MLB Marketing (add it to the game-ruining list)

Rovin Romine

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It's bothered me for awhile that the MLB.com page hides the actual standings.

This is their front page "News" section from this morning.

LATEST NEWS
Despite the fact that none but the last are news, the player touting seems completely divorced from the team, let alone the results of the games. Who are these guys playing for this season? Did Ohtani's team win or lose?

The video clips in the center column are more of the same.

Thoughts? Is it better for MLB to sell jerseys instead of caps?
 

Kliq

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"The league needs to do a better job marketing their stars!"

League does a better job marketing and promoting the impressive feats of their best players.

"The league is just talking about its stars! What about the teams!"
 

E5 Yaz

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It's bothered me for awhile that the MLB.com page hides the actual standings.
There's literally a drop down bar with a tab to bring you to the standings. With one click you can get to the standings w/o even looking at the news links
 

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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"The league needs to do a better job marketing their stars!"

League does a better job marketing and promoting the impressive feats of their best players.

"The league is just talking about its stars! What about the teams!"
Wasn’t this what the NBA did to drive interest to where it is today? In my mind any chance MLB gets they should be making sure a guy like Trout is exposed to a national audience.
 

Kliq

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Wasn’t this what the NBA did to drive interest to where it is today? In my mind any chance MLB gets they should be making sure a guy like Trout is exposed to a national audience.
Yeah, I can somewhat understand why people might get mad at the idea of marketing individuals over marketing a team, since it prioritizes individual exploits and not team success, but its how you can get people invested in more teams/games outside of their local market, by highlighting stars that are cool to watch.

Also, as a neutral fan I am way more likely to click on a video that has a headline like "Ohtani hits 485 foot homer" than "Rangers beat Angels 7-3."
 

steveluck7

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Wasn’t this what the NBA did to drive interest to where it is today? In my mind any chance MLB gets they should be making sure a guy like Trout is exposed to a national audience.
Has the NBA succeeded in cutting through the “root for the laundry” thing that other leagues have? I feel like more people are interested in following their favorite stars wherever they go as opposed to sticking to one team.
I can only think of the Celtics, Lakers, and Knicks as teams that have “born into it” fan bases… and the Lakers are borderline.

save for the NFL, I think the NBA has more folks watching “neutral” games than the other sports.
 

YTF

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I'm thinking the arched lettering is supposed to be wave like. An homage to Waveland Ave.? From the looks of the belt loops it appears that the pants are the same color. Change the numbering to match the lettering and white pants with piping in both shades of blue and it's not that bad.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I'm thinking the arched lettering is supposed to be wave like. An homage to Waveland Ave.? From the looks of the belt loops it appears that the pants are the same color. Change the numbering to match the lettering and white pants with piping in both shades of blue and it's not that bad.
I assume the arched lettering is meant to mirror the arched lettering of the famous Wrigley Field sign:

41787
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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If you're going to some sort of alternate uniform, this seems a lot more appealing than the atrocity the Red Sox rolled out. The color scheme is subdued and fitting with Cub tradition - completely the opposite of ours. The big lettering has a clear connection to the team, instead of the "needs an explanation" stenciled Boston somehow related to the marathon. The arm patch fits with Chicago's historical flag, instead of, once again, being a hodge podge of colors that have nothing to do with anything and a boring area code. Still way too many different fonts, though. I count at least six.
 

Awesome Fossum

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Of the five that have been released, I think Boston has clearly been the worst. White Sox were pretty cool, the Cubs I guess were OK even if totally unnecessary. Miami and Arizona are harder to grade because their normal uniforms are so bad. I think both are actually better than what they normally wear, although I agree the D-backs are too close to the Dodgers to work full time. Dodgers and Giants still to come.

 

Cesar Crespo

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The Boston uniform just reminds me of the Rays or Mariners. The Miami jersey doesn't have a baseball "feel" to it.
 

Magimus

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If one applies the standard of "I am embarrassed my team is wearing that" there's only Boston. Nobody's even close to that level.
Why not just go Big Papi if they insist on these things. Just have “Our F’ing City!” on the front. I’d buy that alternate
 

ookami7m

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The ranking of what's out there so far is pretty clear:

  1. White Sox
  2. Miami
  3. Diamondbacks
  4. Cubs
  5. ....
  6. ...
  7. Rick Vaugh's sleeve ripped-off jersey
  8. Red Sox
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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santadevil

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While I don't like Boston's at all, I'd actually put the White Sox as the second worst for me. They look like beer league slo-pitch jerseys
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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So no more individual team uniforms? I always thought one of the coolest parts of the broadcast was the players lining up during introductions next to each other on the baselines in their different uniforms. But the kids will dig the cool jerseys, so that's okay. This will pull them away from their phones, and maybe even make the ASG relevant again!
 

dirtynine

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F that. I've enjoyed the City Connect program (Boston too), but that All Star uni (and the fact that it will be worn in-game) just sucks. The fact that everybody wore their own uniforms was one of the coolest things going. Gross.
 

OfTheCarmen

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The R makes the O hard to see and had me going “what the hell is CBL or CGL?” for a bit.
 

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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MLB really needs some sort of Red Zone type channel that will flip around to various at bats for Shohei, the Jrs (Vlad, Tatis), currently Schwarber, etc. I'm sure there's blackout issues galore with it but it seems like recently you're guaranteed to catch a HR at bat every night with that crew. There are so many great stories out there right now.
 

Awesome Fossum

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MLB really needs some sort of Red Zone type channel that will flip around to various at bats for Shohei, the Jrs (Vlad, Tatis), currently Schwarber, etc. I'm sure there's blackout issues galore with it but it seems like recently you're guaranteed to catch a HR at bat every night with that crew. There are so many great stories out there right now.
TOTALLY agree. I loved the whip-around coverage ESPN did for the early rounds of the NCAA baseball tournament. Why isn't MLB Network doing that every night?
 

steveluck7

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I am in the very small (evidently) minority that has always wanted the MLB all star game to have actual uniforms. I always (since they started this at least) found it odd that the players wear all star game team "uniforms" during the home run derby - an individual event but they wear individual uniforms during the actual game.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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MLB really needs some sort of Red Zone type channel that will flip around to various at bats for Shohei, the Jrs (Vlad, Tatis), currently Schwarber, etc. I'm sure there's blackout issues galore with it but it seems like recently you're guaranteed to catch a HR at bat every night with that crew. There are so many great stories out there right now.
They have one.

It only runs two nights a week, but it exists. https://www.mlb.com/network/shows/mlb-network-strike-zone
 

MuzzyField

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DirecTV's version of Extra Innings had a "Strike Zone" channel at least two nights a week, I think one was Friday. This was pre-ATT ownership and I cut the "dish" almost 4-years ago. I don't know if they still do it. I don't get MLB Network anymore, but I remember there being a wrap-around show in prime-time at some point.
 

ookami7m

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All told that one is pretty solid - Love the Golden Gate on the sleeve cuff, and the hat would be nice too if it was a little smaller. The fog effect would look better on a darker background rather than the grey into the fog.
 

nocode51

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Oh those will definitely get sold and worn.... by kids whose mom's have to do their back to school shopping at the JC Penney discount racks. There may even be people who end up owning one of each for the low low price of 4.99.