[Rondec]

I don't feel particularly sorry for the players, but the owners seem to have decent funds as well. Having been a fan of a small market team, it always felt like if baseball could have more of the NFL's salary structure, it would help smaller market teams. It may be nice for fans of LA, Boston, and NY if their teams are usually in the playoffs, but it can be depressing for many of the other cities where the owners don't bring in top free agents and they are always in the middle are at the bottom of the standings.

The sport suffers with these work stoppages. Baseball is nowhere nearly as popular now as when I was a boy and these sorts of labor disputes end up making it worse. If there is someone who suffers, it is the fans.

[aslyfox]

I don't feel particularly sorry for the players, but the owners seem to have decent funds as well. . . . The sport suffers with these work stoppages. Baseball is nowhere nearly as popular now as when I was a boy and these sorts of labor disputes end up making it worse. If there is someone who suffers, it is the fans.

100 % agreement

the home run contests between McGuire and Sosa [ and the use of steroids and change in the ball ?? ] are credited by some to the reemergence of the popularity of MLB after the last stoppage

what will happen this time ?

will it rebound ?

consider the increase in price of tickets, transportation/parking and food/drink at the park

the ability to actually see the game better at your home if you can get the game you want free

the opportunity to buy access at home/net to the games you want games at a cost

the other " options " we have to spend our entertainment $$$

[Rondec]

100 % agreement

the home run contests between McGuire and Sosa [ and the use of steroids and change in the ball ?? ] are credited by some to the reemergence of the popularity of MLB after the last stoppage

what will happen this time ?

will it rebound ?

consider the increase in price of tickets, transportation/parking and food/drink at the park

the ability to actually see the game better at your home if you can get the game you want free

the opportunity to buy access at home/net to the games you want games at a cost

the other " options " we have to spend our entertainment $$$

Steroids aside, McGuire seemed like a good guy and the race to 70 home runs was amazing.

Honestly, though, I miss players like Cal Ripken Jr. -- guys who worked hard at their craft and understood the importance of the fans.

[robgski]

The sad truth is as much as I enjoy following my team through a season, and 2021 was a cliffhanger in the AL East all the way to the end , I could just as easily spend time and money on other entertainment, this protracted labor dispute does nothing but lose fans.

[aslyfox]

Professional baseball will be played in April

Minor League that is

What’s going to happen to the Minor Leagues during the lockout?
A FAQ about the minors and the lockout. The good news is that you will still have many chances to watch baseball. . . .

Will the minor league season start on time?
Yes! This is the easiest question to answer. The minor leagues will continue to play as scheduled. I realize that this is something that many of you already know, but it is well-worth emphasizing: Minor league games will happen as scheduled.

The Triple-A season will start on Tuesday, April 5 and will last 150 games. Double-A, High-A and Low-A will all start on Friday, April 8. The Double-A season will have 140 games while High-A and Low-A will be 132 games.

Rookie ball at the team complexes in Arizona and Florida will start in June as usual.

You should check with your local minor league team for when their schedules . . .

Chicago Cubs Minor League lockout FAQ - Bleed Cubbie Blue

_____________________

my closest option for professional baseball appears to be the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association an independent league with 12 teams including one in Canada - https://aabaseball.com/teams/

The American Association is split into the East Division and West Division for the 2022 season. The East Division is comprised of the Chicago Dogs, Cleburne Railroaders, Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kane County Cougars, Lake Country DockHounds and Milwaukee Milkmen. The West Division member are the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Kansas City Monarchs, Lincoln Saltdogs, Sioux City Explorers, Sioux Falls Canaries and Winnipeg Goldeyes.

https://aabaseball.com/american-association-releases-2022-schedule/

however they appear to have a very restricted photography rule:

PROHIBITED ITEMS

All items carried into Legends Field [ 1800 Village West Pkwy, Kansas City, KS 66111 ] are subject to search. In the event that items are revealed during a search, guests must return items to their vehicles or dispose of the items prior to entry. There is no storage area to leave prohibited items.

The following items are prohibited: . . . .Video cameras or cameras with removable lenses

https://monarchsbaseball.com/legends-field/#P

[normhead]

The fans should just boycott these losers. They've forgotten who pays their salaries. It isn' the owners, it isn't the players, it's the fans. Fans pay, owners and players take.

