One Sports Photographers Pipe Dream to Fix Major League Baseball
This is the time of year, I like to post my meaningless diatribe about the “State of Major League Baseball” and my plan to…”FIX the game”. Oh sure, winning the powerball lottery has a much better chnce for me than this ever being taken seriously
Now, I posted this last year and got comments such as, “baseball doesn’t need fixing”, “The season is the perfect length” and “Fan attendance is fine”, These were, I assume…”PURISTS”.
Meanwhile, attendance and revenues were in fact down, weather at the beginning of April still sucks, fuel and transportation costs continue to rise and we had a very good chance of having a late October World Series in…Minnesota!
Oh and yes…the All star Home Run hitting contest is still boring.
Oh, and now there is talk of adding more teams to the playoffs and a slight re-alignment by MLB.
Apparently MLB does not think is fine to remain “status quo”.
So here is my annual “shout into the black hole” for 2012.
Opening Day at Yankee Stadium
I was watching the opening game of the 2009 World Series last night and watching the mist and the cold of the night at Yankee Stadium, while simultaneously the NBA opening night game was on another channel and some college football game on another.
I have always wondered why baseball has to extend into November to finish the season. I love baseball and at least this year there seems to be a marquee match up, but it’s not always like that. Here is a plan that I’ve had in my own mind for fixing Major League Baseball, or should I say, enhancing MLB to cater to the fans and benefit the game it’s self. Bud Selig, if you read my blog, feel free to call me and discuss. I have more ideas than just this, but lets start with re aligning the divisions and creating a Regional plan that works.
I will also state that I am fully aware that the rating for THIS (2009) post season have been very good. But lets not forget that there is the benefit of a marquee match up and any time the Yankees are in the post season there is going to be a huge ratings boost. I will guarantee that if the series was being played right now, between the Rockies and the Twins, you would have a hard time giving advertising away and there more empty seats than a Vanilla Ice reunion tour.
I know baseball went through re-alignment a few years ago, but that means it can be done again, for the better of the game, by being better for the fans.
I also know that this is not the first time the idea has been approached by columnists, bloggers and various sources. But while google searching the realignment arguments, I have yet to find a posting during the first three pages that either 1) Makes Sense or 2) Presents a valid reason behind their plan.
And while there are those who scream that my ideas mess with tradition, I state back that the definition of stupidity is to keep doing the same thing over and over, simply because you’ve always done it like that, even if it doesn’t work.
Here’s a thought; Lets not change anything and re-address the issue in ten years when there are less fans and less revenue and we start caring about the health and the future game and less about upsetting the ghosts of the past. There isn’t really a corn field in Iowa where Shoeless Joe will walk out of the tall stalks to pass with you if you make him happy. It was a movie.
Baseball needs to make a radical shift in the way it does business and markets its self if it wants to continue to grow and develop a generation of fans from the ranks of the youth. Today’s kids have more alternatives than ever baseball has more competition than ever before.
Look no matter how much the old “traditionalists” with hair growing from their ears want to believe that the spirits of Jolting Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, The Babe and Ted Williams are going to re-appear and curse the game if Major League Baseball breaks from tradition, the fact is that interest in the game, fueled by a weakening economy and and alternatives to going to the park such as High Def TV and 300 cable channels with several games on per night.
The Vincent Rush / Cincinnati Sports Photography Plan for Fixing Major League Baseball
Lets create 3 Divisions of 10 teams each in a way that makes sense regionally;
Eastern Division:
Boston Redsox
NY Yankees
NY Mets
Toronto Blue Jays
Philadelphia Phillies
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Nationals
Atlanta Braves
Tampa Bay Rays
Florida Marlins
Central Division:
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cleveland Indians
Cincinnati Reds
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
St. Louis Cardinals
Kansas City Royals
Western Division:
Seattle Mariners
San Francisco Giants
Oakland A’s
LA Angles
LA Dodgers
SD Padres
Arizona D Backs
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Texas Rangers
At the end of the season, top 8 teams in baseball advance to a seeded bracketed playoff system based on record. The winners of each division are in. If the winner of a division has the 9th best record, then a 1 game playoff or shall we say a “Play In” game would exist between number 8 and number 9, but only if that was the unlikely case.
