tampa Bay.
At the time of this column we have already missed the following:
•
April 22 from Texas
•
May 5 from Oakland
•
May 8 from Seattle
•
May 10 from Seattle.
In the coming months there are seven more that Rays fans will
get to see "alternate" programming on Channel 66 or
Fox Sports Net Florida. Guess those infomercials or the 48th
repeat of something that was seen back in 1492 draws more fans.
To be fair, there is one game against the Marlins in that football
stadium named after the football team that is being picked up
by FSN with the fish announcers.
I have written more than a few times that I am from a school
that ALL road games should be sent back to the home market simply
because fans cannot just walk up to Seattle and buy a ticket
to see it. For me, that's a no-brainer.
I have screamed to the top of my lungs on my radio show, "Speaking
of Sports" that EVERY Sunday game should be on FREE
TV because in today's world where both spouses work and
Sunday may be the only day they have to spend with the kids.
Fire up the BBQ, get the rabbit ears out and flip on a Rays
game on the patio.
The point is, you don't build a fan base if the game cannot
be seen either because the game simply isn't on or cable is
needed. Not everyone is like me where I had my patio wired so
I could see FSN or sports in general. Not everyone has that
luxury.
Now while I am not privy to the actual contract that Naimoli
signed to get enough money to pay for the ill fated Hit Show
and Stu Sternberg and his partners may be stuck with it for
years to come, there has to be some way of working things out
to make this work for everyone.
Simply swap out home TV dates and get Major League Baseball
to get the clubs together to make sure that ALL games are made
available in one form or another so they are made available
to the other market. For many teams that are not named New York,
Boston, etc., a few more games is just the prescription for
the die-hard fan.
But here is what I believe is the ultimate slap in the face
of baseball fans and the Devil Rays are not at fault here but
they could be part of the solution.
If you are one of those people who is lucky to have digital
cable, you are paying for that service. If you purchase the
Major League Baseball Extra Innings package, add $179.00
for the season. That is roughly a $220.00 investment, depending
on what your cable outfit charges for digital and that doesn't
even include the box rental.
Baseball has a blackout rule that if the game is televised
locally, all you get is a black screen if it is picked up by
MLBEI. No problem there. But I ask you and MLB, if the Rays
are not broadcasting a road game on FSN or 66 and it
is in the other city and on MLBEI, why the black screen?
It is not like the advertisers have any complaints because
no one is going to see them anyway. It's not like millions of
people are going to break out the trusty hurricane 9 Transistor
to listen to it when there are so may other choices left on
the tube?
Maybe WHNZ and the Rays radio network will get a little spike
in their ratings but I don't believe it is enough where advertising
rates go up for those specific dates.
All it does is leave Rays fans in the dark, even when you are
spending money to watch, which you cannot.
For those who remember when the Tampa Bay Lightning and the
then named Sunshine Network had a contract dispute that had
Bolts games pulled from the network. The Lightning not only
had the NHL lift the blackout on their Center Ice season pay-per-view,
they did so for any other outlet that was carrying their games.
The Rays should do the same.
So you might ask, "Why make a fuss out of a handful of
games?" Simple. Fans are paying the freight and they should
get at least some consideration for their loyalty.
It's time for the Devil Rays, and other teams, to step up to
the plate and hit a home run for their fans. Get the blackout
restrictions lifted.
*************
Call me crazy but I love Keith Olbermann.
I know, I know. Y'all know that I trashed the former ESPN comic
for ripping Tropicana Field to shreds and I responded by writing
a column saying he never set one foot in the place.
I was right.
This spring, I spent three games at Al Lang Field briefly chatting
with him and then spending nearly an entire game with him in
a two-man booth at Legends Field when the Rays were hosted by
the Yankees.
He admitted he has never seen the building but was going to
the final exhibition before he headed back to New York.
That day, once the Rays finished their batting practice and
was heading to the clubhouse, I spotted him standing behind
home plate and walked over to ask him his thoughts not that
he has seen it up close and personal.
Almost apologetic, the Trop wasn't bad and that his impressions
were based on what he saw on TV and it didn't portray well.
He also said he had heard a lot of negatives and that the combination
led to his diatribe.
While offering up some suggestions of how the Rays could make
it better on TV, there is word that the current turf could be
replaced next year, one that looks like the real thing.
I gained a boatload of respect for the guy who admitted his
was misled and to hear something positive just added to that.
*************
As a devotee of Countdown on MSNBC, imagine how tickled
I was when he singled out a pair of local journalists on his
show. Sadly, it was during his "Worst Person in the World"
segment and it was on back-to-back shows.
By the way, the two were also from the same paper, the Tampa
Tribune.
Sports columnist Joe Henderson was singled out the first night
for his fine work on comparing an allegedly juiced Barry Bonds
to a "juiced" Babe Ruth.
Henderson wrote the following: Babe's "juice" was barley-colored
and had a foamy head, and it was also against the law to consume
it. Olbermann read the prohibition law and while it
was illegal to make, ship or sell the alcoholic product, nowhere
did it say anything about consuming it.
Henderson got the "Worser" of the three nominees.
The best, or "Worst" one was reserved for Janet Weaver,
the Trib's Executive Editor and Vice President, saying that
she was so intent on beating the paper's rival, the St. Petersburg
Times, with a scoop that she tried to stop the presses to
get the story in.
What was so important that she would be on the phone at two
in the morning?
How about the editor calling in her own arrest for DUI.
I don't know if congratulations are in order or condolences.
