From: chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: ba.sports
Subject: Re: Frank Jordan strikes again
Date: 25 Aug 92 23:53:45 GMT
Organization: I is a writur

snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols) writes:
>In article <71641@apple.Apple.COM> chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes:

>As for why hasn't a team moved there before now?

Good points. 

>And most indications are that the AL is willing to take that, though there
>are still persistent rumors that a league realignment may eventually happen.

I wouldn't count on them. The Brewers are strongly against going into the
NL, and the Mariners haven't said much at all about it, but since AL teams
and NL teams are structured differently (because of the DH) and it'd affect
players, contracts, strategies, farm clubs and lots of other issues, it's a
long-term issue and not something to be decided quickly (at least, decided
quickly in the affirmative). It's a lot different doing an NL/AL swap than
East/West.

>This I'll take issue with.  I believe that the Giants have gotten the
>support they deserve.  The Giants do a lousy job of marketing the team,
>particularly compared to their neighbors across the way.

Here we disagree. The A's have done a better job of marketing their team,
but they have a better stadium to start from and more control of the various
aspects like parking and concessions. 

The bottom line, though, is that this is a 3 million a year attendance
market in an average year. Unless both teams are in the hunt, baseball is
going to sell no more than 3 million seats. 3.5 maybe, but not four.
Candlestick is such a deterrence that even when  the Giants play well and
the A's don't, the A's draw better (taking into consideration the difference
in counting procedures in the league). When both teams went to the World
series we broke 4 million, but that's not a situation you base marketing on.

There are only enough fans in the Bay area for one team. There's no way I
see, even in a new ballpark, for the Giants to draw 2 million a year unless
it's a year they're contending. Better to quick splitting the market and let
them go build a new market.

>Yes, attendance
>is hurt by Candlestick.  The Giants could still do a lot better.

And it'd STILL be a dump. They tried day ball. They tried the Croix. They
tried early family nights and alcohol free family sections. I don't think
there's much more they can do with the facility they're given. If they could
have done it better, Sherri, what kind of things should they have tried?
Remember that they have limited control over concessionaires and parking and
facility modification.

>Sorry, but I have a hard time working up sympathy for a millionaire
>businessman who's unhappy because we refused to spend tax dollars to
>finance a stadium,

We know that, Sherri. In great detail. We'll just agree to disagree on 
this issue.

(and it should be "millionaire businessman who's been spending $3-5 million
a year for the last 5-8 years in losses on the team in the hopes of getting
that new stadium he was promised four times", but that's a nitpick)

the primary beneficiary of which will be the millionaire
>businessman.

And the primary beneficiary would be the citizens of the region who, because
the stadium wasn't built, is losing their team. Yeah. Lurie's really losing
out on this deal.

Bottom line: if the stadium was built, we'd have a team. The stadium wasn't
built and we're losing it unless (a) we get REAL lucky, and (b) we end up
building the stadium anyway, somehow. So the bottom line on the stadium
issue is that the argument that Lurie should have built his own stadium is
stupid, because he won't (and didn't). You can't force the millionairs to
build their own stadiums as long as other cities feel it's worht building
them for him, whatever your beliefs on civic vs. private funding are. So
either you match the offer (which we didn't) or you wave to the nice players
as they board the bus for tampa.

>You forgot the other reason that as a virtual baseball owner, you'd vote
>for the move: you want to remind the current cities that baseball teams
>*can* move.

Oh, yeah. Game, set and match. We lose.



-- 
Chuq "IMHO" Von Rospach, ESD Support & Training (DAL/AUX) =+= Member, SFWA
  chuq@apple.com | GEnie: MAC.BIGOT | ALink:CHUQ =+= Editor, OtherRealms
	A real SF writur with stories in ALTERNATE KENNEDYS and THE 
	  FURTHER ADVENTURES OF BATMAN, in better bookstores now!

          Painted emblems of a race, all accurst in days of yore,
       Each from his accustomed place steps into the world once more.