The Baseball Game-Changer

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Baseball Game-Changer The baseball game-changer By embracing the digital revolution, America’s Major League Baseball is burgeoning. The formation of full-service media entity MLB Advanced Media, together with live streaming services to various platforms, has brought not only soaring profits but means fans can engage with the sport anywhere, anytime By Aarif Morbi, Interbrand New York merica’s national pastime is dying. Or so you might think if you read much of the commentary surrounding baseball these days. Those who Abelieve baseball is on the decline, point to the growing dominance of the National Football League (NFL) with its record-setting national viewership, massive TV deals, exploding revenue, and the cultural importance of the 100% increase from 2000 – and it is expected there are a handful of games per week Super Bowl. These negative forecasters also to top $10 billion in 2015. Meanwhile, MLB that are nationally broadcast, it is primarily point to declining national TV ratings for the commissioner Rob Manfred has set a revenue consumed locally, with fans tuning into their World Series, a lack of general awareness of goal of $15 billion for the next decade. local teams on a nightly basis through a some of baseball’s biggest stars, and the fact Strong attendance also suggests that MLB regional sports network. Contrast this with that baseball doesn’t dominate the American is doing better than some might realise. In the NFL, which hosts 16 regular season sports conversation anymore. It’s also no 2014, game attendance for the season hit games from the early fall into winter, with secret that many fans are turned off by the nearly 74 million, with the past ten seasons the games broadcast nationally. Those high cost of attending games – and with the ranking as the most-attended of all time. making dire warnings about the state of the proliferation of cable channels and other So what are those who have a dim view of sport miss that baseball is enjoyed locally content services, they have no shortage of the state of MLB today missing? over the course of a season, while NFL fans alternative entertainment options. First, they’re overlooking the way people spend Sundays watching national coverage But is this true? How well is Major League engage with the sport. The baseball season of multiple teams they’re not necessarily Baseball (MLB) doing today? The reality is is a marathon: from the early spring and rooting for. Simply put, baseball is consumed that it has never been healthier. MLB revenue into fall, MLB teams play 162 regular season and enjoyed regionally, while football is exceeded $9 billion in the 2014 season – a games before the post-season. While consumed and enjoyed nationally. Admap propogates thought leadership in brand communications and is published monthly in print. To subscribe visit www.warc.com/myadmap But what’s most important to note Another is data. One thing that separates fans with nearly unlimited content, reams is the digital revolution going on behind baseball from other sports is its wealth of data, and a better shot at beating their the scenes, one that has fundamentally of statistical information. The sport is, friends in their fantasy baseball leagues. It altered how baseball engages its localised in essence, a series of discrete events in can also make the experience of any fan, audiences – both casual and passive fans, as which the outcomes can – and have been – casual or committed, better at the ballpark. well as the more active. MLB has embraced measured since the sport began. In 2012, MLB introduced a new app digital channels to further engage with its The measurement process has become called At The Ballpark. It provides users audiences everywhere. These efforts started more and more sophisticated over time, with a customised ballpark experience: they in earnest in 2000 when the league launched with MLB actively encouraging innovation. can ‘check in’ when they arrive at a game to MLB Advanced Media (BAM) with funding It started by adopting PITCHf/x, a system access ballpark maps, concession options, from all 30 teams. Initially created to run created by Sportvision, which tracks the and interesting team information. But the mlb.com and the individual team websites, movement and velocity of pitches thrown, real value comes from the ability to upgrade BAM is now a full-service media entity using cameras installed within baseball seats in real time. offering news, stats, live streaming, radio stadiums. Not only does it feed into All of these recent initiatives prove broadcasts, mobile apps, and more. BAM Gameday – the live game tracking system how ahead of the curve MLB is in terms of was an almost immediate success, paying out that allows users to see an animated using technology to drive fan engagement dividends to the owners within a few years. visualisation of how the game is unfolding – and safeguard the sport from declining With the formation of BAM, MLB it also creates a database of highly accurate interest. In fact, mlb.tv was an early player management realised it was sitting on a information pertaining to speed, movement, in the streaming game, and BAM had to highly valuable content engine. Consider and type of pitches. This is a boon for those become extremely capable in building out this: if you were a Boston Red Sox fan living interested in detailed statistical reports the platform’s infrastructure to house a in New York before 2003, you would only on pitchers: what they throw, how they high volume of programming. As a result, be able to enjoy watching your team when throw it, and what happens when they do. mlb.tv