OFF: WAY OFF (Baseball)

[Andrew Apold]

>        Second, SPENDING LOTS OF MONEY is not the answer.  That's been

I never said it was... many teams as you say spend tons and don't.
But it is a prerequisite.

I admit, I'm a twins fan.  And I guarantee 100% rock solid, they will
not even come close to .500 ball.  This year, or the next five years.
Neither will the Royals, and several other teams out there....  maybe
if they'd been successful in getting a stadium after '91... but they
weren't.  And it seems that many of the teams rejuvenated with new
stadiums haven't held up in the long haul.  Cleveland applied just
about the right strategy to make last, and has been successful,
though.

>        Third - AND DON'T FORGET THIS - you don't have to win to make
>        money in baseball.  This is the PRIMARY LESSON of the Chicago
>        Cubs and the Florida Marlins.  They will ALWAYS sell their
>        tickets and tshirts whether the team wins 60 or 90 games.

The Marlins... I live in South Florida... if they had only kept that
        team together, they would be mentioned in the same breath with
        all those other teams... they really had put it all together,
        yes, with a huge payroll.... but they didn't get the attendence
        figures, and never got a chance to become a dynasty.  Its amazing
        when you see how many ex-marlins factor in a major way every year,
        though.


>        Sigh.  Here's a quiz for you:
>
>        Count the number of unique teams who have made the playoffs
>        over, say, the last 10 years.

>        Count the number of teams who made the playoffs during any
>        decade BEFORE free agency (adjust for the extra slots).  It's
>        not even close.

There are more slots, yes, but I'm talking about teams that have won it,
not been close.  We get Blue Jays, Braves, Marlins and Yankees.

The 80's saw Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Twins, A's, Reds, Royals.  Even
accounting for the strike year.

I just think some kind of revenue sharing has got to happen... the NFL
has got it right on this score.  The Rams were the losingest team in
the 90's going into 1999...and won the Superbowl.  Every year, there
is hope for just about every team (except the Bengals).


=============================
"To dwell within Samsara, however, is to
 be subject to the works of those mighty
 among dreamers."

 - Mahasamatman, in Zelazny's "Lord of Light"

Andrew Apold