If you’ve got some extra time and some brain cells that need a workout, take a read of Lookout Landing’s treatment of the discussion on framing pitches.

Basically – catchers have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to framing pitches, and it’s easy to think a catcher doesn’t do a good job when in fact, he does.

MLB, concerned that the Marlins are not using their money from revenue sharing to improve on-field performance (as it is supposed to be used), is going to be keeping a more watchful eye on their balance sheets for the next three years.

Does the saying of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” apply in this situation? Possibly – I’m certainly inclined to at least think there might be some validity to MLB’s concern.

Thinking about this story got me wondering: could it simply be time to rethink what keeps a team eligible to play at the MLB level? It’s horribly impractical to think about implementing a system of relegation and promotion as is found in European soccer – between the farm systems that are in place, civic dollars that get tied up in bringing or keeping an MLB team in a city, stadium funding and availability, local fan base support – it’s all too much to just blow up in favor of a new system. But should MLB consider a new way to punish losing?

I have no desire to implement either a salary floor or a salary cap – while there may be correlation between spending and winning, it’s certainly not an absolute correlation. And if you can win while spending less money, more power to you.

What if there was a proposal that said you have to win your division once every decade, or face some kind of monetary fine? Or you have to make the playoffs twice per decade? Or maybe win your division once or the wild card twice in any 10-year period?

The discussion has to start with what it means to be successful – and what are we setting out to punish. My basic assumption is that because fans like winning teams, we would want to reward winning, or at least steer teams away from just losing and cashing the check without repercussion. MLB would seemingly benefit from having as many winning teams as possible – increased fan interest, greater perception of teams making the playoffs, etc.

So given that mandating winning a World Series isn’t really feasible, and that I don’t believe that winning the World Series is the sole determinate of a successful season, there needs to be another way to judge success. The playoffs provide enough objectivity and opportunity to do that, at least at first glance.

Since four of the six divisions have five teams, and there is one six-team and one four-team division, the availability of winning a division title is certainly there. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. Two wild-card berths would be a bit harder, but again, it’s conceivable.

Looking back over the first ten years of the 2000s, Baltimore, Toronto, Kansas City, Texas, Detroit, Washington/Montreal, Florida, Milwaukee, Cincinnatti, Houston, Pittsburgh and Colorado all failed to win their division at least once. Colorado and Houston would get a pass by winning the NL wild card twice, but that still leaves ten teams that failed to make the proposed cut. Detroit and Milwaukee each fall one wild-card short of the mark.

The way I see it, winning is already full of incentives, or at least has the potential to be full of incentives – increased fan interest, increased interest among players to sign with your organization, and of course the potential for increased revenue if a team is able to capitalize on the opportunity.

So then what becomes the punishment for failing to make the playoffs? Certainly financial punishments seem plausible – although some teams could just see it as an operating expense and factor it into the cost of doing business. Could you take away draft picks? Possibly, although I’m not sure if that helps the situation or is damaging enough to motivate a team into building a winner. Could you force an ownership to sell? Possibly, but that would be a seemingly huge condition to implement, although it’s certainly intriguing. There’s probably other ideas out there as well.

Winning – and winning enough to have some regular appearances in the playoffs, seems to be an easy enough way to judge if a team is making progress. Win once in a while and we’ll leave you alone, MLB could say. But don’t just think you could sit back and cash the checks without repercussion.

Thoughts?

Ask me if I care about the whole Mark McGwire issue. Go ahead. Ask.

I do just a little, but largely I don’t.

When we get down to it, when we sit down and banter around and hash it all out, what is it that I should really care about? I’m not surprised he admitted his steroid use, although I’m pretty shocked how he denied a correlation between his taking them and his performance. The guy is a talented ballplayer, but he not just broke a record, he eclipsed it by leaps and bounds. Maybe his conscience had been beat up enough for one day and he didn’t want to diminish his accomplishments in his mind. Whatever, that’s between him and whomever he feels accountable to.