has become one of the most adept they were in town to play the Yankees, or PITCHf/x represented a leap forward in streaming providers out there. According if they were one of the featured teams on terms of making information available to to Forbes, by 2015, mlb.tv will pass 2 billion a national telecast station such as ESPN or fans, particularly the ones with the deepest games live streamed in 720p HD per year. FOX. Many of MLB’s most engaged fans interest in the sport. So now, when other sports or content could not even watch their favourite teams More recently, MLB introduced Statcast, providers need to stream, BAM has before – which is the way most fans enjoy an advanced tracking technology that, become a provider of choice for backend baseball. Thanks to BAM, the MLB seized an according to MLB, is capable of gathering infrastructure. Not only has the NHL opportunity to bring a 19th-century sport and displaying previously unmeasurable partnered with BAM to stream their own into the 21st century, in partnership with all aspects of the game. Similar to PITCHf/x, games (with BAM providing some equity to of its teams. it uses high-resolution cameras, now the NHL as part of the deal), BAM has also In 2002, BAM launched mlb.tv, baseball’s augmented by radar, and it precisely tracks provided infrastructure for ESPN, the 2014 online streaming service, offering to stream all the action on the field. It can measure World Cup, March Madness, WWE, and feeds of out-of-market pennant race a pitcher’s release point, pitch timing, and more. matchups so that engaged fans could follow the spin rate of the ball. For hitters, it can BAM is now much more than just a the most exciting part of the season. In measure the exit angle, velocity, and flight digital operation for MLB. It has expertise 2003, mlb.tv expanded to offer a full list path of a batted ball. On the defensive side, and experience in the streaming space that of regular season out-of-market games, the technology can track fielders’ top speed, is highly coveted. This will now pay off in streaming to PCs. The real breakthrough first-step timing, and the efficiency of the a big way for MLB, beyond increasing fan came in 2009 when BAM launched its At Bat route taken to arrive at the ball. engagement. Reports say that BAM will be app for the iPhone. The app, now available With the explosion of participation in spun off from MLB into its own independent for other platforms, includes baseball news, sabermetrics – the empirical analysis of company (BAM Tech), potentially with a scores, live game tracking, videos, and, baseball through advanced statistics – and value over $5 billion. yes, allows the streaming of games directly fantasy baseball leagues, the audience with By having foresight, making a to mobile devices. In 2014, the app was an appetite for data has never been bigger. commitment to try new things to engage downloaded 11 million times and 2 billion Sabermetrics has begun to facilitate a whole with fans, continuing to improve its product, live games were streamed to various devices new way of analysing events on the field, and and finding novel ways to give people more over mlb.tv. Today, MLB At Bat is the provides even more accurate data to teams of what they want, MLB may be in for a highest-grossing iOS app of all time. for evaluating players. It is still in its early windfall that sceptics of the sport have With these initiatives, BAM became a stages, but what it is capable of – and how considered unimaginable. pioneer in monetising streaming content it may change the game and analysis of the and ensuring that fans who wanted access game – remains to be seen. This article was first published in to their product were not denied. But this However, technology and digital channels Admap magazine February 2016 ©Warc is just one piece of the engagement puzzle.
Recommended publications
  • National Basketball Association Scheduling Simulation
    National Basketball Association Scheduling Simulation 21-393 Final Project, Fall 2016 Shengqi Chai, Yutong Li, Liyunshu Qian, Ming Yang Department of Mathematics Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Table of Contents I. Abstract II. Background and Problem Description III. Solution IV. Results V. Conclusion VI. Reference Page 1 of 12 I. Abstract Sport scheduling is a complex task in the presence of a myriad of conflicting requirements and preferences. In this work, our primary goal is to find a feasible and approximately optimal schedule in terms of travel distance for the 30 teams in National Basketball Association. We focus on the schedule for the regular season, which usually spans over a 5-month duration. Existing approaches to build a schedule from scratch tends to suffer from substantial runtime overhead. In particular, it is computationally infeasible to solve the problem directly using linear programming and constraint programming due to the complicate formats and rules for NBA scheduling. Thus for the sake of simplification, we adopted assumptions so that integer programming is applicable. Additionally, we approached the problem using divide and conquer to reduce computational complexity. Apart from Operations Research techniques, methods from Machine Learning and Data Collection are also exploited in finding the solution. Our approach yields reliable schedules in a reasonable runtime, and the algorithm should be applicable, with slight modifications, to any scheduling problems in single-round robin or double-round robin fashion. II. Problem Background National Basketball Association is the preeminent men’s professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered as one of the best basketball leagues in the world.