[ChrisPlatt]

Professional baseball will be played in April

Minor League that is

Minor league games are all I chose to attend for most of the the last decade anyway.

I plan to see several Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets high-A affiliate) home games this season.

I am also planning a visit with my sister's ex-husband who lives Upstate.
We may take in a Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees high-A affiliate) vs Cyclones game.

Chris

---

Last edited by ChrisPlatt; 03-04-2022 at 06:46 PM.

[robgski]

Minor league games

We have some kind of semi-pro league in the area, as well as the university teams. I might have to check a few games out, I can practice sports photos as well.

"It appears as if Manfred … and the owners are tone deaf towards the fans of the game and the dwindling numbers of true fans"

[aslyfox]

. . . the university teams. I might have to check a few games out, I can practice sports photos as well.. . .

well, as far as that goes, in Topeka, Washburn University Ichabobs has a team

in Lawerance KS there is the University of Kansas Jayhawks

and in Manhattan KS, there is the Kansas State University Wildcats

not sure what the rules are for photographing college athletes are

especially now in light of the new rules regarding college athletes being able to make money based on their name, image, and likeness ???

[luftfluss]

Read this on the Mets blog Amazin' Avenue this morning, and I agree...

"It is the epitome of cowardice to implement a lockout, tell the public that it was “defensive” and “intended to jumpstart negotiations,” and then wait 42 days to make a counter proposal. It is a deeply bad faith tactic to impose a fake, meaningless deadline, wait until there are seven days before said deadline to actually sit down at a table and negotiate regularly, and then wait until about six hours before the deadline to actually start making real concessions. It is an act of sheer insecurity to use league-friendly reporters to leak optimism that a deal is nearing to put pressure on the other side while trying to sneak in items that you hope they don’t notice. It is a completely underhanded power play to come up with arbitrary deadline to begin cancelling games—despite the fact that the amount of games played in a season is a collectively bargained matter itself, and the commissioner cannot unilaterally decide to play fewer games without MLBPA sign-off.

Make no mistake, the reason we will not get baseball on March 31 is because the league did not view baseball on that day as a necessity."

[robgski]

Make no mistake, the reason we will not get baseball on March 31 is because the league did not view baseball on that day as a necessity

Exactly.

For me, a boycott of MLB is easy, I live several hours from the nearest MLB park, and I have no cable so my main access to games was MLB.com. I won't renew my subscription, and that is my own small boycott.
Until owners are hit in the revenue stream, they won't pay attention to the fans. I don't hold players blameless, either, but the owners created the problem.

[aslyfox]

Rumor has it -

While negotiations as a whole don’t seem to be leading to much, the owners and players have agreed to a number of rule changes that will certainly impact the game of baseball as we know it.

The players union has agreed with the MLB to ban defensive shifts, implement a pitch clock, and make bases bigger. Along with these changes the players have decided to reject “Robo Umps” for the 2022-23 season. These rules are set to change for the league in 2023.

MSN

of course, until a final agreement is reached, those " agreements " can be changed

[MikeStnly]

The fans should just boycott these losers. They've forgotten who pays their salaries. It isn' the owners, it isn't the players, it's the fans. Fans pay, owners and players take.

And the taxpayer usually pays for the largest portion of the stadium if not all.

[aslyfox]

information on the " agreed " shift to the bigger base

. . . 18 inches square instead of 15.

. . . You could get more stolen base attempts and perhaps more safe calls at first.

. . . the play in which a guy steals second base, pops up and separates from the bag for a blink as the middle infielder keeps his glove on him, which replay confirms upon a manager challenge, thereby sending the baserunner back to the dugout? Wouldn’t it be great if that play ceased to exist? While full eradication might prove too ambitious, a bigger base surely would help.

“The current base, if you don’t hit the front of it and stop, you’re going through it,” Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, told The Post on Thursday in a telephone interview. “And this base is a little more forgiving in the sense that, if you hit the front of it, hopefully there’s more catch on the base. You can actually stop on the bag without popping off. Certainly that’s one of the ideas behind it.”

There’s also a possibility it prevents more injuries at second base for the fielder in a double-play situation.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/mlb-lockout-rule-changes-bigger-bases-why

[luftfluss]

Jeff Passan reporting...

Major League Baseball canceled the second week of the regular season Wednesday after days of discussion with the MLB Players Association failed to generate a new collective-bargaining agreement.