Chattanooga and 41 Other MiLB Cities To Lose Teams

#4
#4
VolnJC said:
Nope..sad..when I traveled for work that was one of my fave things to do on a Summer evenings...and the company reimbursed me for my beer and stadium dogs lol... Chattanooga Lookouts been around for nearly 100 yesrs A brief history of the Chattanooga Lookouts
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Have seen the 👀’s play several times going back to the Nashville Sounds AA days...

Unbelievable they’re now gone..
 
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#6
#6
Wickman said:
Yep. One more year
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I loved to watch the Smokies play in Kodak...then we moved and went to the Mobile Bay Bears down here..night and day...it was a miserable effort and they left after this season to go north to Huntsville..my only option now is to drive to Pensacola to see the Blue Wahoo's
 
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#7
#7
My first job was with the Knoxville Blue Jays when they were affiliated with Toronto and I worked in the promotions department..........

Minor league baseball is a great and inexpensive way to see the future stars of major league baseball on a warm summer evening.
 
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#8
#8
That sucks. Minor league baseball is awesome.

I used to go to Savannah Sand Gnat (they already no longer exist) games a few times a week when I was stationed in GA.
 
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#9
#9
This hasn't happened yet fwiw. And Manfred is getting a ton of blowback from the media and other business people. There might be changes, but I'd expect to see some sort of meet in the middle type resolution to what's actually being proposed.
 
#10
#10
YankeeVol said:
That sucks. Minor league baseball is awesome.

I used to go to Savannah Sand Gnat (they already no longer exist) games a few times a week when I was stationed in GA.
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Went to a Savannah Bananas game a year ago. Had a blast. If this leads to more teams unleashing themselves from the MLB and putting on a show, it will be for the better.
 
#11
#11
Weezy said:
Went to a Savannah Bananas game a year ago. Had a blast. If this leads to more teams unleashing themselves from the MLB and putting on a show, it will be for the better.
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They're owned by the same guy that owns the Macon Bacon. It's basically a bunch of college kids who have never used a wood bat, but they Promote the crap out of it and it's impossible to not have a good time.
 
#12
#12
Weezy said:
Went to a Savannah Bananas game a year ago. Had a blast. If this leads to more teams unleashing themselves from the MLB and putting on a show, it will be for the better.
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I haven't been yet, but I know they sold out every game last year IIRC. It's amazing.
 
#13
#13
volfanbill said:
This hasn't happened yet fwiw. And Manfred is getting a ton of blowback from the media and other business people. There might be changes, but I'd expect to see some sort of meet in the middle type resolution to what's actually being proposed.
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That's what I'm thinking too. I wonder if the list they put out was a trial balloon done predominately to gauge reaction. In any kind of negotiation (which is what this ultimately is or will evolve into) you come out asking for the moon.
 
#14
#14
05_never_again said:
That's what I'm thinking too. I wonder if the list they put out was a trial balloon done predominately to gauge reaction. In any kind of negotiation (which is what this ultimately is or will evolve into) you come out asking for the moon.
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Ask for the full moon, wind up with crescent. Put pieces in place to ensure the facilities are upgraded and figure out how to give minor leaguers a real living wage. I think the idea of cutting teams is ridiculous. They were pointing out that Appy League teams only average around 1k fans. Well, that sounds awful on its own, but the stadiums are only designed to accommodate those kind of numbers to begin with. Sitting in metal bleachers watching small time baseball. It’s great family time, it’s cheap, and great way to introduce kids to baseball. Right now, the younger generations are moving away from baseball. Would be a shame to push them away altogether imo.

Of course, an obvious answer will be to charge exponentially more to go to these small time games and force bankruptcy on these teams. Instead of the owners opening their pockets. There’s a lot of false rumors that baseball is dying, but the $$$ numbers point to a different picture.
 
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#16
#16
volfanbill said:
Ask for the full moon, wind up with crescent. Put pieces in place to ensure the facilities are upgraded and figure out how to give minor leaguers a real living wage. I think the idea of cutting teams is ridiculous. They were pointing out that Appy League teams only average around 1k fans. Well, that sounds awful on its own, but the stadiums are only designed to accommodate those kind of numbers to begin with. Sitting in metal bleachers watching small time baseball. It’s great family time, it’s cheap, and great way to introduce kids to baseball. Right now, the younger generations are moving away from baseball. Would be a shame to push them away altogether imo.

Of course, an obvious answer will be to charge exponentially more to go to these small time games and force bankruptcy on these teams. Instead of the owners opening their pockets. There’s a lot of false rumors that baseball is dying, but the $$$ numbers point to a different picture.
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It's dying in terms of attendance (although this is happening across all sports), youth participation (although this is happening to football too), and general "buzz." Mike Trout might go down as the greatest baseball player of all time but he's anonymous to people who don't follow baseball. It's doing great in terms of total revenue because of the TV deals, and it's a little known fact that regional MLB TV ratings are much higher than regional NBA ratings. You'd never know that from watching the media.
 
#17
#17
05_never_again said:
It's dying in terms of attendance (although this is happening across all sports), youth participation (although this is happening to football too), and general "buzz." Mike Trout might go down as the greatest baseball player of all time but he's anonymous to people who don't follow baseball. It's doing great in terms of total revenue because of the TV deals, and it's a little known fact that regional MLB TV ratings are much higher than regional NBA ratings. You'd never know that from watching the media.
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Hockey is beginning to thrive off of regional marketing, so MLB should look into that imo. But, while I agree Trout is relatively unknown for his talent, he doesn’t try to market himself and it’s not easy playing for LA’s second team, especially since they haven’t been good in some time now.

