Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 30, 2002
Cecilia Tam, who is the

Cecilia Tam, who is the author of Why I Like Baseball, writes with her opinion on small vs. large market teams:


Hmm, one point, though -- I don't think it will work if the small teams refuse to play the big teams. That wouldn't give them any leverage at all. The big eight to twelve teams would happily form a higher tier league where they just play each other, relegating the small teams to the second division. The Yankees would love to just play the Red Sox, Braves, Dodgers, Giants, Reds, Cardinals, Mets, Mariners, Indians, etc... and forget about Tampa Bay, etc... The other thing being that when a team is winning, they often seem to vault from "small" to "large" and when they are losing the drop from "large" to "small." Why is it that no one seems to remember the days when Cleveland was the laughingstock of the league and considered a small market?

It's a chicken and egg problem, but not an unsolvable problem in theory. Winning brings more fans to the ballpark. More fans = more money, which means better ability to compete. But how do you win without the ability to compete in the first place, if you aren't drawing enough fans? Somehow you have to make it a worthwhile experience for people to go out to the ballpark even if the team isn't in contention. That's an inherent problem in all sports as entertainment--you can't guarantee the audience a happy ending. So you have to make it a worthwhile experience despite what the outcome of the game may be. I think this is why you see some teams in the past decade or so snap their chicken/egg cycle by building a nice, new stadium that people will want to go to, starting an upswing in money nd attendance. But do I think this is going to actually work for the Brewers, for example? Not a chance.


I have to agree with Cecilia here. That's why I think TV rights is the way to bring pressure on the large teams, rather than refusing to play at all. Cecilia is also right when she says that winning is what brings fans to the park. The A's and Indians should be the model franchises here. The Indians in the early 90's insulated themselves from arbitration and free agent costs by signing young players to long term contracts, and for years turned out a resonably priced winning team. The A's, as small a market team as there is, has turned themselves into winners by developing really good young talent; they insist on their minor league hitters getting on base and developing power; they insist on their pitcher striking out batters and not walking them. When they can afford to, they sign players to long term deals. And when they lose someone, they have someone molded in the minors to take their place. Sure, it's easier for the Yankees to win. They can afford great players. But there are other ways to win, and these small market teams have to be creative, as the A's are. There's enough randomness in a baseball season, that if you have put your team in a position to win, they just might. The small market teams need to invest in winning to survive.


Posted by David Pinto at 02:20 PM | Baseball