We have a weird situation this year in spring training: it’s Truck Day for the Boston Red Sox and the reporting date for the Seattle Mariners. In other words: baseball season has officially begun. Normally we don’t see Truck Day for most MLB teams so close to a reporting date. But this is a weird […]
Tag Archives | mlb
How best to use old spring-training facilities: Soccer
Spring training may be totally gone from Tucson, but it looks like the city found a great use for former MLB training facilities: professional MLS soccer will bring six teams to the Kino Stadium complex. Six MLS teams will be training in Tucson this spring, with four of them set to participate in the Desert Diamond […]
Bud Selig: Commissioner for life?
Bud Selig is set to sign another two-year extension to serve as MLB commissioner, despite promises he would retire this year. Why is he sticking around? To settle some loose ends, we’re told. Not many in baseball were truly surprised when MLB owners unanimously voted to offer a two-year extension to Selig; there had been […]
Torre quits MLB post to pursue Dodgers
You can add Joe Torre’s name to a list of Los Angeles Dodgers suitors, as he joins Rick Caruso in one of the 16 groups seeking to buy the troubled franchise and Dodger Stadium. Formerly manager of the Dodgers. Torre had been MLB’s Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations since last February, overseeing things like […]
Dodgers lower season-ducat costs for 2012
The Los Angeles Dodgers, operating under a cloud as owner Frank McCourt and MLB fight it out in court, go on the offensive by lowering season-ticket pricing for 2012. That 2011 was a very miserable year for one of baseball’s flagship franchises is an understatement: announced attendance was down some 18 percent, to 36,236 per […]
Bud’s retirement plan: Back to college in Madison
Curious about what Bud Selig has planned after retirement? He’s already set up plans to teach and write in Madison, Wis., conveniently near Ballpark Digest World HQ. The first pitcher of beer on the Terrace is on us, Bud. Selig is a UW graduate, attending the school the same time as Oakland A’s owner Lew […]
Jamie to Frank: The Dodgers are yours
Perhaps sensing this is the best way to get some cash out of her divorce to Frank McCourt, Jamie McCourt has agreed to let him keep the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium as part of a settlement and will support his effort to sell the team’s media rights. The McCourts have been embroiled in […]
Measuring the 2011 financial winners and losers in MLB
How well did MLB teams spend their money this season? Here’s a look at how well or how poorly teams did with their payrolls this season in an attempt to translate dollars into wins — and why the Houston Astros, even with a low payroll, overpaid their players this season. With the 2011 season completed, […]
MLB records strong year on attendance front
It was a good year for Major League Baseball and the Philadelphia Phillies: MLB recorded the fifth-highest attendance in its history, while the Phillies led baseball in attendance for the first time. This year’s total of 73,425,568 was the most since the 2008 season (78,588,004) and was 0.5 percent greater than last year’s total of […]
MLB to bankruptcy judge: Force McCourt to sell Dodgers, or we’ll do it later
In a bankruptcy-court filing, Major League Baseball has asked the Delaware judge overseeing matters to force Frank McCourt to sell the Los Angeles Dodgers and related assets — or else MLB will seize the team post-bankruptcy. “Mr. McCourt cannot hide the Dodgers in bankruptcy forever,” the filing read. The Los Angeles Times reported on the […]
Fine wine at the ballpark? Yes, please
What’s the perfect drink to wash down that Cracker Jack and hot dog at the ballpark? A glass of fine wine, of course. We’re being a little facetious, of course; beer is our beverage of choice. But beer’s not the only adult beverage now being served at most MLB facilities, as AP did an article […]
Mets/Einhorn deal collapses
David Einhorn’s bid to buy a minority share of the New York Mets has fallen through, leaving the team to beat the bushes for other limited investors. The official word is that the Mets ownership, which could owe upwards of a billion dollars as a result of investments with swindler Bernie Madoff, can cover this […]
Dodgers attendance woes could cost team $27 million
A bad season for the Los Angeles Dodgers gets worse, as a significant drop in attendance could end up costing the team some $27 million in decreased game-day revenues — or even more. The Dodgers have experienced a significant drop in attendance this season to 36,706 a game, some 16 percent this season versus the […]