Baseball in Rome next year?

[Bored 0]

Since baseball attendance is down in the country where it is its national pastime, Bud Selig's thinking that the next natural step is to try it out in a country where they hardly even know what baseball is. What a fucking moron.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0429/1546569.html

 

Baseball considering stop in Rome in 2004

 

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Associated Press

 

 

ROME -- Major League Baseball's field consultant inspected Olympic Stadium on Tuesday to help determine whether the facility could be used for regular-season games next year.

 

Olympic Stadium, the home of AS Roma and Lazio, is an oval configured to seat 80,000 for soccer and track and field. It likely would need work to be made ready for baseball.

 

"This is the first visit in Europe," said Dan Bonanno, MLB's representative in Italy. "We're just getting some ideas, nothing concrete."

 

Some officials in the commissioner's office have looked at the weekend before the 2004 All-Star Game as potential dates for games in Europe. Nothing has been decided.

 

Murray Cook, a consultant used by the commissioner's office, took measurements at Olympic Stadium, used for the 1960 Olympics and the 1990 World Cup final. Cook helped prepare Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the Montreal Expos and Estadio Foro Sol in Mexico City for spring training games this year between Los Angeles and the New York Mets.

 

"We were there today looking at all the options, doing all the calculations, checking all the logistics to see if it can be modified," Bonanno said.

 

While there is a professional league in Italy, the sport is largely unknown to locals.

 

Asked about fan interest, Bonanno said: "We're doing some market research. That's another big point."

 

Paul Archey, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball International, last month called Italy the "front-runner" for the first major league games in Europe. While Florence and Palermo have baseball facilities, the commissioner's office would prefer to play in the capital, where games would create more of a buzz.

 

"Rome is a major city," Bonanno said. "It has good transport links from the airport and is easily reachable from New York."

 

Baseball has been aggressively expanding its presence outside the United States and Canada, playing season openers in Monterrey, Mexico (1999), Tokyo (2000) and San Juan, Puerto Rico (2001). The Montreal Expos are playing 22 "home" games this season in San Juan, and the New York Yankees may open the 2004 season in Japan.

 

In November, Mets catcher Mike Piazza took some practice swings outside the Colosseum as part of a promotional appearance. Bonanno helped organize a baseball clinic for children in Rome led by Piazza, who is of Italian descent.

[Guest Choken One]

Let's Get it working in America First...Bud is REALLY trying to kill it dead before he leaves.

[Guest DrTom]

I can see the 2005 season opening in Iraq now.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

I like the idea of expanding baseball to other countries. Potentially playing 3 games in Rome won't damage the game in anyway.

[Bored 0]

I like the idea of expanding baseball to other countries. Potentially playing 3 games in Rome won't damage the game in anyway.

Blah, Spring Training fine but keep that crap out of the regular season. Logistically the whole thing will be a pain the ass for the two teams that play in the series. Also Europe doesn't give a shit about baseball so just blindly going there and playing a series just has bad idea written all over it.

[Guest phoenixrising]

I can see the 2005 season opening in Iraq now.

LIVE FROM 3COM STADIUM AT DOWNTOWN BAGHDAD, IT'S WEDNESDAY NIGHT BASEBALL!!!!!

 

I see no problem with them playing a series in Rome. I'd be curious to see how many people come out to the games though...anything less than a sellout would be a failure.

[Bored 0]

I can see the 2005 season opening in Iraq now.

LIVE FROM 3COM STADIUM AT DOWNTOWN BAGHDAD, IT'S WEDNESDAY NIGHT BASEBALL!!!!!

 

I see no problem with them playing a series in Rome. I'd be curious to see how many people come out to the games though...anything less than a sellout would be a failure.

Considering they can't sell out every game in essentially a minor league-sized stadium in baseball crazy Puerto Rico (I do understand tickets were overpriced, again another Selig brainfart), I seriously doubt they'll sell out anything in Rome where they could give a shit or even know what baseball is.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

It looks like it's in the early stages and nothing will come of it. It won't hurt to see what kind of interest Baseball has in Italy, and other European countries. So they can start establishing the game, and than a few years down the line try playing a series in Rome, or somewhere else.

[Guest cartman]

...and i'm sure it would be small market teams that don't draw fans here in the US anymore.

 

Fuck this. Just contract these teams that don't want to spend the money and compete anymore. Florida, Tampa, Montreal, Colorado, Milwaukee(especially), and San Diego to name a few. I'm sick of this moving games to other places to make money for the league. If they ditched teams and resorted the players to the remaining teams there would me more competitive games thus more fans going to see those games. Screw the players union too.

[Guest alkeiper]

Colorado doesn't belong on that list. They gave 8 figures to Neagle and Hampton. Sure, they've sucked, but they're trying.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

I was under the impression that the Italian leagues drew pretty good crowds. The whole system is pretty wierd though there, as players are hired by companies and play for that companies team a couple days a week and work for the company the rest of the time.

Plus its only for people who were born in Italy.

 

I look at it this way...for now Baseball is an Olympic Sport. Football (American Football) is being played in Europe and is drawing decent crowds and its not an Olympic Sport. With the 2004 Olympics in Athens, not to far away from Italy, I think baseball could easily feed of that..and have a series in Rome in 2005.

 

Hell, the NBA is thinking about capitalizing on the rush of European players into the NBA by either having games in Europe or, amazingly enough, having a team play in Europe (playing home games in different cities in Europe..) Now if that isn't as rediculous as playing an short series of baseball in Rome, then I don't know what is. Football, Basketball and Hockey or all to some extent very international and yet Baseball is pretty much confined to the USA, Canada, Mexico, The Carribbean, and Japan. If they call the Championship games the World Series, at least youd think a large portion of the world would care about it. Im all for it, up to the point where an actual team is based in Europe like the NBA is thinking.

[Guest DrTom]

I think MLB should open next season in France. Send the players, but leave all their equipment back in the States. Then, before the games, they could announce that officals know the baseball equipment is here somewhere, but they just need more time to find it.

 

I think that would be tremendous.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

...and i'm sure it would be small market teams that don't draw fans here in the US anymore.

 

Fuck this. Just contract these teams that don't want to spend the money and compete anymore. Florida, Tampa, Montreal, Colorado, Milwaukee(especially), and San Diego to name a few.

The new labor agreement says no contraction for the next 4 years. Montreal will probably move to Washington, D.C. next year.