August 19, 20232 yr 1 minute ago, South Side Hit Men said: Different time indeed. People cared about baseball, baseball cared about people. Regular season mattered, best four teams featured until wild card / interleague bullshit. World Series Television Ratings Year + Average Viewers (1973 First year with average viewers listed in wiki link above; Population Count for start of decade - 1970 census paired with 1973 World Series, 1980 with 1982, etc.) 1973 34.8M / 203.4M (17.1%) 1982 38.1M / 226.5M (16.8%) 1992 30.1M / 248.7M (12.1%) - Canadian Team Involved 2002 19.3M / 281.4M (6.9%) 2012 12.6M / 308.7M (4.0%) 2022 11.8M / 331.4M (3.6%) People once cared. I agree. Once men stopped wearing ties and hats to the game it was doomed. Once they added more than eight teams the sport was ruined. Nine inning was horrible. We should go back to two separate leagues with two champions who don't play each other. Designated hitter? Relief pitchers? Horrible. Right now end the season for all the crappy teams below .500 and finish the regular season with teams that can actually play. Then September games would actually be meaningful. There is nothing meaningful with a Sox - Rockies game now.
August 19, 20232 yr 14 minutes ago, Texsox said: People once cared. I agree. Once men stopped wearing ties and hats to the game it was doomed. Once they added more than eight teams the sport was ruined. Nine inning was horrible. We should go back to two separate leagues with two champions who don't play each other. Designated hitter? Relief pitchers? Horrible. Right now end the season for all the crappy teams below .500 and finish the regular season with teams that can actually play. Then September games would actually be meaningful. There is nothing meaningful with a Sox - Rockies game now. There were always relief pitchers in baseball, they just didn't take over half the game as they do now. Each league had 8-10 teams, 16-20 in the sport. And the league pennant winners, based on the regular season, played in separate leagues who did play each other, in October. Back when people cared, not because of what they wore to the game. What does "nine inning" mean? Have you been out in the Texas sun too long today Tex?
August 20, 20232 yr Thus making winning the AL or NL meaningless. Then winning a division was made less meaningful. We still crown a champion, fans celebrate, some mourn. I prefer head to head deciding a champion, you like how well they play against other opponents. Right now we have teams playing playoff meaningful games in many cities. Maybe you don't think those games are meaningful but they are very meaningful to those fans. Playing a couple months with only a few teams having a chance isn't in the games best interest. Imho Folks said baseball was ruined when they decided on nine innings instead of first team to score 21 runs. How could you think a team won who only scored 15 runs? Crazy. The game changes with the times. Fans want technology to call balls and strikes. Eventually it will happen and the game moves on. Eventually we may have a truly World Series with the winners of leagues around the world. That won't make winning the US meaningless. first three beers are on me next time I'm in town.
August 20, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, Texsox said: first three beers are on me next time I'm in town. Sounds Good. Skylark Pre/Post Sox Game (Can buy you two tree drinks / cocktails) Revolution Brewery North Side (Can bring BYOF great Chicago food - La Villa Pizza and or Bob-o-rino's subs) Just completed a beer trade this afternoon (12 received from the Northeast including Treehouse, Notch & Fiddlehead) on my lone other active Social Media account (Beer Advocate). Edited August 20, 20232 yr by South Side Hit Men
August 20, 20232 yr When JR builds that suburban park he will also follow the Rangers' lead and own a piece of the hotels, restaurants, and bars that will also be built adding to his revenue streams. The team will also rebound like the Rangers and have a winning season. Or not. Just because it's working in Dallas doesn't mean it will work in Chicago.
August 21, 20232 yr Conspiracy Theory: Bears & Sox will be sold around the same time Both teams purchased by same owner/partners Build both stadiums on Arlington Heights land
August 21, 20232 yr 6 minutes ago, NotHahn said: Conspiracy Theory: Bears & Sox will be sold around the same time Both teams purchased by same owner/partners Build both stadiums on Arlington Heights land That would make the Chicago Cubs the "South Side Team" comparatively. 3600 North Chicago Cubs 12000 North Arlington Heights White Sox
August 21, 20232 yr When the White Sox wanted a new stadium in the 1980s the City of Chicago wanted to build a stadium for the White Sox at Roosevelt and Clark. (Block 78) JR didn't want anything to do with it. Another terrible mistake on JRs part.
August 21, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, WBWSF said: When the White Sox wanted a new stadium in the 1980s the City of Chicago wanted to build a stadium for the White Sox at Roosevelt and Clark. (Block 78) JR didn't want anything to do with it. Another terrible mistake on JRs part. Actually then Mayor Harold Washington insisted that the only place he'd agree to as far as city money and help for the project would be right next to the original Comiskey Park. He also had members on the stadium board that would do as he demanded regarding any votes in the matter. Dr. Fletcher's next book on the 1990 team and the new stadium comes out next year, I'm a contributor to it and have already seen the historical research that Dr. Fletcher and John Owens have done regarding the stadium and Washington's insistence on where the stadium was to be built is clear.
