WhoDat wrote:I think playing on a winning team for those players that care would help their development. In theory keeping players happy will help them improve. So even though I don't play to win in the minors doesn't mean I totally ignore record. I just don't push for the title. If I want the championship I might delay promoting a deserving player and in general I don't do that, at least not while there is significant time left in the season. So keeping players happy is part of the puzzle but not the most important part.
IRL I score games at the Trenton Thunder (NYA AA) and you may be surprised that the vast majority of fans aren't really invested in the team's success. The Thunder have been a successful franchise and have set minor league attendance records in the past but attendance at playoff games is surprisingly low. I think there is a lack of investment by fans. Players come and go, especially the good ones, so it is hard to really get attached. The more popular players tend to be the guys that aren't good enough to get promoted, the career minor leaguers. The top prospects don't tend to hang around. This past season the Thunder started out with a killer lineup (4 or 5 top 20 Yankee prospects) but they were mostly gone in the fIrst 2 months. I sit with some longterm season ticket holders and they are pretty invested in the team but outside of those it is an opportunity for relatively cheap family entertainment and a place for 20 & 30 somethings to get drunk.
There are a number of different issues here. I don't have experience like you do with a minor league ballclub as I'm from a big city (LA) and there are two major league teams to choose from although I could drive out to the Inland Empire (a hellish prospect in So Cal traffic) to root for California League (A ball) teams like the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Lake Elsinore Storm, Inland Empire 66ers (San Bernadino), Lancaster JetHawks & High Desert Mavericks up at Mojave. Then there's college ball with UCLA & USC, the half dozen state colleges, over a dozen Community College teams, more than that of high school teams & the dozens of Little League teams including some good mostly Mexican teams like the one that's at Babe Ruth level who played just across the street in the park next to my old apartment here in the San Fernando Valley. There's also the Golden Baseball League of ex-major league players which has 2 teams in So Cal, Fullerton Flyers & Long Beach Armada. Clearly we are spoiled with too much to choose from. i basically just go see Dodgers games if I'm in the mood, unless something happens to be nearby.
But from the looks of internet sites it appears there is quite a bit of interest from locals who have minor league teams in their home towns around California. Bakersfield Blaze, Fresno Grizzlies & San Jose Giants come to mind. Of course you are right about how a lot of people come to games to enjoy the sunshine, get soused or simply for some entertainment. Why does that matter? The pep squads take care of rooting behavior. Attendance numbers spell whether a town cares about its team or not. From what I understand, for example, the Stockton Ports (California League, A) are almost always sold out.
Maybe there's something wrong with New Jersey people in general, at least in terms of attitude toward the game of baseball. Although the internet defies this if you look at the state's minor league teams & the apparent interest in them & this rings true throughout the eastern seaboard, at least as the web describes these minor league teams. Especially in the south.
The game has waned in popularity nationwide. Or maybe a better way to say that (since the numbers of teams/fans are greater than ever) is that many Americans' attitude toward baseball has certainly changed in the past 2 decades. This is especially true with regard to fashion minded young people. Baseball is no longer fashionable & often considered to be cornball & associated with Republicans politically.
P.S. Is promoting a player necessarily good for their development? Maybe I worry too much about promoting players too quickly. Although that is one of the guidelines. I basically keep players (prospects) at a level where they are playing well (BA & ERA). This method, in turn, helps the team they're playing on win games.
June 21st 2017, 10:43 pm by Rich
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