First round best 3/5 next two rounds best of seven. This, although it does not guarantee, it does create a better probability of the two best teams meeting at the end.
Start the regular season on the 15th of April and end on the 15th of September.
Either reduce the regular season schedule by the 25 games lost or make up a portion of them in more double headers throughout the season as a way of enticing fans to come to the park knowing that they can get a full day of baseball for the money. Double headers were and are still great for families on a Saturday or Sunday. It does not matter if the players like them or not. The fans are the ones who buy the tickets. Hey, if I just paid Albert 27 mill a year…he’ll play 2 when I want him to play 2.
Baseball will make it up on the increased revenue from concessions, better weather and the laws of supply and demand. If there is any doubt as to this theory, ask yourself how many teams sold out the season in the current schedule?
Regional divisions will help foster closer rivalries, and encourage more fans to attend more away games because of the closeness. There will be less time difference conflicts that lose TV viewers.
Baseball as a whole and teams in general will save money on travel throughout the course of the season and can promote it as a environmentally conscious step to help reduce carbon emissions through decreased fuel consumption. Do you realize for example that the Yankees made 10 road trips to Chicago or further. The average team made about 10 long distance road trips. What if all the coastal teams could eliminate the cross country treks?. If MLB wanted to maintain some form of inter league play, they could work coordinate cross country match ups. The savings on travel would be into the millions for baseball and the teams.
As a result of the new start and finish dates of the season, there will be less chance of snow games, rain outs, temperatures in the 30′s and re-schedules. Baseball will also not be starting the World Series and competing with the beginning of the NBA season. The Series will end in October with only the NFL to compete with.
One conflict will be how to determine who plays in an All Star Game, or if it will be necessary to continue.
Or what if a team moves, folds or MLB wants to expand? What if Florida moves to Indianapolis? Then simply tweak the division by moving a team or two. The key is to be progressive and decisive and not wait 10 years to make up your mind.
Another obstacle, as I’ve said before, is the always strong opposition of so the called “Baseball Purists”. What is purity in the game any more? If these “Pure-ists” were committed to their mantra, all players would be wearing baggy flannels and using the old mitts of yester-year, there would be no designated hitter and there would only be two teams that played it out at the end of the season. And lets do away with all domes and field turf, and the middle relief pitchers.
I think it would also, at this stage of the game become a big part of the Bud Selig legacy. The game is in better shape than when he found it, That doesn’t mean that he can’t set it up to be even better 20 years after he leaves.
Chances of this becoming anything more than a pipe dream????? About the same as my dream of seeing the All Star Home Run Hitting Contest done with Aluminum and Composite bats.
As an adult, I would actually sit through a HR contest if I thought there was a chance of seeing a 600 foot shot or a light busted out of the tower. As a kid, I would run out to Dicks and buy whatever bat A-Rod or Josh Hamilton just hit one out of Yankee Stadium with.
Think of the advertising dollars baseball would draw or endorsement money players would pull down from the likes of Easton, TPX, DeMarini, Rawlings or Miken! And don’t cry about tradition again. Since when does a batter stand at the plate and hit off of a batting practice pitcher during a traditional game? The Home Run hitting contest should be the same type of freak show the NBA Slam Dunk contest is.
A 7-15 year kid knows nothing about tradition! Baseball has to quit marketing to the “wing tips” and start marketing to the flip fops, to continue to grow it’s fan base.
Opening Day for The Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds Great American Ballpark By Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush
Reds bring new confidence into season
Defending NL Central champs know what it feels like to win by Mark Sheldon of MLB
The Reds take nothing for granted, but have carried a confidence throughout Spring Training that they can repeat as National League Central division champions.
No, there weren’t any major upgrades or additions to the roster during the winter — or spring — while rivals like the Brewers and Cardinals were busy. Then again, when you had the NL’s best offensive team, one of the best defenses and a deep pitching staff, how much tinkering can really be done?
The stability is welcomed as they prepare for Opening Day against the Brewers today at 2:10 p.m. ET, but it comes with a caveat: The younger players are expected to keep taking steps forward.
