Des Moines Baseball Market

[egami]

I think you may have missed my point. I'm just saying as someone living in an MLB market where I could care less about the home team, having someone like the Royals is great. It is a great ballpark and about the cheapest way to see the pros as you are gonna get. I also could care less about the Sox or Yanks, but if that was my local team I'd have to pay bigtime prices and buy tickets in advance because of potential sellouts. The appeal of the Royals to me isn't the Royals, it is the easy access to see the other teams in the league, I could care less if the team ever builds to win or make money.

Yeah, the i-Cubs are nice, and I enjoyed them when I was in Des Moines, but it just isn't the same as seeing MLB. And I could care less if Omaha or New Orleans or Las Vegas are in town.

I see your point. I just personally wouldn't be attracted to that. I'd rather be in a St. Louis market where I can see quality games.

[BryceC]

Probably not, but that likely won't be the mindset in March, April, and May of '10.

By the way, switch out "Royals" for "Pirates" and the statement is just as relevant. I'm convinced that owner has had no incentive to spend an extra dime on that team ever since he opened his new stadium...

The Pirates don't have a single player making the league average. The Royals do spend some money, they just do it terribly.

[RayShimley]

I see your point. I just personally wouldn't be attracted to that. I'd rather be in a St. Louis market where I can see quality games.

It probably just depends on what type of fan you are. I can see both sides.

I think egami has said several times he is not a huge MLB fan, so he probably wouldn't be interested in just going to watch a game with two teams he has no vested interest in. If you are a Cubs fan (just an example), but don't really care about the rest of the MLB, then of course you'd prefer to live in Chicago and pay $50 or more for a couple decent tickets at Wrigley.

I am a fan of MLB in general and enjoy getting a chance to see all the MLB teams and players. I would happily pay $10 (that was how much I paid for box seats last time I visited Kauffman Stadium) to see two teams that I don't usually root for.

[cybsball20]

The Pirates don't have a single player making the league average. The Royals do spend some money, they just do it terribly.

There is no point overpaying for crappy free agents, might as well develop your own guys and let the young guys play.

[RayShimley]

There is no point overpaying for crappy free agents, might as well develop your own guys and let the young guys play.

Yeah it looks like the Giants may have finally figured that out, maybe the Pirates are next.

[egami]

It probably just depends on what type of fan you are. I can see both sides.

I think it clearly does.

I think egami has said several times he is not a huge MLB fan, so he probably wouldn't be interested in just going to watch a game with two teams he has no vested interest in. If you are a Cubs fan (just an example), but don't really care about the rest of the MLB, then of course you'd prefer to live in Chicago and pay $50 or more for a couple decent tickets at Wrigley.

I am a fan of MLB in general and enjoy getting a chance to see all the MLB teams and players. I would happily pay $10 (that was how much I paid for box seats last time I visited Kauffman Stadium) to see two teams that I don't usually root for.

I am not a huge MLB fan, but if I am going to pay to go to a MLB game be it New York, Seattle or KC...I am going to want to see a good, competitive ball game. And frankly, when I assume KC has zero vested interest in fielding a quality MLB product, I probably wouldn't bother taking free tickets to see them play unless I had absolutely nothing better to do that day.

[aeroclone]

It probably just depends on what type of fan you are. I can see both sides.

I think egami has said several times he is not a huge MLB fan, so he probably wouldn't be interested in just going to watch a game with two teams he has no vested interest in. If you are a Cubs fan (just an example), but don't really care about the rest of the MLB, then of course you'd prefer to live in Chicago and pay $50 or more for a couple decent tickets at Wrigley.

I am a fan of MLB in general and enjoy getting a chance to see all the MLB teams and players. I would happily pay $10 (that was how much I paid for box seats last time I visited Kauffman Stadium) to see two teams that I don't usually root for.

Yep, this is exactly where I am coming from. I am first and foremost a Cubs fan, and if given the choice, would be in Chicago paying whatever it takes to go to a Cubs game. However, if I can't have that I prefer being in a market like KC which affords me easy access to see all of the players and all of the teams with a nice park and cheap tickets to boot. A market like Boston or New York wouldn't really give me that option, and I probably wouldn't attend many games for that price to see two teams I don't care about, even if it is a better product on the field.

[Sportstalkmatt]

Just one more quick thing. There are 2 topics that I feel like I've paid my dues on so I don't have to talk about them anymore.

1. Women's basketball - I was the play by play voice of UMass Womens for 2 years and UVa women for 1 year. My first job was covering a potential Basketball Hall of Famer in Debbie Ryan of UVa and she hated my guts. It was the single hardest team I've ever had to cover.

2. AF2. I did sidelines and pregame shows for the Tenn. Valley Vipers for 4 years in Huntsville. Arena football is human demolition derby. The thing that happened with the Green Bay coach is not uncommon for that league. I've seen it before...it didn't do anything for me (or Ken) for that matter. That's why we didn't talk about it.

I know Iowa St women are really good....I just don't see us talking much about them during the year until the NCAA tournament.

sidenote - Harrison Barnes will be on the show today.

[egami]

Just one more quick thing. There are 2 topics that I feel like I've paid my dues on so I don't have to talk about them anymore.

1. Women's basketball - I was the play by play voice of UMass Womens for 2 years and UVa women for 1 year. My first job was covering a potential Basketball Hall of Famer in Debbie Ryan of UVa and she hated my guts. It was the single hardest team I've ever had to cover.

2. AF2. I did sidelines and pregame shows for the Tenn. Valley Vipers for 4 years in Huntsville. Arena football is human demolition derby. The thing that happened with the Green Bay coach is not uncommon for that league. I've seen it before...it didn't do anything for me (or Ken) for that matter. That's why we didn't talk about it.

I know Iowa St women are really good....I just don't see us talking much about them during the year until the NCAA tournament.

sidenote - Harrison Barnes will be on the show today.

I don't think most listeners probably care much about either of those topics either.

Barnes will get some ears listening...good move.

[BryceC]

There is no point overpaying for crappy free agents, might as well develop your own guys and let the young guys play.

So you're telling me that the Royals shouldn't have signed Guillen and Jacobs? I'll admit I don't know much about baseball and those two signings just confused the crap out of me.

[cybsball20]

So you're telling me that the Royals shouldn't have signed Guillen and Jacobs? I'll admit I don't know much about baseball and those two signings just confused the crap out of me.

I liked the Jacobs signing but getting guys like Crisp, Guillen, and Ponson makes little to know sense. They should have traded Bloomquist for whatever return they could have as he has some value as a decent utility guy.

[BryceC]

This is why I couldn't be a GM. I like watching Willie play too much to want him traded.