I loved watching Mark McGwire play, plain and simple. When I was a kid, I thought he and Canseco were the coolest dudes on the field. I remember him turning around a Randy Johnson 99-mph fastball in the Kingdome and banging it off the back wall. I remember him breaking the record, and then finishing at 70, and then being passed by Barry Bonds. When it comes to the on-the-field stuff, McGwire is still OK with me.

He put stuff in his body that many agree is both incredibly helpful and incredibly damaging. He reaped benefits because of it, but he also cast a shadow on himself when he slipped and left that bottle of andro in his locker. People suspected something was up with him just by looking at his physique. But he also brought a tremendous amount of excitement to the game in a time when it was badly needed.

Maybe I’m just missing the fervor that other people are feeling. I understand the shock-and-awe factor of his admission, but when you step back and think about it – does it really change how much you liked watching him play, if in fact you liked watching the guy play? And I don’t mean that you were a fan of his – but that you liked watching the guy play. You may have booed him, but you booed him because he was beating your team, or played for Oakland, or whatever.

I wonder if the fervor stems from a breakdown in the illusion of purity that McGwire tried to maintain. Is there just a thread of similarity between McGwire admitting he took steroids and finding out that Santa Claus wasn’t real? The framework of our view of something is no longer valid, and we now have to work to establish a new framework, a new reality, a new level of buy-in to the product that is in front of us. That is uncomfortable, it requires energy, it requires thought and requires a desire to get to that new level of understanding.

I just don’t get wrapped up in the fervor of it. Mark McGwire only affected my life at such a shallow level, that it just doesn’t elicit that much of a response.

Call me petty, but if you boo when the pitcher throws over to first, I don’t like you.

If you only boo when it’s the opposing pitcher, I like you even less.

Just because you don’t understand why they’re making the throw, ot they’re trying to pick off your favorite player, doesn’t give you license to boo.

Pickoff moves, both lazy tosses and deceptive, effective moves are part of baseball.

Deal with it. And stop coaching from the stands while you’re at it.

Quite simply, I love this. Nice to see Johan Santana keeping the Mets’ dugout loose.

I like the tip of the cap one about 15 seconds in.

I just realized I hadn’t posted anything in a while…and for that I throw myself upon the court of public opinion and beg for mercy. I know both of you have been clinging to the edges of your seats waiting for something new to come from me.

Part of me is worn out from the build-up to the 2009 season. I’m really worn out by all the hype over Citi Field and New Yankee Stadium…it doesn’t help that I subscribe to the New York Times and see it probably more than the average person, but there has been so many needless words written about it that it’s really got to stop. I know that it’s a big deal, especially in the Big Apple, but come on…let’s play baseball already.

The weather in Seattle still sucks and hardly makes me think of baseball, although it was tolerable today and supposed to be a bit nicer for Sunday, when the team I’m on has our first official practice with all new members hopefully attending.

And to be honest, I’ve been a bit flat lately. Not sure why – I’m still pounding dozens a few cups of coffee every day, so it’s not for a lack of caffeine. Maybe I just need to get out and do more, which given the economy isn’t really the most appealing thing, especially when it has a price tag attached to it.

Nevertheless, the Braves and the Phillies open up the 2009 regular season Sunday night – I’ve got the DVR set for Baseball Tonight and the actual game as I’ll likely be away from a TV at that time – and we can finally let this roller coaster go after using the chain pull to drag it up to the top of the hill.