“I think any time you have or nearly have your 25 guys set before Spring Training even starts, it’s a huge advantage for any team,” Reds first baseman Joey Votto said. “I think a lot of people don’t give us enough credit — people come up with complaints about us not making trades or any major moves in the offseason. But so often, players come into their own over time and go from being average to above-average ballplayers in one offseason. That happens when you’re in your 22-28-year-old range, the younger part of your career. I don’t think we needed to make any more adjustments.”
National League MVP, Joey Votto by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush
Votto, 27, is the reigning NL Most Valuable Player, coming off a huge year and a jump to elite status. But he is hardly a one-man show.
Jay Bruce by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Ohio Sports Photography
Right fielder Jay Bruce, 23, hit a career-high 25 home runs and finished strong after a rough start to 2010. Ditto for 26-year-old center fielder Drew Stubbs, who hit 22 homers and is still developing as a hitter. Second baseman Brandon Phillips, 29, is capable of hitting 30 homers and was a first-time All-Star and became a two-time Gold Glove winner last season
.
The pitching staff was a stable bunch, as well — until the final 10 days of camp, when health issues thinned the rotation.
Shoulder injuries put No. 3 starter Johnny Cueto and No. 4 starter Homer Bailey on the disabled list to start the season, but neither are considered seriously injured. No. 2 starter and 2010 17-game winner Bronson Arroyo was diagnosed with mononucleosis and will keep pitching while trying to conserve energy.
The Reds have already been able to look to younger pitchers like Travis Wood, Mike Leake and Sam LeCure to step up behind Edinson Volquez and Arroyo.
Reds manager Dusty Baker obviously didn’t plan on testing his rotation’s depth this much, this early. But he steadfastly remained positive about the situation.
“What you going to do?” Baker said. “Everybody is doom and gloom. I’m not like that. I was taught to find a solution. Instead of the sky is falling, Chicken Little and ‘oh me, oh my,’ you try to figure out a solution. The problem is going to be there. It’s already there. I hate it, but it’s there.”
Francisco Cordero by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush
The unexpected, but short-term worries about the rotation are joined by other questions. Can a slimmed-down Francisco Cordero take his solid spring performances into the regular season? Will flame throwing Aroldis Chapman be a stable presence in a left-handed setup role? As the everyday left fielder, can Jonny Gomes build upon his career season from 2010? Can Paul Janish, who had a strong spring, thrive as the new regular shortstop? Will Scott Rolen be as productive in the second half with the wear-and-tear of the season on his body?
If the young core can make their expected improvements and others do their jobs well, Votto believes those questions — and any others — will answer themselves positively.
“We can be a much better team, I think,” Votto said. “It all starts and ends with the pitching staff, but they’re a young group of guys also. I notice huge leaps between offseasons. You can step back, think about the mistakes you’ve made and how you want to improve and adjust your training. You experience life lessons, and it pays off on the field.”
Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!
2011 Opening Day for Major League Baseball….IN MARCH?????
This Thursday, March 31st, marks the opening day for Major League Baseball as the Cincinnati Reds take on the Brewers at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
Yesterday my friends little league team, The Monroe Swarm, was warming up to a snow covered outfield and 33 degree temps.
I never understood why Major League Baseball feels the need to, 1) Not only start the season so early and finish the World Series in November and 2) take a full 162 games to be able to determine a winner of a division.
I’m a huge baseball fan. I love the game. The best times of my youth were centered around baseball. But if Barak Obama appointed me Baseball Czar, I would make some changes to the game, both for entertainment as well as economic purposes.
Here is a plan that I’ve had in my own mind for fixing Major League Baseball, or should I say, enhancing MLB to cater to the fans and benefit the game it’s self. Bud Selig, if you read my blog, feel free to call me and discuss. I have more ideas than just this, but lets start with re aligning the divisions and creating a Regional plan that works.
I will also state that I am fully aware that the rating for THIS post season have been very good. But lets not forget that there is the benefit of a marquee match up and any time the Yankees are in the post season there is going to be a huge ratings boost. I will guarantee that if the series was being played right now, between the Rockies and the Twins, you would have a hard time giving advertising away and there more empty seats than a Vanilla Ice reunion tour.
I know baseball went through re-alignment a few years ago, but that means it can be done again, for the better of the game, by being better for the fans.
I also know that this is not the first time the idea has been approached by columnists, bloggers and various sources. But while google searching the realignment arguments, I have yet to find a posting during the first three pages that either 1) Makes Sense or 2) Presents a valid reason behind their plan.
