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    The average time of a nine-inning game was around two hours when I was a kid.

    That average in now at three hours.

    This, however, is very unusual.

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      Just as well Londoners are used to interminable bat-and-ball contests.

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        Originally posted by Diable Rouge View Post
        I presume US viewers aren't suffering the purgatorial "delights" of Craig Doyle.
        No, we have our own source of irritation. His name is Joe Buck.

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          I knew this was the plan, but it looks really weird that both clubs are wearing their home uniforms

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            Well crap.

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              Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
              I knew this was the plan, but it looks really weird that both clubs are wearing their home uniforms
              It's been a little confusing at times, when I'm doing other things and glance at the TV from across the room.

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                Quality finish, that

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                  Javy delivers.

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                    In terms of noise, the crowd seems pretty evenly split.

                    Which is sad for Cincinnati in their 150th year.

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                      This is stupid

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                        Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                        In terms of noise, the crowd seems pretty evenly split.

                        Which is sad for Cincinnati in their 150th year.
                        They haven’t won a playoff series since 1995. Fans are despondent.

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                          We went 108 years between titles

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                            I know that is insensitive, but this phenomenon has always bugged me (it used to happen a lot in Oakland) and there's a whole other part of me that fears that we are turning into the Yankees or Red Sox (if we haven't already).

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                              Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                              We went 108 years between titles
                              But there was a lot more cause for hope and in the years when there was no hope, there was Wrigley Field, in the middle of one of the wealthiest urban areas in the country in the third largest city.

                              Cincinnati has, well, not that.


                              Teams like the Reds and the Pirates historically had wide regional fanbases built on radio, newspapers and then local TV. But if everyone can follow any team they want on the internet as if it were local, it’s harder to create loyalty outside the fans that live close enough and have enough money to go to a few games a year. So fans will gravitate toward the teams that are more likely to win.

                              And the Cubs have (had?) WGN, which has a huge reach.

                              I suspect most of Indiana is Cubs country now.

                              I was at GABP about ten years ago when they played the White Sox. A lot of White Sox fans there - though not close to half. Those were the first White Sox fans I’d ever encountered in the wild.
                              Last edited by Hot Pepsi; 29-06-2019, 23:24.

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                                I've never been to Cincinnati, but I have a cousin who recently spent a couple of years there on a post-doc.

                                He and his wife enjoyed their time there, and felt that there was a lot more going on than "coastal elites" might think, but the long-time link between the city and the Reds seems to have been broken, notwithstanding the new stadium, etc.

                                It's sad.

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                                  Ha. The London game is blackout restricted.

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                                    That's why MLBAM is worth a billion dollars

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                                      Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                      I've never been to Cincinnati, but I have a cousin who recently spent a couple of years there on a post-doc.

                                      He and his wife enjoyed their time there, and felt that there was a lot more going on than "coastal elites" might think, but the long-time link between the city and the Reds seems to have been broken, notwithstanding the new stadium, etc.

                                      It's sad.
                                      All of that is true.

                                      The lack of success has a lot to do with it. Before the Cubs got Theo and the Central was easier, the Reds had a few good teams but they didn’t ultimately win anything and then had to sell off all the useable parts except Votto. That alienated a lot of people. And this year they made the bold move to get Kemp and Puig and it hasn’t really accomplished anything, and that has contributed to the ennui. For a small market team to have a chance, a lot of things have to go right simultaneously and lately very few things have gone right. It all feels very hopeless.

                                      GABP is fine - way better than Riverfront - but not really special compared to all the other new parks. When it was built, there was no development to speak of around it. Barely a place to get a drink. And the riverfront area is still cut off from downtown by an interstate - a mistake a lot of cities made, so that’s not ideal.

                                      All of that has improved in recent years. The promised development around the stadium has happened/is happening. But the opportunity to build goodwill and excitement about the new stadium during the time the team was winning was somewhat squandered.

                                      The general disinterest in baseball among much of the younger generation, especially the ones who aren’t white, is also a big factor. The Reds are trying to combat that, but it’s a national problem and there’s so much they can do.

                                      Outside of Boston, St Louis, and Chicago, does any team have the strong relationship with its city that it once did? It doesn’t seem like it for any of the places I’m familiar with.

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                                        Atlanta and Baltimore do, I think.

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                                          Colorado and Milwaukee, too

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                                            Originally posted by Femme Folle View Post
                                            Atlanta and Baltimore do, I think.
                                            I think the opposite.

                                            The Orioles matter, but not as much as they once did.

                                            The Braves moved out of Atlanta.

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                                              Well, it is a question of what the comparison is to.

                                              The Orioles certainly have squandered much of the goodwill they earned with Camden Yards. The Braves' new park is a disaster for Cobb County financially, but one can argue that they moved to where their fans had been for years.

                                              Success certainly has helped Milwaukee, and yes, Denver is still primarily a football town.

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                                                I saw the Rockies play the Yankees at Coors Field about five years ago. It was 50-60% Yankees fans.

                                                I fear MLB will end up like La Liga.

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                                                  What about the Twins?

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                                                    Am I the only OTFer who went to the game in London yesterday? It was my first live game since 1996 and I haven't watched any baseball at all since they stopped showing it on free telly in the UK quite a few years ago, so I was quite pleased that I'd retained most of my limited knowledge of the game. When I first watched baseball, I recall being struck by how quickly they went through the early innings. Yesterday, the first inning alone lasted an hour. With the Yankees 6-0 I confidently predicted that the game was as good as over. When the Red Sox made it 6-6, my more cynical companion suggested that, perhaps, MLB wanted to put on something of a 'show'. I could see his point while finding it hard to think that this was the case given it was a proper game. While I enjoyed the scoring, the highlights for me were a couple of double plays around the middle of the game. On crowd noise, the Red Sox had it for me by some way - they also had it on clothing, though both may have been down to where I was sitting. There were plenty of other teams represented on the clothing front and I slightly regretted not wearing some of my 90s Mariners clobber. The venue was great, and I'm not the only one who has commented that baseball looked more at home there than does football.
                                                    Last edited by Capybara; 30-06-2019, 10:02.

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