From some folks on LinkedIn:

From Larry:

“Well as they say in many circles Fidel is Fidel…there is no doubt that Cuban players are unbelievable students of the game, that the passion they exude is a thing of who they are as a people, and that they play the game hard each and every day. However, at the end of the day the WBC is not your typical international competition with its solid amateur players. The WBC brings to the diamond competitors who as the Cubans, live baseball, their passion borders national obsession AND they have been tried and proven in the arenas of the world’s pre-eminent league…Major League Baseball. In Latin America, we say that baseball is a game played with a round ball in a square box and that anything can happen. In short tournaments like the WBC we saw the round ball and square box reference on more than a few occasions. The Netherlands defeat of the Dominican twice; Puerto Rico’s humiliation of team USA followed up by their brutal loss to the same USA team they had manhandled a couple of days later. This is why baseball is such an amazing sport…it’s not how you predict what’s on paper…its how the game is played on any particular day. Cuba fielded a very strong team, but it was bested by strong Japanese pitching…that’s baseball…a game played with a round ball in a square box!”

From Ben:

“Castro is a brilliant thinker of stilted and politically obsessed thoughts.”

From Dean:

“Just read the article and I am curious if he (meaning Cuba and Castro) will change training styles to compete with Japan and Korean. After watching the US beaten with the problem being poor execution on the field, you wonder if MLB teams will learn it may be time to teach their players a more fundamental game.”

I was just cruising around the World Baseball Classic website, and wanted to see if any tickets were available for the final game Monday night between Korea and Japan.

You bet there are.

So my question to you – how much would you pay for tickets to see the final game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic? Tickets range from $55 to $550 — you tell me. Would you pay $55 to sit in the top deck, left field pavillion, reserve or lower reserve, which I think are both on the top level of the stadium.

(I swear – I think either my ability to distinguish colors is fading, or Ticketmaster can’t match colors from price grid to seating chart.)

Or would you pay $130 to sit in “loge box MVP,” which is the set of seats between the bases on the main level, but farthest back?

I’m curious – because something I’ve wanted to know is how Major League Baseball wants us to view the WBC, in comparison to, say, the World Series. Surely the World Series is more important — it’s MLB’s championship. But they sure want to hype up the WBC…yet can’t get the best American players to commit to it.

I’ve only been to one World Series, the 2007 edition between the Red Sox and Rockies. I went to the games in Coors Field, sat in the third level above third base, and my tickets fell within the range of WBC finals tickets, although the World Series was more than a comparable seat for the WBC…I think about three times as much, although I’m not 100% sure on that. But definitely between two to three times as much.

Personally, I don’t know if I’d pay to go see the final game. Given the economy, I’d rather put that money in the bank or pay off a credit card. I couldn’t in good conscience say that I think I’d get my money’s worth out of that game, even if I just spent $50, plus all the fees and whatnot. As much as I love baseball – and this is pretty decent baseball, I’m having a hard time establishing a value for that game.

How much would you pay?

Some responses from folks on LinkedIn:

From David:

“Well I paid $25. So I guess that’s the number for me. I was prepared to go $40 but all those tickets were sold for the game I decided to go to.”

From Nick:

“Personally I wouldn’t pay if it were a non-US final. If the US had won, I might’ve paid $10 or $15 if I happened to be in LA or wherever the final is. I don’t see this as much different than the Olympics and it seems much more important to people in the other countries. I am looking forward to the season and would rather watch an M’s spring game on TV rather than a WBC game at this point. The most interesting aspect is seeing how hard teams from the other countries play and how fired up their fans are. Not trying to be negative but I am ready for April.”

From Pamela:

“I have a completely different perspective. I loved this year’s final–one of the most exciting games I’ve seen. I don’t care about the US Team, or at least not this year. The great thing about WBC is that since, with the exception of Cuba, the best teams include at least one and usually many more major leaguers, you know who the players are. I’d pay $45-50 a seat for the final In this year’s final there were 3 M’s or ex-M’s–Ichiro, Johjima and Choo. And we know who Daisuke is. Plus it was great to see such great pitching from people I’ve never heard of. I loved it. Can’t wait until 2013.”

Read his thoughts here, courtesy of Granma, the Cuban national newspaper.

