I guess I jsut remember the good ole days when Wags would blow away the likes of Sosa/Grace, etc. and all the Cubs announcer would say was "you know, the Cubs need to hang on until they get WAgner out of there. He's embarassing them." Maybe he is more efficient, I don't know. He just doesn't seem as dominant I guess.
Trimming payroll is only "bad" when it means the team becomes worse. Has that happened? Not at all. Ensberg will almost certainly be as good, or better, than the OBP deprived Castilla (never met a pitch he didn't like)... and Ward should be almost as good as the 37 year Alou, who isn't worth the money being paid to him. I was upset when Hampton left. I was annoyed when Everett was traded. But when your team just won the pennant, kept the important players, and is stacked with good young players... there's no reason not to attend. Lame! Lame! Oh, and mid-market teams don't necessarily charge less . The big difference between mid-market teams and small market teams lies in tv rights and marketing, not attendance... although attendance does matter. But you're paying for an on-field product. And the Astros give you one of the best.
Remember, those #'s are inherited runners since 1998. Wagner missed most of 2000. If he had not missed all those games, his # of inherited runners would be larger. And I suspect his % would be higher too, considering he blew so many saves before his injury was discovered.
In fact, when I was in Los Angeles last month, I visite Dodger Stadium and their ticket prices at all levels were cheaper than the Astros current prices. They in line with what I remember the prices to be at the 'Dome. BTW, that is a fantastic, beautiful, and slightly funky park.
have you checked out attendance across the league??? we're not far off even from other competitive teams ...i was surprised to learn the Cardinals didn't draw 30K in either of their last two games vs. the Rockies...the first series in St. Louis, a GREAT baseball town with tons of preseason hype. Somebody called in to sportsradio here the other day talking about how his tix jumped from $25 to $33 per game....That's nearly another $700/year for season tix!!! That's a huge jump!! He said he could no longer justify that for a full season, so he cut back to a mini-season plan. I imagine he's not alone. The Texans aren't helping either...their season ticket base is HUGE!!! I think lots of people are funnelling entertainment dollars that way...me, included!
Football over baseball? Boooo! Yeah, yeah... I know, most people in Texas like it that way. And if we were talking college football, it's close... I just can't get as excited by pro football as most other sports. Guess I'll never understand it...
