Letter from Donald Weyer:
Some illuminations for William Bardenwerper, in reference to his contrasting the old, professional baseball Batavia Muckdogs and the present amateur baseball Batavia mock "Muckdogs," as reported in "The Batavian," on June 7.
1. It's all about money. It's just whether the N.Y. Penn League and the owners of the pro team rake in the money; or the current private owner of the team, Mr. Nichols, rakes in the money! I applaud Nichols; he appears to me to be a consummate marketer, which is the primary part of current-day late-stage, capitalism. (We don't make "things." We manufacture "experiences," "ideas," "consciousnesses," "influencers," and "sports and entertainment"). It doesn't matter what you're selling, as long as you can convince enough people, Batavia fans, to buy it! He's good at it, and only if he had been associated with the professional Muckdogs. They couldn't tell a marketing or advertising campaign from an aluminum baseball bat; both were anathema to them!
2. Nichols is attracting children to the games at Dwyer Stadium in 2022 and 2023. Children have no money, but their parents do. I suspect the parents are more interested in entertainment for their offspring than in the game of baseball, and particularly in Amateur baseball, considering all the negative press professional athletes receive in any sport. (Parents these days seem to be over-protective of their children). Anyway, a genuine baseball aficionado doesn't care about negative press. They just want to see expert baseball. I, personally, would prefer to watch high-school baseball instead of Division II and Division III collegiate baseball, but would certainly pick any level of Professional baseball over either of the two former entities! (But then, I'm not a parent of young children). The child fans, and by extension, their parents, probably don't know the difference, and that's what Nichols plays off of. Heck, the current parents would send their children to the Stadium if it featured a circus of clowns and donkeys, or a Halloween-themed costume party, all of it with Nichols as impresario! He's that good!
3. Bardenwerper is plain wrong about the current college players being "more involved in the community." The pros were involved in the community. They, in fact, were "fan friendly" also. To an extent, I saw it with my own two eyes. (Instructional baseball camps for local children; appearances at local community events; residing in local community residences; signing autographs both before and after games; what else did one want them to do!). Remember, the pros were being paid a salary, they had to concentrate on their "play," and the owners of the pros' teams had to concentrate on a return on their investment in the "play" of the players. "Community" wasn't ignored. It came second to their jobs as pros! I'm sure that Judge, Machado, Ohtani, et al. don't spend much time glad-handing in their respective "community." Do they? The current collegiate players supposedly don't get paid. Their time is a lark. They're students, first, on "Summer Break," and one direction of their attention can easily be the "community." I suspect that both Martinez, the manager of the current Muckdogs, and Nichols tell the players that "community" comes First. And baseball, Second? At least I'm sure Nichols does(remember "marketing," which we started out with here in #1!)
4. Major League Baseball realigned Minor League Baseball from 160 cities to 120 cities in 2020. Seems like a smart move! You know, the old economics law of "supply and demand." Too much supply, constant demand, profit goes down, doesn't it? Limit supply, constant demand, increase price, and voila, more profit! And isn't MLB a business governed by profit? See #1 above; substitute "profit" for my point about "money."
5. The city of Batavia paid for and built a new Dwyer Stadium in 1995-96. Excuse me, city property taxpayers paid for the stadium. As far as I know, there are no "baseball people" over at City Hall or on City Council. (I think that Brad Rogers was already gone as general manager of the Muckdogs when the new stadium opened. And he was the last general manager of the pro team who had any sense of what minor league baseball could and should be!).
So why didn't the city get the Major League affiliate to pay for some of the stadium construction or stadium operation? (As far as I know, the affiliate only paid for the team's salaries). If the MLB affiliate had a moneyed interest in the stadium, it would have provided some professional management and direction for the games and its fans at that stadium. There's nothing like a financial interest to motivate individuals with expertise to protect that interest! The city of Batavia protected its financial interest in the stadium but couldn't give a hoot about the business going on at that stadium. It didn't have the expertise, anyway, to manage and promote a professional baseball organization. So maybe, that's why everything "went to hell in a handbasket" with attendance at the real, professional Muckdogs games. You tell me!
6. Related to #5 above, I would like to see the current Muckdogs operation publish and announce the attendance at all home games and particularly the "paid" attendance.
Mr. Weyer, there are several…
Mr. Weyer, there are several points you make I wish to respond to.
"It's all about money."
Money makes the world go round. Without it, you wouldn't have food or healthcare. This phrase makes it sound as if money is something evil. Money is just a resource by which we acquire other resources. We couldn't live without it, or we would be back to the hunter-gather stage of humanity.
"It's just whether the N.Y. Penn League and the owners of the pro team rake in the money; or the current private owner of the team, Mr. Nichols, rakes in the money!"