August 21, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, WBWSF said: When the White Sox wanted a new stadium in the 1980s the City of Chicago wanted to build a stadium for the White Sox at Roosevelt and Clark. (Block 78) JR didn't want anything to do with it. Another terrible mistake on JRs part. The City wanted either a dual stadium (Sox and Bears) or stand alone Sox stadium at that location, but did not want to pledge any money toward it. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-04-20-8601280690-story.html Quote The Sox originally had wanted developers to help them build a 50,000-seat baseball-only stadium south of Roosevelt Road on the east bank of the Chicago River. A big unresolved issue in the Sox negotiations is who will pay the $65 million cost of the public works infrastructure--the transit stations, streets, sewers and other improvements that will have to be installed around the park. Mayor Harold Washington and his advisers are hoping to broker the deal between the Sox and the developers, however the city has not offered to pay any of the public-works tab. The city`s inability to defray similar costs helped sink the proposed 1992 world`s fair. The city turned to the current location to avoid the infrastructure costs at the OG proposed site, and after Addison and DuPage County to Jerry to GFY. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-12-02-8603310161-story.html Quote The new stadium plan, the sources said, is modeled after an earlier $180 million proposal which called for the creation of a city-state stadium authority that would have built a 50,000-seat, open-air, baseball-only stadium south of Roosevelt Road at the river. Building a stadium at or near Comiskey Park would be considerably cheaper, the sources said, because of expected savings by utilizing the existing infrastructure. Jerry dicked around until he got another $60M thrown into the 2016 deal July 1, 1988, avoiding state law by unplugging the clock before the end of June 30 and avoiding a supermajority vote. Too bad there weren't six more John Dunn's in the state capitol. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1988/07/01/illinois-legislators-pass-white-sox-incentive-plan/a5930fa6-ed51-4bbe-9506-01269d6c80d2/ Quote Though funding for the White Sox proposal wasn't tied to higher taxes, many lawmakers said it would be politically impossible to vote for the White Sox while basic state services lack adequate funding. "What in the name of heaven are we doing!" said Rep. John Dunn of Decatur. "Let's shut this place down and go home and forget the White Sox!" Taxpayers owed $430 million between the stadium, and renovations for the f'ing Bears and Sox, debt that will be paid off until at least 2032, if not forever. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-sox-cell-funding-isfa-met-20160521-story.html Quote In 2014, a $291 million refunding of bonds helped ease the debt burden for the next two decades. But the authority said it still owes more than $430 million. Payments on the last portions of that debt are expected to last until 2032.
August 21, 20232 yr On 8/19/2023 at 7:32 PM, South Side Hit Men said: Different time indeed. People cared about baseball, baseball cared about people. Regular season mattered, best four teams featured until wild card / interleague bullshit. World Series Television Ratings Year + Average Viewers (1973 First year with average viewers listed in wiki link above; Population Count for start of decade - 1970 census paired with 1973 World Series, 1980 with 1982, etc.) 1973 34.8M / 203.4M (17.1%) 1982 38.1M / 226.5M (16.8%) 1992 30.1M / 248.7M (12.1%) - Canadian Team Involved 2002 19.3M / 281.4M (6.9%) 2012 12.6M / 308.7M (4.0%) 2022 11.8M / 331.4M (3.6%) I don’t think there’s much debate baseball is less popular now than it was in 1973, but I don’t know how much weight these stats carry. Cable television was the only way to watch, and it had what? Ten channels?
August 21, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, South Side Hit Men said: Taxpayers owed $430 million between the stadium, and renovations for the f'ing Bears and Sox, debt that will be paid off until at least 2032, if not forever. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-sox-cell-funding-isfa-met-20160521-story.html The bulk of that $430 million is Soldier Field. As the article states the state added $43 million in 2003 for the major renovations (which were worth it!) and another $10 million for the sports bar & grill on 35th (probably not worth it). The Soldier Field renovations were Daley's second biggest blunder after the parking meter fiasco.
August 21, 20232 yr 8 minutes ago, DFAthewave69420 said: Unlocked Crain’s article from today —> https://archive.ph/qBnB1 This seems like a big deal
August 21, 20232 yr 18 minutes ago, DFAthewave69420 said: Unlocked Crain’s article from today —> https://archive.ph/qBnB1 I feel this may deserve a separate thread
August 21, 20232 yr 19 minutes ago, DFAthewave69420 said: Unlocked Crain’s article from today —> https://archive.ph/qBnB1 Needs it's own thread
August 21, 20232 yr 37 minutes ago, fathom said: This seems like a big deal This was always the plan. They just thought they would be winning right now and gaining public support to at least partially build them a new home. 6 years left on the lease, they need to start building within 3 years.
August 22, 20232 yr On 8/18/2023 at 2:59 PM, Balta1701 said: Just in general, it is somewhat surprising that the beat reporters haven’t written anything in the offseason about moves towards either a new park or a major renovation. If we can see it’s about time to talk about it then so can they, there is an expiring lease and the dates are known. My guess is that this would have happened unless the team itself wanted no articles about that to appear. So, was I the impetus for this article or has it been in the works for a while?
August 22, 20232 yr 11 hours ago, Balta1701 said: So, was I the impetus for this article or has it been in the works for a while? It was you.
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