    [Show full text]
  • The Astros' Sign-Stealing Scandal
    The Astros’ Sign-Stealing Scandal Major League Baseball (MLB) fosters an extremely competitive environment. Tens of millions of dollars in salary (and endorsements) can hang in the balance, depending on whether a player performs well or poorly. Likewise, hundreds of millions of dollars of value are at stake for the owners as teams vie for World Series glory. Plus, fans, players and owners just want their team to win. And everyone hates to lose! It is no surprise, then, that the history of big-time baseball is dotted with cheating scandals ranging from the Black Sox scandal of 1919 (“Say it ain’t so, Joe!”), to Gaylord Perry’s spitter, to the corked bats of Albert Belle and Sammy Sosa, to the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the 1990s and early 2000s. Now, the Houston Astros have joined this inglorious list. Catchers signal to pitchers which type of pitch to throw, typically by holding down a certain number of fingers on their non-gloved hand between their legs as they crouch behind the plate. It is typically not as simple as just one finger for a fastball and two for a curve, but not a lot more complicated than that. In September 2016, an Astros intern named Derek Vigoa gave a PowerPoint presentation to general manager Jeff Luhnow that featured an Excel-based application that was programmed with an algorithm. The algorithm was designed to (and could) decode the pitching signs that opposing teams’ catchers flashed to their pitchers. The Astros called it “Codebreaker.” One Astros employee referred to the sign- stealing system that evolved as the “dark arts.”1 MLB rules allowed a runner standing on second base to steal signs and relay them to the batter, but the MLB rules strictly forbade using electronic means to decipher signs.
    [Show full text]
  • Season Seat Holder Retention in Minor League Baseball
    St. John Fisher College Fisher Digital Publications Sport Management Undergraduate Sport Management Department Spring 2013 Season Seat Holder Retention in Minor League Baseball Matt Butler St. John Fisher College Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/sport_undergrad Part of the Sports Management Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Recommended Citation Butler, Matt, "Season Seat Holder Retention in Minor League Baseball" (2013). Sport Management Undergraduate. Paper 93. Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations. This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/sport_undergrad/93 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Season Seat Holder Retention in Minor League Baseball Abstract In lieu of an abstract, here is the paper's first paragraph: In minor league (AAA) baseball the amount of season tickets sold for the season can account for at least fifteen percent of total paid attendance for the. With this in mind a sport manager may wonder what brings season ticket buyers back season after season, and what can be done to measure this occurrence. An added question for front office staff members is, do these reasons coincide with a team’s marketing strategy to maximize the amount of fans who buy season tickets? To analyze this occurrence I looked into exactly what behavior fans exhibit and their motivation to purchase.
    [Show full text]
  • Seattle Mariners Bag Policy
    Seattle Mariners Bag Policy Clamant and foveate Dexter mutualizes while predicatory Madison cross-refer her charkhas discreditably and assassinates alwayshermetically. prenotify Defectible his cutleries and bemazed cakewalk Meredith uncandidly, never he enrootfestinating his ethnarchies! so little. Thymier Sascha coke losingly while Bishop Personal information currently not drop off your browser in to bag policy for. For the stands up in central park are no statistics available options out, complaining that organics recycling delivered in the glass, craft beer brands around longer bring one. Multiple venues are completely sold out of food into account agreements. Pets cannot refund will help or stanwood stations do you have been. We assuming this season was. Fanatic in day to baseball I miss you taking out Safeco Field in Seattle. Tell the wine fresh, you offer a pack of herschel supply account or otherwise giant camera rigs. Kingdome as wrigley field and police instructions as checked as alcoholic and. Louis cardinals pitcher brett anderson, bring a participating pay a beautiful aerial photographs of. Where to a coach brent strom has you. Overall standings for houston, been known to questions asked via the kingdome. This season play place this page, a suite level of bottles at roger dean. American league baseball history, and after you had at once in on other than it is another free may also that. Indique un valor de ein value to life for work, but you care of existing major sporting events today, bag policy and conditions of. Located on the stories that match your goals for no games scheduled for size of.
