After the better part of two years, criticising the publication, Baseball
Weekly, with excellent reason, perhaps it's time that their management knew
about what's wrong with them.
Once again, if you carefully study the publication that is supposed to be
tops in its devotion only to the game of baseball, you would be amazed at
their inefficiency and lack of creativity. We took our surveys, for example,
and found that NO baseball fan out of 25 inquiries EVER reads the six or
seven wasted pages of daily box scores covering a full week.
What baseball fan doesn't read the papers daily to see those box scores?
Who's interested in these boring summaries of old news? What a waste of time
and space.
Even Baseball Weekly's statistics are incorrect. They blindly rely on such
bureaus as Elias to supply stats, but both publications don't even care what
is printed. As an example of many traded players, check out the issue of
August 15-21 and look for the averages of Fred McGriff, now of the Chicago
Cubs. The stats show that he has come to bat only 46 times this season.
What happened to his previous stats this year before the trade? They just
don't care what they show.
Baseball Weekly also has a "weak" section for Minor League Statistics. They
show partial results every week. They explain that their minor league
reports actually "rotate", from Triple A to Class A, taking 3 full weeks to
get everything in. The best way to do all this is to report on a weekly
basis, ALL the minor league stats. Half the time the reader doesn't even
know who's in first place!!! The paper should call itself Baseball Monthly.
Why not dump the old, daily box scores and make better use of the space?
Now, here's something the average fan might not believe, but it's true.
Baseball Weekly never features up-to-date batting, fielding, and pitching
averages. You've got to go to your favorite Sunday paper for that. In their
last issue, they buried those stats on page 51, and you've got to laugh how
they show the averages. Their summaries are scattered. If you want to find
out how league leader, Moises Alou, is doing in other categories other than
batting average, GOOD LUCK. It's a joke.
While their other stories are about equal in quality to the dailies, I must
blame most of this on Paul White, who, as editor for years, rarely answers
his mail, especially if new ideas are presented.
I'm afraid that Baseball Weekly should be overhauled. Right now it's really
Baseball Weakly.
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When the Seattle Mariners stormed into Yankee Stadium and wound up winning 2
of 3, the whole City called it a "SHOWDOWN." What does that mean? Seattle
is 17 games in first place in the Western Division while the Yankees are 5
ahead in the East. Why is this series so exciting when it is possible that
NEITHER team might make the World Series because of the wild card nonsense
and the divisional playoffs?
After all, the Mariners, coming into the Stadium, can never lose their chance
at divisional playoffs. The Yankees are way ahead of the Red Sox but could
wind up second to the Sox when there are confrontations in September.
And in the National League Central, the Cubs, Astros, and Cardinals will be
fighting to the END. That would be fine if one of them was assured to be a
pennant winner. But.....thanks to the post season, the BEST team ALL YEAR
AROUND might never make the once coveted World Series.
There are 16 teams in the American and 14 in the National. Move one over and
make it 15-15, NO playoffs, NO wildcard. May the BEST TEAM win.
This was the way it once was when there were 8 teams in each league. So
what? Why not go back to those days which makes it fair for the BEST to win?
You might say, well, the wild card and divisional play adds interest. You're
never out. Oh, yeah? What chance does Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa Bay,
Detroit, Kansas City, etc. etc. have now? They are OUT of the race
altogether. In the National League, boredom has caught up to Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati, San Diego and Colorado.
Either way you work it, many teams are OUT of the race by June and July. Why
should Seattle get knocked out of the pennant and world series when they
will have the BEST record in baseball, by far?
Go back to the way it was. Oh, you think I'm an old traditional thinker,
huh? Well, I DO like the designated hitter. Hah!!!
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