
Originally Posted by
MinnesotaFats
The modern team values TV ratings and the attention span of the casual observer over actually winning games.
Think traditional fan...you grew up watching Ozzie Smith dazzle you at SS, Mike Sochia catch Hershiser, Willie McGee and Vince Coleman steal bases, Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux go 7, 8 or 9 innings every time out.
Today's audience finds that boring
Today's target audience grew up on Jay Buener, Sosa, McGwire, Vaughn, and teams like the 95 Orioles and 98 Padres or Ortiz led Res Sox hitting 2 or 3 homer's per game.
They are casual fans, they watch or attend baseball because they can't watch or attend NFL or NBA and their attention span is short. This fan requires ACTION not strategy. This dan requires an outcome, not a chess match.
That's the problem modern MLB is facing. The game is designed to be an inning by inning chess match, within a 9 inning chess match, where the manager or team that makes the 1 fundamental error loses because the opponent capitalizes (baseball is, afterall, the only sport where the defense controls the ball). That's how it was from the 1870s thru the 2000s.
Now, today....its about the action in a single at bat....and the outcome of a single at bat. Nobody cares if the Twins work counts, wear down the starter, build an early lead and structure the game early so the bullpen can finish. No...today's game is about what people who are flipping channels want....what people who are busy buying jerseys or hot dogs or soda in the concourse want...and that's an outcome every AB and some drama every AB. That's why you see KO or HR mentality up and down a lineup, that's why nobody is slapping the ball the other way, stealing 3rd on a shift, using set up pitches and pitch outs, drag bunting or putting together rallies of hit n runs, sacrifices, squeeze bunts, etc....
The modern GM constructs a team of 8 dudes that hit .265 a 17 hr and 45 rbi....and that team never wins, sucks against good teams and trades away young talent....because their local TV affiliate needs balls going yard every 4 abs, they need JUDGE striking out 4 times, they need Brady Anderson hitting 50bhrs, etc.
No modern mlb manager would take any current MLB gig