    [Show full text]
  • Injury Incidence and Injury Patterns in Professional Football - the UEFA Injury Study
    Linköping University Post Print Injury incidence and injury patterns in professional football - the UEFA injury study Jan Ekstrand, Martin Hägglund and Markus Waldén N.B.: When citing this work, cite the original article. Original Publication: Jan Ekstrand, Martin Hägglund and Markus Waldén, Injury incidence and injury patterns in professional football - the UEFA injury study, 2009, British journal of sports medicine, 060582. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2009.060582 Copyright: BMJ Publishing http://group.bmj.com/ Postprint available at: Linköping University Electronic Press http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-52238 Injury incidence and injury patterns in professional football – the UEFA Injury Study Jan Ekstrand1, 2, Martin Hägglund1, Markus Waldén1 1 Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden 2 UEFA Medical Committee Corresponding author: Jan Ekstrand MD, PhD Solstigen 3 S-589 43, Linköping Sweden Tel.: + 46 13 161648, fax: +46 13 161892 [email protected] Key words: Football, injury incidence, epidemiology, soccer, professional Word count: 2,705 1 ABSTRACT Objective: To study the injury characteristics in professional football and to follow the variation of injury incidence during a match, during a season and over consecutive seasons. Design: Prospective cohort study where teams were followed for seven consecutive seasons. Team medical staff recorded individual player exposure and time-loss injuries from 2001 to 2008. Setting: European professional men’s football. Participants: The first team squads of 23 teams selected by UEFA as belonging to the 50 best European teams. Main outcome measurement: Injury incidence. Results: 4,483 injuries occurred during 566,000 hours of exposure, giving an injury incidence of 8.0 injuries/1,000 hours.
    [Show full text]
  • Job-Creators-V-Mlb.Pdf
    Case 1:21-cv-04818-VEC Document 1 Filed 05/31/21 Page 1 of 21 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------------------------------- x JOB CREATORS NETWORK, ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) COMPLAINT ) OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF ) JURY TRIAL DEMANDED BASEBALL D/B/A MAJOR LEAGUE ) BASEBALL, ROBERT D. MANFRED JR., ) MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ) PLAYERS ASSOCIATION, TONY CLARK, ) AND JOHN DOES 1-50, ) ) Defendants. ) --------------------------------------------------------------- x Plaintiff, through its undersigned counsel, for its complaint, hereby avers: Nature of Action 1. In July 2019, Major League Baseball publicly announced that the 2021 All-Star Game would be played in July 2021 at SunTrust Park (now named Truist Park), the home field of the Atlanta Braves in Cobb County, Georgia. The All-Star Game is a national attraction that generates extraordinary revenue for the host city. Businesses from mom-and-pop restaurants and bars to national hotel chains prepare years and months in advance for the event. Tables are reserved, hotel rooms are booked, events are planned, people are hired. Cobb County budgeted expenses of $2 million for improvements and municipal hiring to meet the expected influx of tourists and fans for the big event. Businesses in the Atlanta metro region stood to earn $100 million. Multiple municipalities were counting on millions more in tax revenues. 2. Thousands of hard-working ordinary men and women in the Atlanta area, many reeling from the psychological trauma and economic havoc of the COVID-19 pandemic, relied Case 1:21-cv-04818-VEC Document 1 Filed 05/31/21 Page 2 of 21 on MLB’s unqualified promise to hold the 2021 All-Star Game in Truist Park.
    [Show full text]
  • Match Injury Incidence During the Super Rugby Tournament Is High : a Prospective Cohort Study Over Five Seasons Involving 93 641 Player-Hours
    Schwellnus, M.P. et al. (2018). Match injury incidence during the Super Rugby tournament is high : a prospective cohort study over five seasons involving 93 641 player-hours. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018: 1-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-09915 Match injury incidence during the Super Rugby tournament is high: a prospective cohort study over five seasons involving 93 641 player- hours Martin P Schwellnus, Esme Jordaan, Charl Janse van Rensburg, Helen Bayne, Wayne Derman, Clint Readhead, Rob Collins, Alan Kourie, Jason Suter and Org Strauss Abstract: Objectives To determine the incidence and nature of injuries in the Super Rugby tournament over a 5- year period. Methods 482 male professional rugby union players from six South African teams participating in the Super Rugby tournament were studied (1020 player-seasons). Medical staff of participating teams (2012–2016 tournaments) recorded all time loss injuries (total injuries and match injuries) and exposure hours (93 641 total playing hours; 8032 match hours). Injury incidence, injured player proportion, severity (time lost), anatomical location, tissue type and activity/phase during which injury occurred are reported. Results The overall incidence of match injuries (per 1000 player-hours; 95% CI) for each year was as follows: 2012 (83.3; 69.4–99.2); 2013 (115.1; 98.7–133.5); 2014 (95.9; 80.8–113.1), 2015 (112.3; 96.6–129.9) and 2016 (93.2; 79.9–107.9). The injured player proportion for each year was as follows: 2012 (54.6%); 2013 (49.4%); 2014 (52.0%); 2015 (50.0%); and 2016 (39.8%).
