How Baseball Whiffed with Phenom Strasburg
Major League Baseball blew it by not putting Stephen Strasburg in the All Star Game, plain and simple. I don’t care about the mechanism for getting him in, it is a missed opportunity for positive PR – and ratings.
If commissioner Bud Selig would have held a sudden press conference one day and said, “You know what? I’m the commissioner. And this guy is in.” do you know the positive PR and attention for the event it would have garnered?
I’m not talking about from the hard core fans and roto-geeks who think some guy named Joey Votto should be in the All-Star Game. They’re all going to watch anyway. They don’t move the ratings needle one way or the other.
I’m talking about the mainstream sports fans who have heard about the Washington fireballer but haven’t yet seen him. Or the curiosity Fox’s strong marketing team could have built with a couple weeks of promos. Those would have been additive eyeballs next Tuesday night. And baseball (and therefore Fox) missed out on them.
The All Star Game is the big TV event of the summer, and viewership has been rising three years running on Fox Sports. This could have helped up that trend, as every tenth of a ratings point counts, as we all know. A tenth of a rating point can literally be the difference between the words “Down” and “Flat” or “Flat” and “Up” in the headline of a press release.
On a media call previewing the game, Fox’s Joe Buck pointed out Strasburg literally doubled the regular attendance at a stadium recently. And while Fox Sports chief Ed Goren said it’s too hard to put a definitive amount of ratings gain on what Strasburg would bring, he acknowledged that “obviously there would be an interest in seeing him in the All Star Game.”
Bottom line: this was a huge opportunity lost for Major League Baseball, and Fox has to pay the price, as it has no say whatsoever in the rosters, of course.
Had Selig put in Strasburg with enough time to promote it, there would have been a direct lift in the rating, and a nice PR boost for Selig, not a bad thing in the same season as the Jim Joyce disaster.
It’s easy to hide behind tradition and rules all the reasons not to put Strasburg in. But once in a while it is nice to see a decisive leader step up and make a bold move and shake things up. Call it the commissioner’s pick, and put Strasburg on the National League team.
Then for another ratings boost and to even out the rosters, you put former New York Yankees uber-bust and current Minnesota Twins success story Carl Pavano on the American League roster.
Now, that move wouldn’t help the All Star Game ratings themselves. But if you had the MLB network stick cameras in front of a ton of Yankees fans when you announced Pavano as an All Star, those reactions (and subsequent invention of several new profanities) would undoubtedly result in some of the best television the All Star festivities have ever produced.
Baseball Fan commented:
In a world where we give the Nobel Prize before it's earned, I'm not surprised to hear someone suggest Strasberg belongs on the All Star team. Why earn anything anymore? Just give it to people on the basis they'll do something in the future to justify the decision. Thankfully Strasberg himself has the right attitude, even if this writer is clueless. Maybe there is hope after all.
Baseball Fan commented:
In a world where we give the Nobel Prize before it's earned, I'm not surprised to hear someone suggest Strasberg belongs on the All Star team. Why earn anything anymore? Just give it to people on the basis they'll do something in the future to justify the decision. Thankfully Strasberg himself has the right attitude, even if this writer is clueless. Maybe there is hope after all.
Michael in NYC commented:
Gross, man. Your opinion is just more of the 'pre-occupied with your Blackberry' mentality that can't account for concepts and ideas that have a tad of actual emotion and heart involved. I know every business wants to make money but I guess in this case Charlie Manuel, wearing his stirrups and chewing his tobacco, simply made a baseball decision. Old school decision. Didn't care about money and no one told him to pick the kid.
marc commented:
Just "putting him on the roster" will not magically spike the ratings or interest in MLB; those people you're aiming at want to see him actually pitch, not just stand around. People playing the All-Star Game "deserve" to play in it, not because they're the latest marketing whiz. Let him qualify, the old-
fashioned way, on the field. Your idea is moronic and confirms that you're not a fan of the game.
marc commented:
Just "putting him on the roster" will not magically spike the ratings or interest in MLB; those people you're aiming at want to see him actually pitch, not just stand around. People playing the All-Star Game "deserve" to play in it, not because they're the latest marketing whiz. Let him qualify, the old-fashioned way, on the field. Your idea is moronic and confirms that you're not a fan of the game.
Jim Reinl commented:
MLB would LOSE more than GAIN in the long run by including Strasburg. They would lose credibility for the sake of publicity...ever here of credibility? ESPN lost their credibility today by handing over their entire network to one basketball player. MLB would be doing the same with this unproven, non-all-star kid.
Ralph commented:
I stopped watching the NBA precisely for your reasoning. The NBA decided that the individual player was bigger than the game. In the short term your argument may hold water but as soon as it becomes standard practice fans will be turned off and look elsewhere.
Rich commented:
Ben--I couldn't agree with you more. It's an exhibition game, and the fans want to see the stars perform. Whether he is a star yet is certainly debatable, but there is absolutely no doubt that he is the biggest player story to hit MLB this year. The game is for the fans, and when you look at the big crowds he's drawn, it's obvious the fans want to see Strasburg. Maybe he should get a new uniform--He Pitch Me.
observer commented:
Baseball blew it by not putting Strasburg on the roster? How about baseball blew it by not including a guy who is at or near the top of all the NL’s major hitting columns (Joey Votto)? What about NL saves leader Heath Bell? Mat Latos? I’m sure the All-Star Game will have no problem topping whatever competition is on Broadcast that night, even without Strasburg. If Fox wants to bask in Strasburg’s rookie glow, why not air a primetime game featuring the rookie phenom.
observer commented:
Baseball blew it by not putting Strasburg on the roster? How about baseball blew it by not including a guy who is at or near the top of all the NL’s major hitting columns (Joey Votto)? What about NL saves leader Heath Bell? Mat Latos? I’m sure the All-Star Game will have no problem topping whatever competition is on Broadcast that night, even without Strasburg. If Fox wants to bask in Strasburg’s rookie glow, why not air a primetime game featuring the rookie phenom?
Steve commented:
Ben...your idea is a perfect example of how to further devalue overall net interest in baseball.
Sure...a cheap publicity stunt would garner some increased ratings & exposure for_this_event_only. But this isn't the type of interest in the game of baseball you will sustain by injecting gimmicks & stunts.
As a matter of fact...given all of the damage done from the steroid era (i.e. turning a blind eye to increase "interest" by having amateur softball scores for "non-baseball" geeks)...I think MLB would be absolutely foolish to further alienate the people who actually watch their games..."baseball" fans.
Short-sighted & full of downside. Not a good combination.
mjs commented:
Leave it to a TV person to have no consideration for integrity of the game and think about ratings, for which a player that you don't even know when will play will have little effect.
Blake commented:
This is the most uninformed sports column I have ever read in my life. Someone needs to get this off the internet before more people read it - it is an embarrassing piece for the author and editors.
PoopStain commented:
Sports Columns should be written by people that know sports. Go find a cable story...
eddie willers commented:
Can't agree with you, Ben.
If all you want is ratings, how about starting Lady Gaga in left fielder?
Strasburg has appeared in all of 6 (count 'em...6) major league games.
His grand total of career wins is 2.
He'll get there when he earns it.