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Dave Borton

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Everything posted by Dave Borton

  1. Dave Borton
    Good observations (from an Amazon stock holder).
  2. Dave Borton
    Eddie Matthews' bat had an ultra thin handle. We played with one. One guy ball-boyed for a semi-pro team which played in our part of town, the German district (we had them all; Polish, Ukrainian, Sicilian, Irish). He got all the broken bats which he doctored w/wood screw and electrical tape. When balls began their unwind, he got those as well. We played 2-3 games/day. No organization to it. Informal calls to opponents. There was our neighborhood - Martinsville. Crescent Drive had a team as did Sherwood Ave. If we couldn't drum up a game, we divvied up teams by "toss the bat" to pick sides. I had a Gil Hodges mitt for first base (I was a Luke Easter fan) but I used it wherever I needed to play. Good arm so I usually played outfield if not 3rd. I would share my glove but one rule -- you don't throw my glove to me between innings. You hand it to me or else... "Luuuuuuuuuke..." RIP https://case.edu/ech/articles/e/easter-luscious-luke#:~:text=On 23 June 1950%2C Easter,hit at CLEVELAND MUNICIPAL STADIUM.
  3. Dave Borton
    Mine were all in a shoe box ... had some gems. I got drafted during Vietnam, quickly scrambled to get into the USAirForce, and were gone by the time my four years were up. Mom had "cleaned" the closet. (Was that a tear on my cheek?). Duplicates and multiples which no one were interested in ("Card to be Named Later") went onto my bike, held in place with a clothespin against the spokes.
  4. Dave Borton
    Anyone else report on Polanco-Wiemer trade w/Brewers? https://wisportsheroics.com/milwaukee-brewers-minnesota-twins-trade-proposal-jorge-polanco-joey-wiemer-bradley-blalock-news-notes-rumors/
  5. Dave Borton
    Q&A at Ohtani press conference: Jack Harris, LA Times: "Do you have any special thanks to anyone you wish to express?" Ohtani: "Yes, I wish to thank the Twins for their bid in the process. The $900MM offer was overwhelming but it is just too cold to pitch up 'der in April. Besides, English is hard enough to learn without adding Minnesodan."
  6. Dave Borton
    Tampa, 27th smallest market size Milwaukee, 26th Orioles, 24th Twins, 18th Snakes, 17th... Houston, 15th Jays, 13th Braves, 11th Rangers, 8th Dodgers, 7th Phillies, 3rd Seems like small and medium sized clubs did alright for themselves this year. I believe that might be the point Seth referred to above. I
  7. Dave Borton
    Assistant General Manager. Strictly a 'throw-away line' for public consumption. You can't take them seriously. Cutting payroll? Let's start w/what we don't know. Falvey's contract. I can assure you there are incentive clauses in there which award bonuses based on how the Twins finish w/X base total payroll. A whole matrix of payroll and margins so that the budget is on his back if he wants to earn a bonus. The Twins want to make XX% margin on their invested capital. If they can shave payroll based on a foundation of lots of $750K min salary players, so much the better for Pohlad and Falvey. They will still draw 23,000 a game, be confident of arm wrestling Detroit for the Division title, bump concessions a bit, increase the cost of concessions, and sneak up the cost of the XX sections and voila, they make a higher percentage margin than they did last year. Regardless, I expect some alley cruising looking for pitchers this winter with Kepler and Polanco in the back seat, as they seek to replace Gray , Maeda, et al. I hope I have to eat those words. No Bally? I think that has been over-pitched as an inevitable decrease in revenue. I am not convinced. No books, no belief.
  8. Dave Borton
    "The Angels netted some $10 million to $20 million a year in revenue from Ohtani-related in-stadium and on-air advertising. With the Dodgers, one industry expert suggested Ohtani could be worth two or three times as much." https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2023-12-09/shohei-ohtani-dodgers-agreement-angels The article also talked about Ohtani's idea to make the contract contain unprecedented deferred comp (many years beyond the 10 yr contract) to avoid busting the luxury tax for the Dodgers and likewise, tax advantages for Ohtani. Ohtani can now buy that cabin up nort' of Tokyo and fish for some walleye with cormorants https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2426.html#:~:text=Ukai is a traditional fishing,official patronage from the emperor.
  9. Dave Borton
    Owners cry poor but most are multi-billionaires. Without open books, there is no idea of margins, revenues beyond expenses so the FO can tell any folk tale of "poor us; we're broke." If it wasn't lucrative, owners would dump franchises left and right. That doesn't happen. Billionaires buy clubs for ego and appreciation, just like your home appreciates. The Dodgers have just captured all of Asian ball attention. MLB will launch/expand its rights w/Nippon Broadcasting. 17 hrs time difference so there's a bit of challenge. Merchandising. Stuff will fly off the shelves (to wit: Taylor Swift's boyfriend jerseys). Everyone in the SW wears Dodger stuff, particularly Latino population. More corporate sponsors, hike the cost of advertising any place in Dodger Stadium, concessions, TV and radio advertising rates will go up and, TV contract revenue, ballpark seats can be bumped in price. Dodger Stadium already packs 'em in, leading MLB at 47,000 per game. While it will hold 9,000 more, those seats are bad but they will sell more. Couldn't get me there in a car. Horrible, horrible. Bus, yes, but the traffic/parking is maddening. Will be curious to follow avg attendance next year. MLB ain't broke by any means. $700MM was a bargain and the Guggenheim Baseball Management Group knows it. So much for Dave Roberts derailing the train.