    [Show full text]
  • 2021 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League
    2021 OFFICIAL PLAYING RULES OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Roger Goodell, Commissioner 2021 Rules Changes Rule-Section-Article 5-1-2 Modifies permissible player numbers by position. 8-1-2 Modifies penalty for illegal forward passes. 11-3-3 Modifies enforcement of accepted penalties on Trys. 12-2-4 Expands prohibition of blocks below the waist. 15-3-9, 19-2 Allows Replay Officials to provide specific, objective information to on-field officials 16-1-1 Eliminates overtime in preseason games. PREFACE This edition of the Official Playing Rules of the National Football League contains all current rules governing the playing of professional football that are in effect for the 2021 NFL season. Member clubs of the League may amend the rules from time to time, pursuant to the applicable voting procedures of the NFL Constitution and Bylaws. Any intra-League dispute or call for interpretation in connection with these rules will be decided by the Commissioner of the League, whose ruling will be final. Because inter-conference games are played throughout the preseason, regular season, and postseason in the NFL, all rules contained in this book apply uniformly to both the American and National Football Conferences. Where the word “illegal” appears in this rule book, it is an institutional term of art pertaining strictly to actions that violate NFL playing rules. It is not meant to connote illegality under any public law or the rules or regulations of any other organization. The word “flagrant,” when used here to describe an action by a player, is meant to indicate that the degree of a violation of the rules—usually a personal foul or unnecessary roughness—is extremely objectionable, conspicuous, unnecessary, avoidable, or gratuitous.
    [Show full text]
  • 2021-2022 NCHSAA Team Sport Contest Limitations, Playoff, and Seeding Format
    2021-2022 NCHSAA Team Sport Contest Limitations, Playoff, and Seeding Format Season Limitations Baseball 22 Games Basketball 22 Games Football 10 Games Lacrosse (M) 20 Games Lacrosse (W) 20 Games Soccer 22 Games Softball 22 Games Tennis 22 Matches Volleyball 22 Matches (Only 3 out of 5 matches count towards RPI) Wrestling No Change Sports listed above can have one (1) in-season tournament (3-game maximum), which would only count as (1) game/match (exception: wrestling) • In tournaments where a team could play in more than 3-games, any game played beyond the 3rd game would each count as an individual game on the schedule Brackets Baseball, Basketball, Football, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball • 64 Team Brackets Lacrosse • 40 Team Brackets Tennis • 32 Team Brackets Wrestling • 32 Team Brackets Automatic Qualification • Each conference will be allotted playoff berths based on the number of schools fielding a team in a particular sport o 1-5 Teams = 1 Berth (Conference Champion) o 6+ Teams = 2 Berths (Conference Champion + 2nd Place or Conference Tournament Champion) • The highest finishing team from a given classification in a split conference will automatically qualify, regardless of overall conference finish (minimum of 2 schools per classification) • Addition of RPI rating to Handbook for conference tie-breaking procedure as the final tiebreaker Wildcards The remaining non-automatic teams in each region (East/West) will fill the remaining berths based solely upon their RPI rating. Seeding • Conference champions will be seeded before any other qualifying teams by RPI rating • All other teams will be seeded after the conference champions by RPI rating of the school, regardless of conference finish • Each region (East/West) will be seeded independently of one another, utilizing the RPI rating of the school March 2021 NCHSAA Playoff Ranking Formula An RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) formula will be used for all team bracketed playoffs.
