MLB is the latest entity to hitch a ride on the Great Gambling Train. They have an exclusive agreement with MGM that allows it to be the "Official Gaming Partner of MLB." Why would MLB, after decades of recoiling in horror from the potential taint of betting on games, suddenly embrace this new arrangement? Simple. It's about the money. ONE BILLION DOLLARS is the projected revenue (that's annually) from this unholy alliance. And make no mistake, this is an unholy alliance.
Rob Manfred has a cynical practical approach. Sports betting is huge. Baseball fans are going to bet anyway so let's have some say in how the whole thing goes down. That's true. People are going to bet on sports whether it is sanctioned or not, regulated or not, legal or not. Manfred figures MLB needs to get its cut, and by partnering with MGM, they can tap into that company's history of running casinos and other legal gambling enterprises.One could always go to Reno and place a wager on a game. Or lay down money on a season. (My brother-in-law once gifted me a $20 betting chit "Giants to win the World Series @ 7-1." Not a bad bet--it was 1989, we came pretty close!) But that's small potatoes. Baseball is a perfect game for prop bets. Every plate appearance is an opportunity to place a wager. With smartphones and apps you can now bet on almost any aspect of a ballgame in real time. In fact, you can "play bet," that is, use the apps without wagering real money. That's perfect for the kiddies. They'll be squirming in their seats anyway so give 'em the phone and let 'em wager their play money. Just think how good they'll be at betting when they are old enough! Practice, practice, practice.
It's hideous. I realize we live in a world of token-ization, where everything we value is cut up into bits, tagged, re-named, and then marketed back to us. It's not just baseball. I also realize that the Great Gambling Train has already left the station. This post is just vox clamatis in deserto (a voice crying in the wilderness).
So why holler about it at all? Just to get it on record, I suppose. I don't think gambling should be illegal, but I do think it should not be encouraged. Gambling is NOT a positive social good. It is the opposite, in fact. It's a corrosive, anti-social behavior that does a lot of harm. But I'm also a realist. Baseball is big business, and business is what America is all about. When CEOs want something, they get it. So we will have betting and baseball living together in perfect har-mo-ny, side-by-side and all that.
I remember watching a 49ers game with a buddy several years ago who was really into his fantasy team. He would jump up and down and cheer for some random guy on the other squad to gain a few yards. Then root for a missed field goal or a fifty-yard punt or somesuch, seemingly independent of the game result. I was the old-fashioned stodgy one, rooting for my team and hoping the guys did well. My friend wanted the 49ers to win, but spent the whole time paying attention to single events that might help or hurt his fantasy team. I hated it. It wasn't fun, it was stupid. But that's how he enjoyed the game.
I suspect many "modern" fans of the game(s) need some sort of buy-in to the contest(s). They need a stake--a piece of the action. MLB and MGM will make sure they get one!
I'll get back to the 2022 Giants soon, don't worry.
--M.C.
p.s. I think we need to put the 1919 "Black Sox" and Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame. Those guys were misunderstood. They were obviously pioneers. Early-adopters are always penalized by history. Time to right the wrongs!
6 comments:
Good news: Giants and Darin Ruf avoid arbitration and settle on a 2-year deal worht $6.25M
Only Brandon Belt was a better hitter than Ruf last year. Two seasons in a row Ruf has topped 140 OPS+ and slugged over .500.
I like this guy and I'm glad the Giants do, too.
Back to abominations: in-game interviews. Few things are more cringe-y than those split-screen interviews with the manager or the recently-removed player DURING LIVE GAME ACTION!! Ugh, I can't stand that stuff. Can we please just follow THE ACTUAL GAME??
Many think the late-inning magic-runner tiebreaker scheme is an abomination to the game, and they may be right, but I can live with that weirdness. At least it has a point--speeding up the result and getting the teams off the field in a timely manner.
I've yet to see any point to the in-game, live-action interviews. Even players I like come off looking foolish and self-involved, or even embarrassed, and the announcers can only go on so long about what happened in the game and have to start asking about the player's hat or t-shirt or off-season hobbies or other dumb shit.
"I think we need to put the 1919 "Black Sox" and Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame. I agree: https://gaming.unlv.edu/hof/index.html.
Cute.
But I'm serious about the REAL HoF in Cooperstown. You can't tell the history of baseball (and the HoF is a museum) without gambling. All the early owners were bigshot gamblers. Everyone knows who Shoeless Joe is. Same with Comiskey, Judge Landis, Pete Rose. They are part of the story. (Landis was a racist and in a large part responsible for keeping the game segregated. How can is story be separated from Jackie Robinson's?)
MLB wants to present a wholesome image but they will happily encourage millions to bet on games. Did you know Don Zimmer had a HUGE ($3-5K/week) gambling problem when he was a coach? It's part of sports. And now MLB has put it's official imprimatur on this behavior.
Time to let in Pete and Joe!
Speaking of the 'Ghost Runner' it looks like it will be in place for 2022.
Fans mostly don't like it but players mostly do like it.
It's gimmicky--I think they could do it better. I'd like to see a cap on games at 12 innings. The three extras gives each squad a chance to go through the lineup one more time. Then, call a draw. A tie!
If people don't like ties, then decide the game on some other criteria. Maybe the team with the most hits wins. That would incentivize putting balls in play and increase the action.
The players get what they want--more predictable game times. The fans get what they want--more real baseball (or at least something closer).
There aren't that many extra-inning games, and not many that go past ten innings, so any changes are fairly small. And by all means play marathon extra-inning games in the play-offs!! Those contests are generally pretty even and so the chance of extra innings is probably greater anyway so it could be a feature of the post-season. I guess that would make it a "bug" in the regular season!
Giants also avoid arb with Leone, Casali, and Yaz. All signed 1-yr deals.
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