The Promise of a New Season

(I am pumped for 2009!!!)

In the world of Major League Baseball its easy to get lost in the shuffle when you don’t have deep pockets such as the Yankees, Red Sox, or Mets do. Now don’t get me wrong money will not buy you a championship. It may make you competitive, it may get you a playoff spot, but in that 7 game series payrolls are thrown out the window and anything’s possible. Just ask Arod. But what will the spending of the large market teams do for them? It will make them money of course; you have to spend money to make money.

Why do people care about seeing the Yanks and the Red Sox square off 19 times a year? Is it the history or the heated rivalry? Too some, but mostly it's to see David Ortiz and Arod slug it out. To see Josh Beckett go K for K against Joba, or to see who’s more dominant in the 9th, The Sandman, Mariano Rivera or the Riverdancing Jonathan Papelbon. These are the stars of the game and people pay to see them. Networks pay big money to nationally televise these games. In the upcoming 2009 season you are guaranteed to see a Yankees/Red Sox Matchup on ESPN’s Sunday game of the week because viewers will tune in. This is the reason you wont be seeing any Nationals/Padres game, no one will care to watch.

This is not to say only the biggest spenders are the only teams worth watching. Over the last 10 years the Oakland A’s have the 4th best record in baseball (815-641, 5 playoff appearances) and the Minnesota Twins have the 8th best record (776-682, 4 playoff appearances) and this is done with only a handful of players the casual fan can identify. Also the Florida Marlins with a team payroll typically under Arod's annual salary have 2 World Series Championships since 1997. You just don’t hear much about teams like this because the solid fundamentals of a winning baseball team doesn’t sell tickets or make Sportscenter highlights.

People don’t get excited about a well executed sacrifice bunt or an effective bullpen. This is the exact reason why baseball is such a great sport and the reason why I fall into a depression every year between November and March. Its unpredictable, every year there will be teams and players that exceed expectations or fail to meet them. We only need to look at the Tampa Bay Rays for the most recent example. We can also look at individual performances. Alex Rodriguez, one of the best players in the game, a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer and dare I say a cultural icon has ZERO World Series Rings and a .279 BA and 17 RBI in 39 postseason games, and 1 RBI in his last 44 postseason at bats. Meanwhile David Eckstein who just signed a $850,000 contract with the Padres, roughly $450,000 more than the leagues minimum salary, has 2 World Series rings and was the 2006 World Series MVP.

With the first pitch of the 2009 season quickly approaching, optimism is in the air. Of course the analysts will favor the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Cubs but the games aren’t played on paper. So come playoff time don’t be shocked if the Royals' Zack Greinke is pitching a gem in game 1 of the ALDS or Jay Bruce comes through in the clutch in the National League Championship Series. These are the kinds of things that happen every year in baseball and no amount of money spent can help it or stop it.

-Robb Lennahan