Video Killed the Radio Star and TV and Interleague Play Did in the All-Star Game

Everyone in the media continually tries to to figure out why the interest in Major League Baseball’s All-Star game has dwindled to the point that you wonder if it might not exist one day. The reasons why the ratings are at an all-time low are very apparent if you simply look at a few simple facts.

First though, let’s take a look at the ratings since 1967, as amassed by Baseball Almanac. From 1967-1980, the game averaged a 46.7 share of the television audience. The game averaged a 24.5 rating with the 1969 game the only time the share dipped below 20 during the period, and that occurred because the game was rained out the night before and was played the following afternoon.

Ratings began to decline over the next decade, though the share was still decent (36.8 avg) from 1981-1988. The ’81 All-Star game was the first game after a two month player’s strike interrupted the season. After the 1989 game, which had an 18.2 rating and 33 share, the game’s viewership steadily declined. The 2002 season saw the ratings drop below 10% for the first time. Last season saw an all-time lows of 6.8%, a 12 share, and 10.9 million viewers.

If you were a baseball fan in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the All-Star game and the post-season were the only times that you saw players like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, and Jim Palmer unless they were on your team. Fans were also fans of the league their team was in-if you liked the Yankees or Mets, you rooted for the American or National League in the All-Star game and in the World Series.

The All-Star game was a happening that you looked forward to. When else could you see so many future Hall of Fame players, especially at one time. When I was growing up the NL dominated the game, so I was really into, hoping the AL would finally beat the hated NL. In 1971 it finally happened in Detroit when the AL's sluggers pounded the NL pitchers. The most memorable shot being Reggie Jackson's home run blast off the tower atop Tiger Stadium. The AL wouldn't win again until Fred Lynn's grand slam catupulted the junior circuit to a 13-3 win. 

The AL finally exacted vengance with 18 wins over the period from 1988-2009, but something had changed and the excitement was gone.

A Change in the Air

Perhaps the All-Star game television ratings might have leveled off had the player’s strike not occurred in August, 1994. The regular season was wiped out and the entire post-season was canceled in one fell swoop by MLB commissioner Bud Selig.  Baseball didn’t start up again until April 2, 1995. Some fans would never return to the ball park, others slowly made their way back. (The last game I attended before the strike was August 9, 1994 and I did not return to the ball park until July 30, 1998.) Either way the game was badly damaged.

From that moment on, viewership (slightly) increased  from one year to the next just four times to date. One rise (13%) occurred in 1998 when everyone was caught up in the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa steroid fueled chase of Roger Maris’ single season home run record.  The next increase came in 2001 (10%) when Barry Bonds was in a steroid fueled chase of McGwire’s 1998 home run record.

The third rise in the ratings was in the 2006 game in Pittsburgh (15%), presumably because of the ceremony that was held mid-game in memory of Roberto Clemente. The final increase in ratings came in 2008 when the Yankees held their final All-Star game in the old Yankee Stadium. Ratings (11%) had to be helped by Josh Hamilton’s monsterous home run derby performance the night before.

Television’s Role in Dimishing the All-Star Game's Draw

With no cable TV and teams not broadcasting all 162 regular season games, any time you could watch a game it felt like you won a prize. There was a weekly nationally televised game, but that was it.  Then cable television began to appear and the landscape of televised baseball changed forever.

More regular season out of market games started to be televised in the late 1970’s and then ESPN came into existence in 1979 with highlights and replays of baseball games like you had never seen before. The Connecticut based station started televising baseball games in 1990, so you no longer had to wait for the one national game of the week to be shown. 

Over the next two decades, the MLB Network would be launched, other cable outlets (e.g. TBS) began to broadcast games, you could add the MLB Extra Innings package to your cable or dish plan, and the official MLB site provided video and audio broadcasts.

Baseball games can be found all around the dial or the internet now, which means you can watch Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout just about any time you want.

The Death Blow

One of the ideas Selig came up with to increase fan interest was the implementation of interleague play. While most fans seem to love it, or least like it, it was a tremendous blow to the All-Star game. What started out quietly in 1997 with opponents playing 15-18 games against the other league is now an every day occurrence in the Major Leagues. Why bother watching an All-Star game when you can see players from both leagues on any day or night on a number of different television stations.