    [Show full text]
  • Sports Marketing Has Created New World Last Decade, but What Next
    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020 | SERVING CHICAGO’S LEGAL COMMUNITY FOR 164 YEARS | CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM VOLUME 166, NO. 10 Sports marketing has created new world last decade, but what next As the year 2020 ushers in a new decade, Collegiate Athletic Association in a partner - it’s evident that the past decade has seen ship that delivers an avalanche of facts and numerous game-changing developments in stats about March Madness, the NCAA’s sports and sports marketing, including Championship Tournament and its 80-year unprecedented evolution in communica - history as well as competition data across tion, technology and analytics to promote 90 NCAA championships and 24 sports. athletes, teams, leagues and brands. The savviest sports organizations used Athletes as entrepreneurs every marketing tool at their disposal to The past decade saw sports stars take engage fans by publicizing athlete statistics, their business endeavors to the next level. ground-breaking innovations, emerging S P O RT S At the same time, new opportunities personalities and feel-good stories. At the MARKETING PLAYBOOK opened up for less-famous players. rate technology is developing, these tools A few players moved beyond sponsor - and practices provide a solid jumping-off DOUGLAS N. MASTERS and ships and created their own media plat - point for the next 10 years. SETH A. ROSE forms. Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant Here are, in our humble opinion, the 10 launched Thirty Five Media to create and most far-reaching developments and trends DOUGLASDOUGLAS N. MASTERS is a partnerpartnertner at LoebLoeb & LLoeboeb LLP,LLPP,, distribute content about his career and out - in sports marketing in the last decade: where he litigates and counsels clients primarily in side projects.
    [Show full text]
  • November 3, 2017 Mr. Rob Manfred Commissioner, Major League Baseball 245 Park Avenue, 31St Floor New York, NY 10167 Dear Commis
    November 3, 2017 Mr. Rob Manfred Commissioner, Major League Baseball 245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor New York, NY 10167 Dear Commissioner Manfred: As Chair of the California Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus, I am writing to express my anger and disappointment about the way Major League Baseball (MLB) addressed the racist gesture and insult Yuli Gurriel of the Houston Astros made toward Yu Darvish, who is Iranian-Japanese, of the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 3 of the World Series. After hitting a home run off of Darvish, Gurriel pulled at the corner of his eyes to stretch them into “slanted eyes”. Gurriel also called Darvish “Chinito,” a Spanish word widely-regarded as offensive and insulting to Asian Americans. This behavior was caught on camera and seen by millions of television viewers worldwide, including impressionable children who look up to their teams and sports heroes. In spite of public outrage, the MLB made the decision to allow Gurriel to continue playing in the World Series and delay imposition of disciplinary action until the 2018 regular season—a full five months into the distant future—when he would be suspended for five games. The lack of immediate consequences and accountability shows that the MLB does not take racial insensitivity seriously and that offenses like this can be repeated without severe repercussions. In rendering its decision, the MLB purported to take into account the negative impact that an immediate suspension would likely have on Gurriel’s teammates. But the MLB did not take into consideration the deep hurt this patently offensive act inflicted on Asian Americans and others throughout the nation.
    [Show full text]
  • Jefferson Report
    Jefferson Report Facts and Friction: Assessing the Impact of Major League Baseball’s Proposal to Reduce Minor League Franchises By Alan Swigonski The Jefferson Educational Society will periodically publish reports on issues important to the Erie region. This report was written by Alan Swigonski. Swigonski, a retired auditor, is the former managing director of the Waldron Campus Center at Gannon University. He was the founding co-director and president of Team Erie, the citizens action group that from 1990 to 1995 helped galvanize public opinion to build Jerry Uht Park, now UPMC Park. Editor’s Note: Reports on the unfolding baseball controversy will be updated on the Jefferson’s website, jeserie.org, and in emails to the Jefferson Report’s list of supporters. – Pat Cuneo, Publications Coordinator 3 ‘Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona.’ – George Will, columnist and author Erie May Lose Pro Baseball Facts and Friction: Assessing the Impact of Major League Baseball’s Proposal to Reduce Minor League Franchises By Alan Swigonski Major League Baseball is suddenly considering a radical proposal to eliminate the player development agreements for 42 of its 162 minor league teams at the end of the 2020 season – and the future of MLB-affiliated professional baseball in Erie is squarely on the target list. That development, which continues to unfold, and the alarm expressed by community, government, and business interests – locally, across the state, and nationally – has been swift and Erie SeaWolves President Greg Coleman presents jersey to sweeping. SeaWolves owner Fernando Aguirre Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is the force behind the proposal, for which most baseball watchers suspect is one way for Manfred to bolster his tough guy image in advance of negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association as the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is due to expire in 2022.
    [Show full text]