How do you know he's raking in the money? For all we know, he's still losing money. I doubt he is because this is his third year of operation, and I doubt he is out to operate a charity, but we have no idea how much money he's making. He's running an expensive operation. Chances are profits are marginal. But since it's a private business, it really isn't our business how much he's making.
"I applaud Nichols; he appears to me to be a consummate marketer, which is the primary part of current-day late-stage capitalism."
There's a nice socialist term in vogue these days. What does it mean?
All people who want money are marketers. If you want a job, you have to market or sell yourself to potential employers. Why is this a bad thing?
"(We don't make "things." We manufacture "experiences," "ideas," "consciousnesses," "influencers," and "sports and entertainment")."
"We" (if that's society) make a lot of things. The computer I'm on now, and the one you used to write your letter, is something "we" made.
"It doesn't matter what you're selling as long as you can convince enough people, Batavia fans, to buy it!"
Again, why is this wrong? We've all got something to sell, whether it's our labor, a table we made in our garage, some tomatoes we grew in our yard, or widgets we hired people to make down at the factory. It's the basis of a free market.
"He's good at it, and only if he had been associated with the professional Muckdogs. They couldn't tell a marketing or advertising campaign from an aluminum baseball bat; both were anathema to them!"
Well, that's kind of the point of the story I wrote -- professional baseball should pay more attention to what Robbie Nichols is doing.
"Nichols is attracting children to the games ..."
That seems like a good thing.
"I suspect the parents are more interested in entertainment for their offspring than in the game of baseball"
There are lots of reasons parents might be interested in the Muckdogs. Some of them, you know, might actually like baseball and want to see their children grow to appreciate it as they do. They want a family experience together. They want their kids to feel part of a community. They want to get their kids away from social media and video games with a wholesome, old-school distraction. And surely a myriad of reasons I haven't even thought of. And the Muckdogs provide good, inexpensive family entertainment. That seems to be good for families and
"but would certainly pick any level of Professional baseball over either of the two former entities!"
Maybe a real baseball fan will take any form of baseball that provides an enjoyable experience. I like going to the current Muckdog games and sitting with a friend and chatting. The game provides something to chat about and a bit of entertainment. The level of play is immaterial.
"Bardenwerper is plain wrong about the current college players being 'more involved in the community.' The pros were involved in the community. They, in fact, were "fan friendly" also. To an extent, I saw it with my own two eyes.
I've covered the Muckdogs since 2008. The pros were quite disengaged from the community. It was a little better when they lived in people's homes, but once the Marlins moved them to hotels, a lot of community connection was lost. Some would sign autographs before and after games, but most didn't. They were often surely in the dugout (though a few were quite friendly). They never marched in parades, played volleyball at local taverns, showed up en mass to promotional events, went to schools, etc. As for the camps, often they looked like they really didn't want to be there. It's a night-and-day difference in attitudes between the current crop of Muckdogs and the affiliated players.
"Remember, the pros were being paid a salary, they had to concentrate on their 'play,' and the owners of the pros' teams had to concentrate on a return on their investment in the "play" of the players. 'Community' wasn't ignored. It came second to their jobs as pros!"
It's more like the community came third or fourth. And you point out the exact problem with the pro players as if it's a feature and a benefit rather than a bug in the system.
"4. Major League Baseball realigned Minor League Baseball from 160 cities to 120 cities in 2020. Seems like a smart move! "
Suddenly you're in favor of profit!
If you want to use the hackneyed term "late-stage capitalism," this is where it applies, putting profits over community and tradition and history.
I'll take a Robbie Nichols over a Rob Manfred in business any day. Small "c" capitalism over major corporate profits at the expense of communities, tradition and history.
"5. The city of Batavia paid for and built a new Dwyer Stadium in 1995-96. Excuse me, city property taxpayers paid for the stadium."
Would you rather it be sitting empty?
"So why didn't the city get the Major League affiliate to pay for some of the stadium construction or stadium operation?"
The Rochester Red Wings, over the final 10 years, paid for its operation -- all of it, and its maintenance while they had a lease. The city didn't pay for Cooper Thomason to come in a make the field beautiful and lush. The Redwings did. The Red Wings had a profit motive to make the baseball experience for fans and players as enjoyable as they could and did the best they could within the constraints placed on them by MiLB. They were very motivated not to lose money on the operations, and they lost a substantial amount of it, none of which they were able to recoup, as they had hoped when the team folded instead of being sold. One of the risks of "late-stage capitalism."
Attendance is published with every box score. As for how much is paid, the Muckdogs are a private business and are under no obligation to disclose that information.