Selig impacted the game again after the AL and NL played to a 7-7 tie in 2002.  To make the game more important, he decreed that home field advantage for the World Series would be determined by the league that won the All-Star game. Fans have laughed at the notion ever since. Selig basically kicked a man when he was already down.

Until someone figures out another way to bring excitement to the game, don't look for the ratings to be anything spectacular in the future. That is if the game still exists.

UPDATE - The 2013 game got an 8.1 national rating, which means there was increase from the prior year for just the fifth time since 1998. It was about a 20% boost from last year's game primarily due to Mariano Rivera and it being the first game at the Mets home field since 1964.

All-Star Game Television Ratings Television Analysis & Ratings Breakdown
Year	Network	Rating	Share	Households	Viewers
1967	NBC	25.6	50	14,050,000	Not Available
1968	NBC	25.8	49	14,450,000	Not Available
1969	NBC	15.1	42	8,610,000	Not Available
1970	NBC	28.5	54	16,670,000	Not Available
1971	NBC	27.0	50	16,230,000	Not Available
1972	NBC	22.9	43	14,220,000	26,300,000
1973	NBC	23.8	45	15,420,000	27,600,000
1974	NBC	23.4	44	15,490,000	Not Available
1975	NBC	21.5	41	14,730,000	28,170,000
1976	ABC	27.1	53	18,680,000	36,330,000
1977	NBC	24.5	45	17,440,000	31,000,000
1978	ABC	26.1	47	19,030,000	35,529,000
1979	NBC	24.4	45	18,180,000	31,980,000
1980	ABC	26.8	46	20,450,000	36,270,000
1981	NBC	20.1	36	15,640,000	Not Available
1982	ABC	25.0	44	20,380,000	34,120,000
1983	NBC	21.5	39	17,910,000	27,190,000
1984	ABC	20.1	35	16,840,000	28,500,000
1985	NBC	20.5	36	17,400,000	28,210,000
1986	ABC	20.3	35	17,440,000	28,375,000
1987	NBC	18.2	37	15,910,000	24,295,000
1988	ABC	20.4	33	18,070,000	29,526,000
1989	NBC	18.2	33	16,450,000	25,840,000
1990	CBS	16.2	33	14,940,000	24,365,000
1991	CBS	17.4	32	16,200,000	24,670,000
1992	CBS	14.9	27	13,720,000	21,981,000
1993	CBS	15.6	28	14,550,000	22,306,000
1994	NBC	15.7	28	14,790,000	22,015,000
1995	ABC	13.9	25	13,260,000	20,163,000
1996	NBC	13.2	23	12,690,000	18,479,000
1997	FOX	11.8	21	11,420,000	16,723,000
1998	NBC	13.3	25	13,026,000	18,970,000
1999	FOX	12.0	22	11,890,000	17,640,000
2000	NBC	10.1	18	10,167,000	14,714,000
2001	FOX	11.0	19	11,198,000	16,029,000
2002	FOX	9.5	17	10,046,000	14,653,000
2003	FOX	9.5	17	10,156,000	13,810,000
2004	FOX	8.8	15	9,573,000	13,995,000
2005	FOX	8.1	14	8,884,000	12,330,000
2006	FOX	9.3	16	10,301,000	14,424,000
2007	FOX	8.4	15	9,343,000	12,530,000
2008	FOX	9.3	16	10,441,000	14,540,000
2009	FOX	8.9	15	10,754,230	14,610,000
2010	FOX	7.5	13	8,692,500	12,100,000
2011	FOX	6.9	12	7,712,000	11,000,000
2012	FOX	6.8	12	6,743,724	10,900,000

The Captain Adds to His Record Book

With one swing in Friday night's game against the Boston Red Sox, Derek Jeter added a couple of more achievements to his storied career.

That swing resulted in a home run into the left field seats, the 250th such hit in the Yankee captain's career. That gave the Yankees 10 players with a minimum of 10 home runs this season. The last time the Yankees accomplished that feat? Yup, Jeter was there too...the 1998 Yankees were quite prodigious with the long ball as well.

Besides Jeter, there was Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, Shane Spencer, Darryl Strawberry, Jorge Posada, Chuck Knoblauch, and Chad Curtis on the '98 team.

This years squad is comprised of Jeter, Nick Swisher, who went deep twice Friday night, Curtis Granderson, who also hit one out against Boston, Alex Rodriguez, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez, Robinson Cano, Andruw Jones, Mark Teixeira, and Russell Martin.