And while there are those who scream that my ideas mess with tradition, I state back that the definition of stupidity is to keep doing the same thing over and over, simply because you’ve always done it like that, even if it doesn’t work.
Here’s a thought; Lets not change anything and re-address the issue in ten years when there are less fans and less revenue and we start caring about the health and the future game and less about upsetting the ghosts of the past. There isn’t really a corn field in Iowa where Shoeless Joe will walk out of the tall stalks to pass with you if you make him happy. It was a movie.
Baseball needs to make a radical shift in the way it does business and markets its self if it wants to continue to grow and develop a generation of fans from the ranks of the youth. Today’s kids have more alternatives than ever baseball has more competition than ever before.
Look no matter how much the old “traditionalists” with hair growing from their ears want to believe that the spirits of Jolting Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, The Babe and Ted Williams are going to re-appear and curse the game if Major League Baseball breaks from tradition, the fact is that interest in the game, fueled by a weakening economy and and alternatives to going to the park such as High Def TV and 300 cable channels with several games on per night.
The Vincent Rush / Cincinnati Sports Photography Plan for Fixing Major League Baseball
Lets create 3 Divisions of 10 teams each in a way that makes sense regionally;
Eastern Division:
Boston Redsox
NY Yankees
NY Mets
Toronto Blue Jays
Philadelphia Phillies
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Nationals
Atlanta Braves
Tampa Bay Rays
Florida Marlins
Central Division:
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cleveland Indians
Cincinnati Reds
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
St. Louis Cardinals
Kansas City Royals
Western Division:
Seattle Mariners
San Francisco Giants
Oakland A’s
LA Angles
LA Dodgers
SD Padres
Arizona D Backs
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Texas Rangers
At the end of the season, top 12 teams in baseball advance to a seeded bracketed playoff system based on record. The winners of their divisions and the 4th best record have a bye. In the unlikely event that the winner of a division has the 13th best record, then a 1 game playoff or shall we say a “Play In” game would exist between number 12 and number 13, but only if that was the unlikely case.
First round best 2/3 next round, best of 5. and then best of 7 in Championship semi Finals and Championship finals.
This, although it does not guarantee, it does create a better probability of the two best teams meeting at the end.
Start the regular season on the 15th of April and end on the 15th of September.
Either reduce the regular season schedule by the 25 games lost or make up a portion of them in more double headers throughout the season as a way of enticing fans to come to the park knowing that they can get a full day of baseball for the money. Double headers were and are still great for families on a Saturday or Sunday. It does not matter if the players like them or not. The fans are the ones who buy the tickets.
Baseball will make it up on the increased revenue from TV, attendance, concessions, better weather and the laws of supply and demand. If there is any doubt as to this theory, ask yourself how many teams sold out the season in the current schedule?
Regional divisions will help foster closer rivalries, and encourage more fans to attend more away games because of the closeness. There will be less time difference conflicts that lose TV viewers.
Baseball as a whole and teams in general will save money on travel throughout the course of the season and can promote it as a environmentally conscious step to help reduce carbon emissions through decreased fuel consumption. Do you realize for example that the Yankees made 10 road trips to Chicago or further. The average team made about 10 long distance road trips. What if all the coastal teams could eliminate the cross country treks?. If MLB wanted to maintain some form of inter league play, they could work coordinate cross country match ups. The savings on travel would be into the millions for baseball and the teams.
As a result of the new start and finish dates of the season, there will be less chance of snow games, rain outs, temperatures in the 30′s and re-schedules. Baseball will also not be starting the World Series and competing with the beginning of the NBA season. The Series will end in October with only the NFL to compete with.
One conflict will be how to determine who plays in an All Star Game, or if it will be necessary to continue.
Or what if a team moves, folds or MLB wants to expand? What if Florida moves to Indianapolis? Then simply tweak the division by moving a team or two. The key is to be progressive and decisive and not wait 10 years to make up your mind.
Another obstacle, as I’ve said before, is the always strong opposition of so the called “Baseball Purists“. What is purity in the game any more? If these “Pure-ists” were committed to their mantra, all players would be wearing baggy flannels and using the old mitts of yester-year, there would be no designated hitter and there would only be two teams that played it out at the end of the season. And lets do away with all domes and field turf, and the middle relief pitchers.
