Week 3: The Economics of Baseball; or It's Called "Moneyball" for a Reason

Sports teams that push for new stadiums are ruining cities financially. This is an objective fact, and the benefits that new stadiums offer, e.g. construction jobs and supposed increases in sales for surrounding businesses, are heavily outweighed by the demands these teams make of the cities during the construction processes. One cannot tell me otherwise; these are, again, objective facts. We are not here to talk about that, though; we are here to talk about people who have written about it.

In "Major League Baseball, like the NFL, asks taxpayers for free money" by Jason Notte, the reader is given multiple examples of teams that are attempting to acquire new stadiums in their respective cities, the cases at hand being:

• Atlanta, Georgia and the Braves;
• Oakland, California and the Athletics; and
• Tampa / St. Petersburg, Florida and the Rays.

The thing is that, because we have been looking at this article from the beginning with the National Football League's behaviors in mind (due to the article's title), one already has a notion of what is going on in the MLB; of course, this was Notte's intention. It is a sad fact that the NFL holds a greater national presence than the MLB, but Notte uses this to his advantage; by using that as a reference point, a reader can better understand when told that Braves ownership is going over the heads of Atlanta citizens to get a new field (look at the crosstown football team for context), when told that the Athletics situation with Oakland is not being interferred with by the commissioner (unlike other leagues, wink wink), or when told that there is another city that is not too bent outta shape about losing their team to another city if it means not building a new stadium (which reminds me of a city whose name rhymes with "paint bluish").

You know what else helps in having this conversation besides really great framing, though? Facts. Really good facts. You know who has great facts in their article? Neil DeMause, in his article "The Nation: Stop The Subsidy-Sucking Sports Stadiums." Really clear facts that are really relevant do a great job of supporting one's argument.

• When I get told, "Owners of teams in the 'big four' sports leagues... have reaped nearly $20 billion in taxpayer subsidies for new homes since 1990," I get a great idea of how much money cities have lost to sports teams;
• When it is explained, "In one study of six Super Bowls, [they] found 'no measurable impact on spending,' which he attributed to the 'crowding out' effect of nonfootball tourists steering clear of town during game week," one really understands that nothing good comes of a new sports stadium outside of the stadium; and
• When DeMause reasons, "Why do new sports facilities have such a hold on local elected officials? The simplest explanation is fear: because team owners can choose new cities but cities can't choose new teams...," it is really clear just how much of a chokehold is had.

Simply put, excellent facts can make for an excellent article and argument.

Week 2: The Game of Baseball; or How is Baseball Almost 300 But Still Incomplete?

John Newberry, the "Father of Children's Literature", featured one of the first written mentions of baseball in his 1744 book A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, intended for the Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly with Two Letters from Jack the Giant Killer. Despite that making baseball be at least two hundred, seventy-five years old, there are still flaws in the game that receieve heavy debate in the fanbase today.

Adam Sobsey's 2015 article "Play Baseball! And Do It Faster!" gets right to the point in addressing one of the biggest issues in baseball today: There is a huge debate on whether or not the length of time it takes to play a modern game of baseball is a problem. Sobsey presents one of the best takes on the matter due to his approach on the subject. Instead of taking a stance on the issue, Sobsey presents multiple perspectives on the matter through an informative approach:

• He takes interviews from pitchers with opposite views on a pitching clock (the Buffalo Bisons' Rob Rasmussen and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders' Cole Figueroa);
• He utilizes combating views from the MLB’s senior vice-president of league economics and strategy Chris Marinak;
• He uses examples of others instances where time has already been a part of the game;
• etc.

Through using these primary resources regarding the matter, Sobsey gives the reader the best insight possible on the subject matter. All day, baseball fans can argue among themselves what they think is best, but when the people who actually play for and work in the league have something to say, that is what truly shapes the conversation.

Due to our knowing the game is incomplete, many misconceptions about the baseball game can surface. Some of these are addressed in Allen Barra's 2014 article "The 4 Biggest Myths About Baseball." The four specifically at hand are...

• Baseball isn't as competitive as football;
• Baseball games are too long;
• Baseball’s talent pool has been diluted by expansion and competition from other sports; and
• Baseball is declining in popularity.

It is through the presentation of these points that Barra really excels. By laying out what point he will argue against and then doing so, one can take the article step-by-step in what it does; at the least, this is something I appreciate for how it makes digesting the article easier. Equally important, though, are the intriguing and quality facts that Barra uses, despite their being seemingly small; for a few examples...

• Being told that the average baseball game has roughly ten more minutes of a ball in play than an average football game feels small, but at the same time, to me, it does prove that, despite the games roughly taking the same time in whole, there is more going on in a game of baseball; and
• The rhetorical point that Barra makes regarding how baseball does not have large, national TV contracts, which makes it appear as though they have lower viewership certainly struck a chord with me too.

Week 1: The World of Baseball; or Baseball is Just a Metaphor

Baseball is more than just a sport to some who watch and/or play it.

To the late pitcher, manager, and baseball executive Albert G. Spalding, it is a point of national pride and maybe, even one of the greatest things to ever happen to mankind. In his 1911 piece America's National Game, Spalding discusses how baseball is one of the things that sets America apart from the rest of the world, especially the United Kingdom. He accomplishes this by drawing contrast between the British sport of cricket and the American baseball. He certainly does not think lesser of cricket, for he says, "Cricket is a splendid game, for Britons," but as one can see, he knows it is not meant for Americans. Meanwhile, "Base Ball is the American Game par excellence, because its playing demands Brain and Brawn, and American manhood supplies these ingredients in quantity sufficient to spread over the entire continent... Base Ball is an Athletic Turmoil, played and applauded in an unconventional, enthusiastic and American manner." From reading the article, one can see that Spalding thinks highly of America's (military) might, and considering that the dawn of the twentieth century featured a spike in nationalist ideas and feelings, it would add up that Spalding would make an effort to touch on the greatness America possessed at the time.

To researcher and writer Abe Stein, baseball is a point of reflection, specifically in regards to home and how it is represented int the game. In his 2014 article "How Home Plate Lives Up to Its Name," Stein touches on how we often focus on the "ball" aspect of baseball but never much of the "base." For most of the piece, Stein adopts a highly introspective tone yet adopts a structure similar to that of George Carlin's "Football and Baseball" - It is as though Stein is examining himself and his feelings on the world in front of the reader while he continuously moves back and forth between the differences that one can find between the average bases and home plate. In Stein's words, "Bases offer a refuge from the dangers of the game: to be on base is to be safe, to leave is to risk being tagged out... Home is the point of departure and return for players... The metaphorical significance of 'coming home' should not be downplayed..." It is through this gentle and straightforward writing, though, that Stein is able to make this writing more accessible; the writing does not come off hard-hitting the way Spalding's does, but with its calm approach, it makes one find themself to be relating more to Stein's points than they would otherwise. Thus, one walks away thinking, "Yes, home plate is, truly, like my own home."