Jeter also became the 5th players in MLB history with 3,000 hits, 250 home runs, and 250 stolen bases. He joined Willie Mays (the only other player with at least 1,200 RBI), Rickey Henderson, Craig Biggio, and Robin Yount on that short list. Seven more hits of any kind will put Jeter in a tie with Eddie Murray for 7th place in the MLB career hit list with 3,255.

As for as team records go, Jeter also tied third baseman Graig Nettles for 10th place on the all-time franchise home run list. He sits 25 back of his good buddy Jorge Posada, who turned 41 yesterday, for 9th place. Jeter is also approaching Bernie Williams for 6th place all-time in RBI (21 to go) and Willie Randolph for 7th place in sac flies (one more).

Another day, another addition to Derek Jeter's Hall of Fame credentials.

The Yahoo Contributor Network And Me

I'm always looking for some place to write and I have a new spot, the Yahoo Contributor Network. Today, I had my first article, "Golden Anniversary of a Fall Classic" published. Pretty exciting, link on the main Yahoo MLB page and all.

The piece on the 1962 World Series between the Yankees and San Francisco Giants. It was the last time Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays opposed each other in meaningful games as well as the Yankees last championship until 1977. It was also the Giants last series appearance until 1989.

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

Prediction Time - Yankees vs. Giants

Yankees and Giants meet in the WS for the first time since 1962

Yes, it's that time to semi-stick the neck out on the line to make predictions for the upcoming season and where better to start then in the AL East.

You have already read (hopefully) my concerns over the Red Sox rotation and bullpen. And though they will score 1,000,000 runs (probably according to ESPN), they are going to have to outscore their opponents most of the time to win.

While the Yankees also have rotation questions, they will end up with someone in the back end (Boy that didn't sound right) to help out. I don't believe Kevin Millwood will be that answer.

The Rays have a great starting rotation and nothing else. Evan Longoria will be pitched around like crazy and the bullpen is awful.

AL East
Yankees
Red Sox (Wild Card)
Rays
Blue Jays
Orioles (sorry Buck)

Al Central
Twins
White Sox
Tigers
Royals
Indians

You can never count out a Ron Gardenhire team; they play fundamentally sound baseball and I like their rotation and bullpen. They'll have trouble scoring runs as usual, esp. if they can't keep Justin Morneau on the field, but they will find ways to win. Delmon Young repeating his 2010 season is a key.

The White Sox are going to be strong, but outside of Matt Thornton will they get consistency in the pen? Love the lineup, and feel good about the rotation. This should be a race that goes down to the final weeks of the season.

AL West
Rangers
Angels
A's
Mariners

The Rangers starting rotation looks pretty ugly on paper with no Cliff Lee and the mistake of putting Neftali Feliz back in the bullpen. He could have given them a huge boost. C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis need to repeat or near repeat their seasons from last year and it's finally time for Derek Holland to step up. Another lineup that will score plenty of runs, though you saw what happened the last time Adrian Beltre was given a big contract ("Hitless in Seattle").

The Angels have a nice rotation with Weaver, Haren, and Santana starting things off. The lineup is a bit shaky and the bullpen is a mess. Fernando Rodney is not the guy to close and it wouldn't surprise me if Kevin Jepsen took over at some point.

The A's are being picked by a lot of people to win the west because of their solid starting rotation. But this is a team that can't and won't hit. They don't have one intimidating bat in the lineup. Their main source of power will be Hideki Matsui and he may only hit 20 home runs. It's time t drop Moneyball.

The Mariners should be playing in the PCL right now. When does King Felix get dealt.

AL MVP

Alex Rodriguez: He's so incredibly locked in right now and will have a monster season. Whether or not the BBWAA holds his steroid past against him remains to be seen.

CY Young

Justin Verlander: His stuff is filthy; he just needs to get off to a good start.

Rookie of the Year

Jeremy Hellickson: His short stint in the Majors last year certainly gave the impression that he is the goods. Also looking forward to seeing how Kyle Drabek performs in Toronto

Comeback Player of the Year

Jacoby Ellsbury: He's healthy and with Crawford leading the way on the bases (70 steals?), I can see Ellsbury swiping 50.

Manager of the Year

Ron Gardenhire: Unfortunately for him the Yankees will knock him and the Twins out in the first round again.