  10. Dave Borton
    I can get my head around $1M. But 700 of them? I would get headaches owning that much.
  11. Dave Borton
    In listening to a podcast, heard an interesting sales pitch that Toronto had used. If signing with the Jays, Ohtani would own a country. Having seen rabid Toronto hockey and baseball fans, might well be accurate. B.C. folks flood Mariners park, we are inundated with " 'eh?" speakers when Jays are in town. Might be appealing to Mr. O.
  12. Dave Borton
    Clubs are building accelerated contracts to coincide with other contracts coming off. As an example, you could build a contract extension for Lewis which starts at $2MM/yr, goes to $4MM next year, $8MM 3rd yr, etc., with any accelerator you need to get to total contract amount needed based to reach the mutual amount.
  13. Dave Borton
    Excellent writing with data sets to back it up.
  14. Dave Borton
    All the stats are good. But they are only a snapshot. We have a diminishing percentage of the ballplayers compared to say, 1970, 1990, 2010, etc. My point was baseball popularity is on the wane here at home and in part, MLB leadership (or lack thereof) and ownership are responsible for that.
  15. Dave Borton
    Well here is one. Have yet to see 1 football, basketball or hockey game. I do go to a Gophers volleyball game with my daughter on occasion. I checked the Gophers-Badgers after the game since my buds in WI bust my cajones and I want to feel the ax coming at them. I have let go of other sports, one by one, since my high school sports involvement showed I definitely needed grades since my prowess on the court and fields wasn't going to command a full-boat ride to a Div I athletic scholarship (winks). "Hot stove?" Not radiating much heat this Winter. I check MLB, the wires, and TD daily. When there is a signing of significance, I scour the contract. My interest in ball is as much from the business side as in the game. The NFL and NBA have taken their games and marketed to future generations. Kids don't play ball anymore. The best athletes? They are on 100-yd fields and wooden courts. 30% of the ballplayers under contract come from other countries. Why? Promotion, MLB didn't read the train's time schedule 50 years ago and the train left without her. MLB misses that same train every year. <Color me sad>.
  16. Dave Borton
    He11 would be an interminable debate between the two. Allen would have to convince Atteberry that he wasn't a homer and Atteberry would have to convince Allen that he didn't talk too much after memorizing Baseball-Reference. They couldn't come out until they mutually agreed on who won.
  17. Dave Borton
    When Twins play Bosox, I switch over to Boston's booth to listen to Joe Castiglione's when he is in the radio booth.
  18. Dave Borton
    Ask me how I feel about the incessant chattering Atteberry taking over the play-by-play on radio. Provus deserved the promotion. Well earned. At the same time, it's obvious that the Twins didn't do a small consumer (test group) survey re: Atteberry in the booth. Thank goodness for the radio stream from opponents' booths on MLB.
  19. Dave Borton
    The lad is just too erratic. Bottom of the 9th, Pagan enters in relief. My butt is biting the recliner... No longer. Phew, can now get the recliner reupholstered.
  20. Dave Borton
    Loved the "early shower." Couldn't resist chuckling. You can think "I wanted to be a Card a year ago" but you don't verbalize it after the fact. Good heavens, Sonny. Went to Busch Stadium about 4 years ago on an Amtrak ball crawl through the Midwest. They were playing the Pirates on a Tues night. Lousy opponent and there were 40,000 rabid fans there. They have a following that can't be beat.
  21. Dave Borton
    Last year, when he pitched for the Dodgers, I would go to bed w/his game on and root against him for the same reason. Very bad clubhouse demeanor reported.
  22. Dave Borton
    Shoot, resurrect Satchel Paige while we are at it. Re: remaining a Twin. Sonny played coy last Fall. “Going into this thing. I wanted to be a Cardinal,” Gray said at his introductory news conference at Busch Stadium. “That started probably a little over a year ago. https://www.mlb.com/news/sonny-gray-cardinals-deal
  23. Dave Borton
    I believe 2028 per MLB. https://www.mlb.com/athletics/las-vegas-ballpark Yes! One more excuse to extend our Winter vacation in Mexico/Arizona into a Spring vacation as well.
  24. Dave Borton
    It is an interesting fanbase who will attend games, even with this new $113MM total payroll. Will be nearly sold-out every game. Short-sighted IMO but maybe their minor league system is jelling. I don't know as I don't follow up on the NL.
  25. Dave Borton
    Getting ahold of guys who can take the ball every 5 days. Pitching roster has been decimated.
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