You're Waiting For a Train...: Nov 4, 2010

Thursday, November 4, 2010

R.I.P. Sparky Anderson (1934-2010)

This is how I'll remember Sparky. I always thought he looked like my grandfather, the few times I saw the latter smile.

Whistle Stops

Cavs - "Where did you go?"
ETrain - "To the can, 'cuz watching you makes me barf!"
(Sort of like these weird CavsFanatic jerseys the team will be wearing later this season.)

4 more dropped from the Indians 40-man: Chad Huffman, Wes Hodges, Drew Sutton and Carlos Rivero. Rivero was claimed off waivers by the Phillies thus I, thank goodness, don't have to hear about how disappointing he is anymore.

Prompted by the Rays late season offer, expect several MLB teams to configure free ticket promotions next season. Believe it or not, this is a sound business plan in these troubled economic times. Think of the tickets as a sunk cost. For those of you that are not economists, this means you're going to eat the loss either way. Imagine you're fixing your car and you've already pumped $500 into repairs. The damn thing still doesn't run and you employ the logic "Well, I put $500 in already, I can't just flush that away, I need to make this junker work!" That $500 isn't coming back regardless of whether you can get the car going or not. Your decision should be based on a prospective view. If it seems likely that another two grand will be necessary to make the vehicle viable and the car is only worth $1500, just walk away and use the $2000 elsewhere. This is the same mentality big league ball clubs will be making use of. Regardless of whether the tickets are given away or simply unused, there is no revenue coming in from them. But, and this is key, all of those fans will be buying $8 beers and $5 hot dogs. Chances are that there will be some kids that sucker the rents into purchasing some over priced novelties. The city makes $10-$20 on parking and many in the crowd patronize downtown businesses before and after the game. No official plans for this type of give away have been announced by any team, but, given the "buzz," it seems inevitable.

Colt McCoy is expected to start against the Patriots on Sunday. It would be a crying shame if he did not, baring injury, start every game for the rest of the season. Who knows? Mangenius is a mad genius, I'm just some dude.

Cheers