* * *

The National League East will indeed be a runaway. The Philly Phab Phour (Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels) will dominate the NL. The bullpen is a mess and eventually the Phillies will probably have to make a move for another set up man or closer. Chase Utley's injury could take a toll on the line up, but that rotation speaks/shouts volumes.

They won't catch the Phils, but expect the Braves to have a good year under new manager Fredi Gonzalez. (How strange will it be to not see Bobby Cox in the dugout?) The Braves have a good rotation, decent bullpen, though they still need to figure out the closer role. If soph. Justin Heyward and rookie Freddie Freeman have big years, look out.

The Mets are getting bashed left and right, some of it deservedly so, but I think they can still finish at .500.

NL East
Phillies
Braves
Mets
Marlins
Nations

NL Central
Reds
Brewers
Cardinals
Cubs
Astros
Pirates

Dusty Baker and the Reds should build off of last year and take the central again. The Brewers with Greinke, Marcum (both need to be healthy) and Gallardo form a formidable front of the rotation. The Cards will take a step back without Adam Wainwright.

NL West
Giants
Rockies
Dodgers
Padres
Diamondbacks

People seem to be jumping off the bandwagon of the defending champion Giants, but I love their rotation. Granted Brian Wilson needs to get healthy fast (strained oblique; this year's trendy injury) to solidify the bullpen, and the team needs another bat, but they will take the division.

The Rockies need Ubaldo Jiminez to repeat and Jorge de la Rose to step up and be worth his contract. Good offense, decent pen, just not enough to overtake the Giants. They will battle the Brewers and Braves for the Wild Card.

The Dodgers have a pretty good team with a newbie manager (Donnie Baseball; still can't get used to that uniform), but the team still is in disarray with the battling McCourts.

Bud Black and the Pads won't get off to that tremendous start with no Adrian Gonzalez, and Mat Latos hurting.

The Diamondbacks can join the Mariners in AAAA.

NL MVP

Ryan Braun: Combines with Prince Fielder to help Brew Crew back to post-season

CY Young

Cliff Lee: Back (if it holds up) to dominating the NL

Rookie of the Year

Freddie Freeman: Proves the hype is right

Comeback Player of the Year

Jason Bay: If he stays healthy the home runs will return.

Manager of the Year

Ron Roenicke: First year manager leads team to playoffs


Playoffs

Yankees and Red Sox meet in the ALCS for the first time since the disastrous (depending on whose side you're on) 2004 series.

Giants topple the Phillies in an exciting seven game series in the NLCS.

Which leads to a series that has been 49 years in the waiting. For the first time since Bobby Richardson snared Willie McCovey's line drive in Game 6, the Yankees and Giants will meet in the Fall classic. Unfortunately I am going with the Giants in 6.

Join me in November to see how good or bad these predictions are.

Dodgers Great Duke Snider, 84 | Baseball Digest

Dodgers Great Duke Snider, 84 | Baseball Digest

In New York’s glory days of baseball, when there were three teams in town, fans argued over who had the greater centerfielder. The Giants’ Willie Mays, the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle, or the Dodgers’ Edwin “Duke” Snider. It even inspired the baseball song, “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke”. Mays is the sole surviving member of the trio after Snider passed away early Sunday at age 84.

Snider played 16 seasons with the Dodgers, beginning in Brooklyn in 1947, and followed the team out west to Los Angeles. He came back to New York for one season with the Mets in 1963 before finishing up his career with the San Francisco Giants in 1964. Snider was beloved by fans of “Dem Bums” and was part of the 1955 squad that finally beat the Yankees in the World Series.

Mantle thought Snider would one day break Babe Ruth’s single season home run record. But the Dodgers great told Milton Richman back in 1957 that he felt no one would ever pass the Bambino. Click here to read all about it.

He was a .295 lifetime hitter with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI, and 2,116 hits. He was an eight time All-Star and won two World Series rings (1959 Dodgers). He’s the only player to hit four or more home runs in two different World Series (1952, 1955), and yes, he was smooth as silk in centerfield. Snider wore #4 every season, but his final one due to the number being retired for the Giants’ Mel Ott.

Post playing, Snider served 13 years as a broadcaster for the Montreal Expos. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in 1980. The "Duke of Flatbush" is survived by Beverly, his wife of 63 years, and their four children.