2024 MLB Spring Training News & Notes

jacklamabe65

jacklamabe65

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East of the sun; west of the moon
I miss Mike F., but we carry on. How many of you remember when the Sox used to train in Scottsdale? WHDH used to broadcast a few games there, and for a snow-bound kid living in the suburbs of Boston, it was as if Curt Gowdy, Ned Martin, and Art Gleason were broadcasting from the moon.
 
ThePrideofShiner

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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Jul 16, 2005
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I can't believe Fanatics keeps getting looped in with professional sports leagues. They do MLS merch and it is fucking awful and falls apart so easily. And it still costs a ton of money for very poor quality.

The enshitification of apparel being sold in general in the U.S. is unbelievable these days.
 
Catcher Block

Catcher Block

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Mar 7, 2006
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The major sports leagues and the players unions all have equity stakes in Fanatics. As Fanatics gets bigger, the only people who lose are the consumers, and that hasn't moved the needle, historically.
 
SemperFidelisSox

SemperFidelisSox

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May 25, 2008
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Even though Fanatics makes the uniforms, most people see the Nike swoosh and assume it’s them. So Nike’s reputation is really the one taking a hit here. Maybe that ends up moving the needle.
 
John Marzano Olympic Hero

John Marzano Olympic Hero

has fancy plans, and pants to match
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SemperFidelisSox said:
Even though Fanatics makes the uniforms, most people see the Nike swoosh and assume it’s them. So Nike’s reputation is really the one taking a hit here. Maybe that ends up moving the needle.
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Dows Nike just design the uniforms and templates if Fanatics makes them? I’m a UniWatcher but I’m not sure how this works.
 
nattysez

nattysez

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The uniforms look horrendous. Social media is really taking off about how bad they are. I saw a good video pointing out how the old jerseys were made so that the opening of the jersey went across the space between the o and d in Dodgers so that when the jersey moves, the script still looks unbroken. Now the jersey opening goes directly through the small d in Dodgers, so it looks less clean when the jersey moves. Such an subtle thing, but it's difference between caring how things look and not giving a shit.

Here's a good TikTok explaining it: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8wMqADF/
 
Fishercat

Fishercat

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May 18, 2007
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nattysez said:
The uniforms look horrendous. Social media is really taking off about how bad they are. I saw a good video pointing out how the old jerseys were made so that the opening of the jersey went across the space between the o and d in Dodgers so that when the jersey moves, the script still looks unbroken. Now the jersey opening goes directly through the small d in Dodgers, so it looks less clean when the jersey moves. Such an subtle thing, but it's difference between caring how things look and not giving a shit.

Here's a good TikTok explaining it: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8wMqADF/
Click to expand...
The jersey thing is such a pointless self-own by the MLB and its partners and very "Fanatics-y" in its response. From a cost to experience perspective, quality jerseys/pants can't cost that much but clearly have an experience on the players, and a good looking and quality jersey will often spur purchases. Cheaping out on that isn't likely to affect the end product but just makes it feel uncared about and an afterthought.

I say this as I wear a Fanatics replica jersey which is fairly comfortable but absolutely feels like a replica. Those player jerseys look like my replica. That's not how it should be (My Fanatics jersey, a Sox City Connect, also splits the script on the "s" in Boston by cutting off the very left edge of the letter. A minor justification change or font move would have fixed this.

And the response to the PR issue is...roll out the star players to read off the script.

I feel like it'll blow over but also, if you're a patch sponsor on a jersey...do you really want the uniforms to be the subject of derision? Baseball is so big that trying to shave savings out of on-field player materials is just a stupid angle to take.
 
John Marzano Olympic Hero

John Marzano Olympic Hero

has fancy plans, and pants to match
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Fishercat said:
I feel like it'll blow over but also, if you're a patch sponsor on a jersey...do you really want the uniforms to be the subject of derision? Baseball is so big that trying to shave savings out of on-field player materials is just a stupid angle to take.
Click to expand...
Right. This is how all PR "blunders" are handled now. Be quiet, don't say anything, this will blow over by the weekend, it will be normalized within a month and you can collect all of your sweet, sweet money. Just don't make it worse.

I get that there are bigger things to care about, but like I said in the Oakland thread, this is just another example of MLB just sanding off pieces of what made the game special for a couple of extra dollars. At some point the product on the field won't be like what we grew up with--which is inevitable in a lot of ways, the game always changes both for good and bad. But for me, it was always the little things about baseball that I loved just as much as the bigger stuff. It sucks that the only reason why they're going away is because of greed. These owners want to get every last dime before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

Rob Manfred just sucks.
 
