04/19/24
December 13, 2005
Classic not drawing heated interest: A survey says that failed to catch the public's fancy, although MLB was encouraged by first-day ticket sales. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll revealed 55% of adult baseball fans in this country have little or no interest in the inaugural tournament, to be played in Japan, Puerto Rico and sites in the USA next March 3-20.
posted by knuckleballer to baseball at 01:32 PM - 18 comments
General admission lawn tickets are $84 (plus "handling fees"), and the nearest games to me are >1000 miles away. Fans with money and time can go; others need not apply, but that doesn't mean we're not part of "the public".
posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:49 PM on December 13, 2005
Too early - no one has seen the teams yet, and baseball as an international event only has the Olympics as benchmark; where the teams are hardly examples of the best a nation produces... Except Cuba (thank you fifty year trade embargo). If there is a good showing by the players, i.e. some superstars actually show up for USA (and Bonds and Clemens want to play so that's looking pretty good) I think that interest will grow. Let's let the thing actually happen before we declare it a failure, shall we?
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:59 PM on December 13, 2005
The sales pitch hasn't even begun. If it weren't for the fact the Roger Clemens (*spit*) is making a big deal about pitching in it, I wonder if I'd have heard about it at all yet. They wanna start selling it to the American public, well, any time is good.
posted by chicobangs at 02:10 PM on December 13, 2005
Barry Bonds? If they do drug tests according to suspicious activity, he should be the first one in line to be tested. He may not be getting high on his drugs, but be sure the hell did gain an awful lot of size in a short while and the league seems to be having one hell of a time keeping the truth about it hidden for long. You can rest assured that Henry Aaron didn't have to shoot steroids to get his home runs.
posted by mrhockey at 02:36 PM on December 13, 2005
mrhockey: No need to turn this thread into a steroid thread. There are more than enough of those on this site to whet your appetite and grind your axe. I think calling it a "Classic" is just part of the silliness involved. It's the first tournament. That does not make it a "classic". If they'd called it the International Championships or something less cutesy, it might help. l_b_b is correct as well. If this was anywhere near where I lived, I'd be all over it. But it isn't, so I ain't. And it's December. I'm not thinking about baseball just yet. I'll probably get more excited when February rolls around and training camps open.
posted by grum@work at 02:45 PM on December 13, 2005
Yeah, give it time. There isn't much to get excited about yet. Those poll numbers will improve once something actually happens. Like naming a team or two.
posted by gspm at 03:35 PM on December 13, 2005
The games being played in the US are going to be in Southern California only? It seems odd that Florida didn't get any games.
posted by NoMich at 03:41 PM on December 13, 2005
Maybe if they had put games in any of the great American baseball towns they might have seen some better figures. That said, I don't see much cause for alarm here.
posted by Venicemenace at 04:01 PM on December 13, 2005
Maybe if they had put games in any of the great American baseball towns they might have seen some better figures. Except for domed stadiums, any game in the northeast could get a bit dicey, given the weather at that time.
posted by grum@work at 04:33 PM on December 13, 2005
NoMich: The games being played in the US are going to be in Southern California only? It seems odd that Florida didn't get any games. I found a series in Orlando, actually. grum: Except for domed stadiums, any game in the northeast could get a bit dicey, given the weather at that time. Yeah, the dates are in March, and in early- to mid-March, I'd say there's a nontrivial chance of a major snowstorm anywhere from DC north. In later March I'd say Boston is the only likely candidate, but the rest of the northeast has plenty of weather that's cold enough to make a baseball game a dangerous farce.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:15 PM on December 13, 2005
I think they need to get us more excited by offering more info. I don't know much about it except they keep throwing a couple of names out and most are playing for teams other than the U.S. I would be interested in going if it were closer to me but living in Michigan would not fair well with playing a game in the snow (as it has been pointed out earlier). Even with opening day in April there is still a chance we will have snow. Snow storms in April are not uncommon here. We have looked for Easter eggs in snow drifts before and I live in the southern part of the state.
posted by skydivemom at 05:26 PM on December 13, 2005
There's no history attached to it to get people excited. Yet. Same thing happened with the first Superbowl. Ya-a-a-w-w-w-wn. But then a funny thing happened. The Jets upset the Colts, and it became an event. The rest is history.
posted by the red terror at 06:00 PM on December 13, 2005
In later March I'd say Boston is the only likely candidate lbb, there's a generation of kids who played in the baseball Beanpot who'd like to have a word with you. Smarch is a little cold for baseball.
posted by yerfatma at 06:39 PM on December 13, 2005
If I can get the games on radio, I'll definitely tune in. I might even hit a sports bar for some of the games, but it'll have to be an interesting matchup (Japan vs. Cuba!). I've read next to nothing about it, but I wonder how the travel issue will work out. Some teams can get wiped out just from crossing the country - what if they have to fly from Puerto Rico to Japan? That could destroy a team's chances to win.
posted by rocketman at 08:40 PM on December 13, 2005
that's my point - in the US folks are involved in football, college hoop, etc & won't be noticing baseball until spring training - where you will learn that the best baseball players are involved in the WBC. GAmes are in Orlando, Arizona, Anaheim as well as the fianals in San Diego. Today is the 2nd day of ticket sales & the finals in SanDiego have only the nosebleed seats avilable. It's a new paradigm - unlike the World Series teams from other countries are invited.More like the World CUp.
posted by knuckleballer at 08:42 PM on December 13, 2005
Try selling tickets per game and not in "strips" of 6 and I'd be all over it. I just want Dominican Republic v. Venezuela. Anyone in Orlando who wants to see these five? Australia v. Italy Venezuela v. Italy Dominican Republic v. Italy Venezuela v. Australia Dominican Republic v. Australia We can split the tickets.
posted by ?! at 09:13 PM on December 14, 2005
Hey skidivemom, does the term "Michiana" mean anything to you? If so, could you maybe drop me an email, I may be headed that way, long term. I'd appreciate it, if you have the time and/or inclination. Sorry, everybody else. Continue on; nothing to see here.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 09:29 PM on December 17, 2005
60% of Petco is sold out the 1st day, but US fans aren't interested? Must be the Japanese & Dominicans are snapping up all the good seats?