Players like Judge, Soto, Acuna and Mookie have a chance to put stars in the national spotlight, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Judge and Mookie should’ve already been marketed better. MLB put their entire bet on Harper, and he’s been disappointing both as a true larger than life superstar and from a personality standpoint. Harper’s really good, but he’s not a top five player, maybe not top ten.
 
#18
#18
volfanbill said:
Hockey is beginning to thrive off of regional marketing, so MLB should look into that imo. But, while I agree Trout is relatively unknown for his talent, he doesn’t try to market himself and it’s not easy playing for LA’s second team, especially since they haven’t been good in some time now.

Players like Judge, Soto, Acuna and Mookie have a chance to put stars in the national spotlight, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Judge and Mookie should’ve already been marketed better. MLB put their entire bet on Harper, and he’s been disappointing both as a true larger than life superstar and from a personality standpoint. Harper’s really good, but he’s not a top five player, maybe not top ten.
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MLB I thought missed a golden opportunity to hype up his free agency last year, but for whatever reason could not or did not. Make it a LeBron-type "where is he going to go?" type thing.

Baseball is also just different from other sports like basketball in terms of how the game is played and the culture of the game. A single player does not make an outsized difference on a team's chances of winning like in basketball. Where LeBron (or any big FA) ends up in basketball is a bigger story partially because there are 10 total players on the floor at any given time, and a prized FA can turn a bad team into a team that makes the playoffs almost immediately. A couple big FAs joining a team or a big trade can turn a bad team into one that competes for titles immediately. Meanwhile the Phillies last offseason not only signed Harper but also traded for Jean Segura, signed Andre McCutchen (got hurt), David Robertson (got hurt), and J.T. Realmuto (essentially LeBron + a supporting cast) and improved from 80 wins to 81.

Baseball also has a "don't show your personality" thing going on, much like hockey, that hurts its broad marketability.
 
#19
#19
05_never_again said:
MLB I thought missed a golden opportunity to hype up his free agency last year, but for whatever reason could not or did not. Make it a LeBron-type "where is he going to go?" type thing.

Baseball is also just different from other sports like basketball in terms of how the game is played and the culture of the game. A single player does not make an outsized difference on a team's chances of winning like in basketball. Where LeBron (or any big FA) ends up in basketball is a bigger story partially because there are 10 total players on the floor at any given time, and a prized FA can turn a bad team into a team that makes the playoffs almost immediately. A couple big FAs joining a team or a big trade can turn a bad team into one that competes for titles immediately. Meanwhile the Phillies last offseason not only signed Harper but also traded for Jean Segura, signed Andre McCutchen (got hurt), David Robertson (got hurt), and J.T. Realmuto (essentially LeBron + a supporting cast) and improved from 80 wins to 81.

Baseball also has a "don't show your personality" thing going on, much like hockey, that hurts its broad marketability.
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I disagree with the first part. I think they tried to hype up his free agency, but between how long it took, the fact that fans by and large don't like Harper's personality and ego, and the fact he hasn't produced at an absolutely elite level, there just wasn't a lot of interest. I live in DC and even here he was just written off halfway through the offseason.
 
#20
#20
volfanbill said:
I disagree with the first part. I think they tried to hype up his free agency, but between how long it took, the fact that fans by and large don't like Harper's personality and ego, and the fact he hasn't produced at an absolutely elite level, there just wasn't a lot of interest. I live in DC and even here he was just written off halfway through the offseason.
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There are a bunch of people that don't like LeBron's personality/ego/politics too, yet his various free agency periods have generated massive interest. I get why Gnats fans wrote Harper off halfway through last season, but on the flipside that's an opportunity for other fanbases to get really excited about signing him and for the league to exploit the hype.

I do agree that the fact he hasn't produced at a consistently elite level does make it harder to hype. That, combined with the fact that it is hard for a single player in baseball to make a gigantic impact on a team, made Harper's FA pretty muted.
 
#21
#21
05_never_again said:
There are a bunch of people that don't like LeBron's personality/ego/politics too, yet his various free agency periods have generated massive interest. I get why Gnats fans wrote Harper off halfway through last season, but on the flipside that's an opportunity for other fanbases to get really excited about signing him and for the league to exploit the hype.

I do agree that the fact he hasn't produced at a consistently elite level does make it harder to hype. That, combined with the fact that it is hard for a single player in baseball to make a gigantic impact on a team, made Harper's FA pretty muted.
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Yea, but Lebron is the absolute best player since at least MJ and some (not I) argue as being the goat. A lot easier to market him even with some off putting personal stuff. And I was speaking halfway through the offseason for writing off Harper. It’s easy to get excited and sell free agency deals when they happen in a matter of days. Baseball gives the agents all the say and deals now aren’t made until spring training begins. Totally ruins any offseason storylines
 
#22
#22
That’s pretty much the entire Appalachian League. Except for the Pulaski Yankees.

They gonna be a 1 team league lol?

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#24
#24
ArdentVol said:
what happed to Billy Meyer stadium --- Tigers provided fans with top-notch talent
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Its still there, some great names have played in that stadium over the years. I've heard stories that Babe Ruth once played in an exhibition game at Bill Meyer.
Last I recall some of the area High Schools were playing a few games there along with the men's leagues. But it's been a long time since I was in the area.
 
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