Sad Sam Jones

Sad Sam Jones

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Manfred's approach to everything is to clutch the pearls of MLB's budget. You can add the completely hands-off approach toward the teams getting screwed over by Balley Sports to the list. Apparently it's not in MLB's interests to make it look like they're a strong and unified entity.
 
uncannymanny

uncannymanny

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Jan 12, 2007
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Fishercat said:
The jersey thing is such a pointless self-own by the MLB and its partners and very "Fanatics-y" in its response. From a cost to experience perspective, quality jerseys/pants can't cost that much but clearly have an experience on the players, and a good looking and quality jersey will often spur purchases. Cheaping out on that isn't likely to affect the end product but just makes it feel uncared about and an afterthought.

I say this as I wear a Fanatics replica jersey which is fairly comfortable but absolutely feels like a replica. Those player jerseys look like my replica. That's not how it should be (My Fanatics jersey, a Sox City Connect, also splits the script on the "s" in Boston by cutting off the very left edge of the letter. A minor justification change or font move would have fixed this.

And the response to the PR issue is...roll out the star players to read off the script.

I feel like it'll blow over but also, if you're a patch sponsor on a jersey...do you really want the uniforms to be the subject of derision? Baseball is so big that trying to shave savings out of on-field player materials is just a stupid angle to take.
Click to expand...
Yes, if I sponsor a jersey I would LOVE that everyone is looking at the jerseys. Thats why I sponsored. It’s really the only party this is good for.
 
nattysez

nattysez

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
I get that there are bigger things to care about, but like I said in the Oakland thread, this is just another example of MLB just sanding off pieces of what made the game special for a couple of extra dollars. At some point the product on the field won't be like what we grew up with--which is inevitable in a lot of ways, the game always changes both for good and bad. But for me, it was always the little things about baseball that I loved just as much as the bigger stuff. It sucks that the only reason why they're going away is because of greed. These owners want to get every last dime before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.
Click to expand...
Imagine being a rookie this year and wanting to frame your first jersey, and instead of getting a beautiful jersey with sewn-on letters and patches, you get handed what appears to be a bootleg shirsey. MLB will do absolutely nothing about this unless jersey sales crater.
 
Red(s)HawksFan

Red(s)HawksFan

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Jan 23, 2009
20,934
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There is live spring training baseball on TV right now. ESPN has the Padres and Dodgers first exhibition of the year.

I don't care who's playing, it's so nice to have live baseball to watch again.
 
Apisith

Apisith

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Oct 19, 2007
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Yeah, I have to be honest that I'm rooting for a good year from him. He can't be blamed for the injuries and he's never shied away from taking the ball. Rooting for a solid 150IPs, 3ERA kind of year from Sale.
 
LogansDad

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
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Matt Brash might be done for the year, according to the Seattle Times.

Huge blow to a team that has traded away a lot of relief pitching.
 
Tokyo Sox

Tokyo Sox

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Shohei has announced on instagram that he’s married. A nice statement which I’ll translate later if no one beats me to it, in which he also asked for privacy for his (Japanese) wife and her family.

Yakyuu twitter is all abuzz and millions of 20-something Japanese women are in tears. And the jokes are decent - “He left the Angels and immediately got a ring,” “3刀流 / three-way player” etc etc.

Hiromi Itoh from Nippon Ham / the WBC team said he was surprised by the news bc he genuinely thought the only thing Shohei cared about was baseball.
 
InsideTheParker

InsideTheParker

persists in error
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Jul 15, 2005
40,546
Pioneer Valley
Tokyo Sox said:
Shohei has announced on instagram that he’s married. A nice statement which I’ll translate later if no one beats me to it, in which he also asked for privacy for his (Japanese) wife and her family.

Yakyuu twitter is all abuzz and millions of 20-something Japanese women are in tears. And the jokes are decent - “He left the Angels and immediately got a ring,” “3刀流 / three-way player” etc etc.

Hiromi Itoh from Nippon Ham / the WBC team said he was surprised by the news bc he genuinely thought the only thing Shohei cared about was baseball.
Click to expand...
He wanted to wait until he had enough money to support a wife, natch!
 
Yelling At Clouds

Yelling At Clouds

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Jul 19, 2005
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