How Hard Is Three?

[NetShrine]

Stuck on the NJ Turnpike tonight - - 60 minute hour trip became a 135 minute trip thanks to the rain. Not much to do - actually listened to the Met pregame on the radio.

They said that, going into tonight, only three MLB teams had yet to win three in a row so far this year:

the Mets, the Devil Rays, and the Braves.

The one that shocks me the most is the Braves.

[BuzzBuzzard]

Both the Mets and Braves can end this dubious honor tonight. Smoltz for the Bravos and Gonzalez for the Mets.

[ChrisCary]

Only three Major League teams??

That's unbelievable.

[NetShrine]

I'm amazed there was three!

[bagger015]

Lots of suprises so far this year. Twins and Phillies the biggest. :eek:

[BuzzBuzzard]

Still pretty hard for two of those three teams.

[NetShrine]

Buzz - aren't they all still OH FER? Bravos and Mets lost last night, no?

[jpalexa]

May 27th, and the Braves still haven't put together three in a row.

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by jpalexa
May 27th, and the Braves still haven't put together three in a row.

The most amazing stat of the year for me - given their pitching.

[jpalexa]

Stranger yet, at least a couple of times it has been Maddux or Glavine pitching the game that would have been number three.

I was going to say that Atlanta is a little befuddled by this, but that is giving too much credit to this crappy-ass sports down. "Fans" simply move on to the next non-baseball event in their lives. Mostly NASCAR.

[NetShrine]

How is attendance at the Ted this year?

[jpalexa]

The average attendance is down 9% to 33,144/game from 36,584/game a year ago.

A ticket price hike and a losing team. Not a good combination.

I am struggling with a potential topic -- as much pissing and moaning that I have done on this site regarding the "business" of baseball and how much that makes me want to puke, I have started to realize that baseball *is* facing stressed times (albeit due to its own idiocy, in a lot ways). At any rate, the mood of society has changed and there are many more "entertainment" options available to people these days.

So, how is baseball to survive, much less thrive? The current path will not succeed -- eventually the greed will cause some kind of collapse. I just wonder what, if anything, can be done?

I need to think about this some more.

[NetShrine]

The Jake no longer selling out after 455 straight is a sign..............as a fan, maybe this isn't the worse thing? Perhaps it will cause some owners to work harder at getting us there - - and perhaps they'll have to start caring about how we think/feel?

[jpalexa]

Yeah, maybe. It certainly doesn't feel as though Baseball has worked on increasing a true fan base -- more that it has been trying to cash in on the economy by pandering to corporations (luxury boxes, advertising). If the economy continues to tank, the socially-cool group won't be at the park, and now Baseball will have priced out the true fans.

And the minors and even indy leagues are no longer a cost refuge -- they're not nearly as bad as the bigs, but prices are definitely on the rise....

Hmm.

[NetShrine]

Indy leagues probably cost about half to 1/6th that of MLB, across the board.

We went to the Somerset Pats a few weeks back - - a burger, chicken tenders, two fries, a coke and a beer was about $20.

Same food at Yankee Stadium would probably run about twice that........at least.

My Loge (middle section) seat at the Stadium goes for $42 per game. At the Pats, a $14 seat put me in what most MLB staidums consider the "owners box" (1st row, right at the edge of the dugout).

[jpalexa]

Fourteen bucks for a box seat at an independent league game? Sheesh -- that is exactly what I am talking about.

While still better than the bigs, minor league and indy ball is becoming less and less of the "value" it used to be.

Am I going to be relegated to Little League?!?

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by jpalexa
Fourteen bucks for a box seat at an independent league game?

Keep in mind these were "Executive Boxes" (their name, not mine). Bet, on average, the rest of the seats probably ran about six bucks - - and they're all good seats. These stadiums only hold about 5,000.

A beer at Yankee Stadium costs more than six bucks.