A few days ago I asked how we learned to behave how we do as fans. What is a direct lesson from parents, friends or family, or was it a more indirect lesson, watching how other fans around you behaved and either mimicking them or doing the opposite if you found their behavior annoying?

I posted the question to a couple of the groups I belong to on LinkedIn, and here are some of those responses:

From Alex:

“I learned to behave as a fan by going to games with my father. Early on he taught me about sportsmanship. What is acceptable and what isn’t but more importantly the why behind it. We would always talk about the game afterward. What we liked, what we didn’t like. This would often encompass other fans and how they were cheering, booing or otherwise expressing their opinions. I’ve been lucky enough to do quite a bit of traveling often times for sports and sporting events. The Seattle Mariners fan experience is quite unique. For me it is very much a love/hate relationship. While I genuinely enjoy going to games at the Safe, generally speaking there is a lack of passion and understanding of the game and the team.”

From Robert:

“I attended many games in New York and witnessed fights in the blue seats at the Garden by Rangers fans, bias from Giants and Yankees fans, Drunkenness by Jets fans and stupidity from the Mets fans. I learned not to act like these people when attending sporting events, basically the opposite of how they act. I love New York but the fans are not the best by any stretch of the imagination. When the USA hosted World Cup Soccer in 1996 I lived in Orlando and worked for Disney as annoying as the soccer fans were I have to say they were passionate and lived and breathed their teams. It was a month long party and it was an escape from everyday life for them. Although they have a reputation for being overzealous and sometimes dangerous it was fun to watch. As I said I grew up in New York and have seen baseball played all over the US but some of the best games I have attended were the World Baseball Classic exhibition games. The fans just come to party. They may be rooting for their country and not know the players and may not know our players but they come to party, it’s the only time I am tolerant of ignorant fans. Puerto Rico and Venezuela and Dominican Republic fans are actually entertaining to watch.”

From Tom:

Great question!

For me, it’s an evolving process. I went with my dad to ballparks AAA and semi-pro before finally seeing Joe Torre hit one out at Busch Stadium again the Expos.

I learned to enjoy The Game on TV. Vin Scully and others taught me (NBC before moving near to Dodger Stadium). Now with the net, I am learning still. I am learning from other fans in the ballpark.

There is nothing I have encountered that cannot be explained by Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren or Baseball.

From Ken:

From my experience in playing the game and understanding from a players perspective…it’s what prevents you from shouting explectives even when it might be justified because you remember the fan who yelled them at you when you were playing, what it sounded like and how you felt inside. International competitions are about three things, pride, passion and heart and as evidencedby the sparse crowd at the Team USA games we are lacking in these at times…

From Larry:

“As a child living in New York City, our father took my brother and I to pretty much every Sunday Mets game at Shea whenever they were in town, or to an occasional game at Yankee Stadium. I have watched thousands of hours of MLB baseball, but there is nothing, NOTHING, like watching a game in the Latin Winter Leagues especially when it’s between rivals. The atmosphere pretty much compares to a college football game. Baseball in Puerto Rico, the Dominican, Venezuela and in the Pacific League in Mexico, takes on a life that goes well beyond the chalk lines…it’s a point of identity assumed at birth; it’s a rivalry of one city, one country, one culture over another. Fans in this part of the world are boisterous but not stupid (I was once accosted by a drunk punk at Turner Field at the men’s bathroom because I had a Mets jersey) as you find in a few MLB parks. Teams represent more than their respective clubs, they take the hopes and dreams of the fans in the stands into the field…that’s why the losses’ of the Latin teams were front page fodder and painful reminders of what could have been that will live on for four more years. Finally, it’s a festive environment…music, laughing, cheering, jeering, and dancing…its tension you can cut with a knife, its joy and its painful disappointment. Yankees vs. Red Sox is mild compared to Licey vs. Aguilas in the Dominican League or Puerto Rico vs. the Dominican…it’s simply something you cannot describe…it’s something that must be lived.”

Great responses! Thanks – and keep them coming!