I think it would also, at this stage of the game become a big part of the Bud Selig legacy. The game is in better shape than when he found it, That doesn’t mean that he can’t set it up to be even better 20 years after he leaves.
Chances of this becoming anything more than a pipe dream????? About the same as my dream of seeing the All Star Home Run Hitting Contest done with Aluminum and Composite bats.
As an adult, I would actually sit through a HR contest if I thought there was a chance of seeing a 600 foot shot or a light busted out of the tower. As a kid, I would run out to Dicks and buy whatever bat A-Rod or Josh Hamilton just hit one out of Yankee Stadium with.
Think of the advertising dollars baseball would draw or endorsement money players would pull down from the likes of Easton, TPX, DeMarini, Rawlings or Miken! And don’t cry about tradition again. Since when does a batter stand at the plate and hit off of a batting practice pitcher during a traditional game? The Home Run hitting contest should be the same type of freak show the NBA Slam Dunk contest is.
A 7-15 year kid knows nothing about tradition! Baseball has to quit marketing to the “wing tips” and start marketing to the flip fops, to continue to grow it’s fan base.
Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!
Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!
Play Within Your Game
Stephen Strasburg of The Washington Nationals vs. The Cincinnati Reds by Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush
Playing within your game could also be interpreted as staying within your niche. When I was playing men’s softball and traveling with a team every weekend, I never tried to be more than I was.
Out of 12 guys on the regular roster, I was probably the 8th or 9th, maybe 10th or 11th (depending on who you asked), best on the team. I was not a home run hitter and I didn’t have a cannon for an arm.
What I was however was a .650 right handed hitter that made my living by hitting the ball to right center and painting the right field line, I was fast and I wouldn’t embarrass myself in the field. I was also willing to be the ultimate support player for the team by playing some catcher and riding the pine without throwing a fit or pouting.
All of those qualities had earned me a spot on an A level team that played about 200 games a year, so when I got to that team, I never tried to be anything other than that.What’s that detective Harry Callahan said, “A man’s got to know his limitations”?..Well I knew mine.
to the contrary, occasionally we would see some talented, young, up and coming ball player and invite him to play a tournament with the team. Inevitably, that player would, more times than not, forget what his game was and why we wanted him in the first place, and try to play outside of his game by swinging for the fences and attempting to do things he was not equipped for. The end result was, that he would be with us for a brief time and then we’d never call him again.
In photography, if you want to succeed and make a decent side income or one day a living, you’ve got to know your niche and play within you game.
My niche is sports photography. I can shoot wedding photography, portrait photography and industrial or landscapes, but I know that in CINCINNATI or DAYTON, OHIO, when it comes to that type of photography, I’m very good at it. In fact I feel I’m the very best at it. I’m also good at marketing and promoting what I do as well as learning more every day.
I have many friends in photography who are skilled at various disciplines and do quite well in say PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY, SENIOR PORTRAITS, WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY and then I have friend’s that are highly skilled at PHOTOSHOP and various forms of post photo processing. They tend to make a nice living at it.
In fact, I know a guy in West Chester by the name of Russ McLaughlin, who is one of the very best family and portrait photographers in the world. The guy has become extremely prosperous at taking family and senior portraits. He demands the highest price and always gets it.
As a photographer, you have to know you game and stay within that game to succeed. When you have mastered that discipline and own that niche, then broaden your horizons and master another one.
To be financially successful in photography it is my opinion that you can not afford to be a “jack of all trades and a master of none”. When I started Cincinnati Sports Photography I was on a mission to establish myself as one of the premiere sports photographers in Ohio. I knew that other work would come from establishing my reputation in that field.
Most people that try to scratch out an income as photographers, are never quite sure what kind of photographer they want to be.
In one of my next posts, I’ll talk about branding and being selective on what pictures you choose to post on your online portfolio. Every picture you post in a gallery or on a web site is part of your resume and also represents the quality of your work and your attention to detail.
I believe that I get the jobs I do, from exotic sports cars to senior and family portraits because of my sports photography.
Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://cincinnatisportsphotography.com/
Cincinnati Sports Photography
