Baseball Enjoyment Index Revisited
by Dex on Nov 24, 2009 10:56 AM PST
15 comments
I've been thinking about my Enjoyment Index again. For those who don't know, I want to make a predictive model to try to determine how many people will show up to a Padres game at Petco. The way I figure it, the more people that show up to the games (as a percentage of capacity), the more enjoyment we've received. This is all I want from the Padres. Enjoyment.
The correlation between attendance and enjoyment isn't proven (I'm not in front of any numbers), but seems to me like a pretty good assumption. People vote with their dollars.
I know right away some of you are saying, "You're a retard, Dex. All a team needs to do to make people show up is win games." And that's obviously wrong. Look at teams like the Braves or the Marlins. They've had winning seasons in front of empty stadiums. I mean, when the Braves can't even sell out playoff games, there's something more to it than just wining and losing. Maybe the Braves marketing wasn't good. Maybe people don't like watching dominant pitchers.
Granted, winning percentage is a huge factor, so we won't discount it, but all I'm saying is that you can't only rely on it.
Intrigued!? ME TOO. All kinds of ramblings after the jump.
15 comments | 0 recs |
Around the Mission: 11/24 Padres Links
by jbox on Nov 24, 2009 10:15 AM PST
3 comments
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PADRES: Giles is eager to prove he still has it
"With my knee feeling the way it is, I'm excited," Giles said by phone late last week. "I think I can offer a lot. I can't change those opinions. Physically, I've been as durable as anybody in the game." -
Offseason economics put the Boston Red Sox in a curious position - ESPN Boston
it seems extremely unlikely that the Padres will even discuss Adrian Gonzalez (and the $10 million he makes over two years) unless the Red Sox empty their farm system of Ryan Westmoreland, Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo and Stolmy Pimentel and essentially become free-agent market mercenaries every winter after 2011. -
insidethepadres: DePo
"He's a resource on both the baseball and the business side," -
Season-ticket holders seize opportunity | padres.com: News
"When they sent the renewal, I took out my Sharpie and wrote 'NO FAITH' in these huge block letters," -
The Sacrifice Bunt: The Sacrifice Cheat Sheet: Centerfield
the correct answer is to go with Tony Gwynn, Jr. for less than half of a million dollars - The Official Blog of Matt Antonelli
Hat tip to Sac Bunt -
Anthony Gwynn: A $12M player? :: Friar Forecast
I am not convinced Gwynn is truly such a great fielder.
3 comments | 0 recs |
"We're trying to get Adrian Gonzalez right now, too."
1 day ago
Dalton
22 comments
0 recs
Heath Bell hopes that new GM Hoyer isn't a puppet like Kevin Towers
by jbox on Nov 23, 2009 10:48 AM PST
15 comments
I hope (Hoyer) has got full rein. I hope he does. I know (former GM) Kevin Towers didn’t always have it. He’d want to do something and the CEO wouldn’t always sign off on it.
"I’d like to see the team say, ‘Here’s your allowance, $40 million, $50 million, $80 million, spend it on what you want.’ Kevin Towers, the last couple of years, it didn’t seem like he could always do what he wanted. He was kind of a puppet."
You know what other closer wanted to know the direction of Padres about this time last year? Trevor Hoffman. We all saw what happened to him. Nobody questions the direction of this club and gets away with it.
Heath Bell is always saying exactly what's on his mind. Calling Padres' CEOs puppeteers, admittedly puppeteers that gave him his big break and the closer job.
I remember during lunch in High School I did something similar. This girl was walking by and I said "Hey Muppet!" Dex looks at me all horrified and says "Dude you can't call her Muppet!"
"Why not? That's what everybody calls her."
"They call her that behind her back because they think she looks like a muppet!"
"Huh, now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance."
See it's practically the same thing, me and Heath Bell two peas in a pod.
15 comments | 0 recs |
Hoyer Meet Boggs...Boggs Meet Hoyer
While agent John Boggs characterized the two-hour lunch meeting with Hoyer as ''cordial,'' he said it was more a get-acquainted session than a formal negotiation.
3 days ago
Drama
13 comments
0 recs
Padres Add Three To 40-Man Roster
The Padres placed on the 40-man roster right-handed pitcher Craig Italiano, outfielder Chad Huffman and left-handed pitcher Steve Garrison.
4 days ago
Drama
19 comments
0 recs
Ballpark Baggin': PGE Park
by Dex on Nov 20, 2009 12:46 PM PST
14 comments
Over the summer I went to Portland for work and I managed to catch a Beaver's game. Portland's downtown reminds me a lot of San Diego's downtown in that it's not overly dangerous and terrifying at night like downtown LA and you still feel like you're outside when you're outside, unlike Manhattan.
After my meetings, I cut out of work and took a cab to the ballpark. It was about an hour after first pitch and the ticket windows were all closed. I walked up to the gate and, after a few batted eyelashes, scored a free ticket. I bat my eyelashes like Bud Black bats different lineups - often and with wildly varying effect.
PGE Park is very much an old style looking park. Past the right field wall, the park is built right up against a building, which I was later told by a Portland native is a health club. The whole thing sunk a bit into the street. No outfield seats except for some bleachers at the health club that you can walk out to. I assume that, after workouts, the gym patrons can go out to the bleachers, watch a game, and see what people who are really in shape look like.
The outfield scoreboard is one of them old timey time wooden boards that needs somebody back there to constantly update. Updating the scoreboard is always portrayed as something romantic. Like the 106 year old man who has sat behind the scoreboard at Suchansuch Ballpark since 1908. Really, I imagine the job to be dark and dreary. Something reserved for criminals and interns who don't take to Excel as quickly as you might like.
Here's a real blurry photo of it:
I don't recall much about the game except for what I might have tweeted at the time. I remember we were winning when I left the hotel and we were losing by the time I found a seat.
Above the seats is a wooden overhang that appeared to extend out and cover all of the seats. It rains a lot in Portland so I figure it keeps people in their seats during delays.
The other thing it does is make for amazingly loud echos whenever music is played or the fans get excited and cheer. The sound just reverberates up into the rafters and directly down into your ears.
Not unsurprisingly, the American Tinitis Association had a booth set up out on the concourse area near one of the exits. No lie.
Outside of the park there are huge faces guarding each entrance from Portland spirits. They are terrifying and ghastly.
After the game, I walked back to the hotel. It was a Thursday night and about 11 blocks away. Downtown Portland is nice at night. I don't know what they do with the homeless people. Probably, they remind them that it rains all the time and they should seek more temperate weather, like San Diego or something.
As I understand it, there are plans for a new better ballpark, which makes me kinda sad. The current ballpark is nice and old school and seemed to be well attended. It was college beer night or something, so that may have had something to do with it, but still. Lots of cities build new ballparks to recreate the look that Portland's current ballpark has.
I be glad I bagged it when I could.
14 comments | 2 recs |
"As far as approaching free agency, we're not going to be major players for free agents because of the size of our payroll," new general manager Jed Hoyer said Thursday. "But we're going to go after targets we like ... aggressively. We have money in the budget to spend on free agency."
5 days ago
jbox
46 comments
0 recs
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NL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles
|
95 | 67 | .586 | 0 | Lost 3 |
|
Colorado
|
92 | 70 | .567 | 3 | Lost 2 |
|
San Francisco
|
88 | 74 | .543 | 7 | Won 1 |
|
San Diego
|
75 | 87 | .462 | 20 | Lost 1 |
|
Arizona
|
70 | 92 | .432 | 25 | Won 1 |
(updated 11.24.2009 at 3:59 PM PST)
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