[jpalexa]

I just must be out of the loop. I can't remember *any* seat in *any* minor league stadium *ever* being more than $10 -- and that was during the league championship (Frederick Keys, 1990/1 Carolina League). I guess that's part of the problem -- my head is stuck in the five-dollar box seat era!

Still, I just assumed the indies would cost an order of magnitude less than the minors. Guess their prices are about the same.

Yeah, a beer in the Ted is $7.00 -- albeit for a 24 ouncer. Trouble is (other than the price!) that they stopped selling beer on tap (for some reason -- inventory theft???) and all you can get are these grossly-overinflated monster beers. Yikes! Oh, well -- when in Rome --> :cheers:

At any rate, it seems like it is getting to be a more substantial amount of cash each season just to hear the crack of the white ash....

[NetShrine]

From ESpn.com, Stark:

Until Sunday, the only teams in the major leagues that hadn't won three games in a row were the Devil Rays, the Pirates and, uh, the Braves? Then the Pirates cooperated by getting swept in a doubleheader, giving the Braves their first three-game winning streak in their (this can't be true, can it?) 55th game of the year.

Last time a Braves team went that deep into a season without winning three in a row: 1988, when Chuck Cary, Juan Tyrone Eichelberger, Dion James and company needed to play all the way to June 17 (63 games) to win three in a row. Since then, according to Randy Robles, they'd never gone more than 20 games into a season without a three-game winning streak.

[jpalexa]

Originally posted by jpalexa
I just must be out of the loop. I can't remember *any* seat in *any* minor league stadium *ever* being more than $10 -- and that was during the league championship (Frederick Keys, 1990/1 Carolina League). I guess that's part of the problem -- my head is stuck in the five-dollar box seat era!

My faith is (at least partially) restored. Took in a game at Salem, Virginia, this past Thursday. Free parking, $7.00 front row seats, $1.75 hot dogs, and $0.75 12-oz beers (yes, that's right -- 75 cents -- they have this special each Thursday -- normally, a 20-oz beer costs $3.00). *And* we got to see a guy make an Edmonds-esque catch going away in deep right. Nothing could be finer than to be at a Carolina League game that night!

[NetShrine]

Happy for you JP!

What teams played?

[jpalexa]

The Salem Avalanche (Rockies) vs. the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves).

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You know, not winning three games in a row all season isn't necessarily horrible. Theoretically, if the Braves always won two out of three (.667) then they would be 38-19 -- 2 games AHEAD of the Phillies for first place! That's a 108-54 pace -- usually good enough to win a division?

Yes, always winning two out of three games is highly unlikely. But winning three games in a row is not *necessary* to win a division.

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by jpalexa
The Salem Avalanche (Rockies) vs. the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves).

Any player(s) stand out as "this guys gonna be a star"?

[jpalexa]

Actually, no. There were more guys in the lineup hitting below .200 than above .300! Both teams were at or about at .500.

I'm sure that at least a couple from each team will star -- it was a high-A league. Some of the names on the Pelicans (Braves) were familiar to me due to my exposure to the press here in Atlanta, but none of those guys showed me a whole lot that night.

[mainsr]

Hey, just for the record, I go to see a team (Adirondack Lumberjacks) in the same indpendent league as Netshrine's New Jersey Toxicwastes, and I pay $15 for a "family" ticket, which they interpret as 1-2 adults with kids. Last week I went with my two boys and two of their friends, $15. 12-oz beers (Coors Light in plastic bottles) and 20-oz sodas are $2 unless the "beverage hitter" (randomly chosen before the game) on the opposing team K's, in which case beverages are $1 for the inning. I even won two dozen wings at a local bar during the "ball toss" after the sixth inning! (Yes, Net, that's about as thrilling as my life gets.)

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by mainsr
I even won two dozen wings at a local bar during the "ball toss" after the sixth inning! (Yes, Net, that's about as thrilling as my life gets.)

You were on the field? I wish I had been there.......