A friend of mine used to attend Buffalo Bisons' games frequently when he lived in town. He once in a while burst into song, the tune being "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." His version of a couple of verses went like this:
"So it's root, root, root, for the Bisons. If they don't win it's the same."
His point at the time was that he loved baseball, loved seeing good players and the odd future star, and loved sitting outside on a warm day and sipping a beer. If the team won, well, that was a bonus.
More than 20 years later, it's easy to wonder just how important winning is at the minor league level.
The Bisons had established a good relationship for several years with the Cleveland Indians. Not only were they close by, which has its advantages, but the Indians sent Buffalo good players. The Bisons usually were at the worst playoff contenders, which ensured several happy endings to home games.
But, the Indians had a chance to jump to Columbus in 2009. That was an even better arrangement for the Tribe, which liked the idea of some television synergy between Cleveland and Columbus. So the Bisons went searching for a new affiliation.
They picked the New York Mets, which on the surface made plenty of sense. The Mets were quite popular locally -- maybe not at the level of the New York Yankees, but somewhere around a tie for second. New York should have plenty of money to spend on player development, although the team hasn't been as efficient as other franchises. The Mets' games were on SportsNet New York, which is partially owned by Time Warner ... and thus the parent club's games were frequently on Western New York cable.
Alas, it didn't work out. During the last four years, the Bisons haven't come close to the playoffs, They have compiled one of the worst Triple-A records in baseball in that span. Admittedly, it's difficult to know how good a minor-league team might be in a given year. Injuries and recalls have a way of foiling the best laid plans. And, the Mets' woes in the Madoff financial scandal didn't help them either, although the team still has a relatively big budget compared to some of the other teams in the league.
Now the Blue Jays are coming to town. They have a very good farm system at the moment, and they are excited about the advantages of having a Triple-A team just down the road. Everyone is hoping that Southern Ontario fans will make more trips down the QEW to see the future Jays in action. The question of the day is, will the new affiliation help the Bisons?
Minor league baseball has changed in 20 years, especially locally. A honeymoon was to be expected when the Bisons moved into a new stadium and were trying to become a candidate for a major-league expansion franchise. It came in the form of million-plus attendances. Those days are clearly gone forever, and not just because the newness of the park wore off. I've said that the Bisons almost seem to be out of the baseball business at times and in the fireworks business, because such a large percentage of paying customers turns out for the lights in the sky on Fridays and special events.
What's happened? It's gotten a little too easy to keep up with a favorite major-league team through television, in high definition no less. It doesn't even matter what team a fan follows any more. It's like the local fans who say they love college basketball and watch all sorts of games on television, but who rarely pull their wallets out to go see Canisius, Niagara or UB.
Game presentation also matters. The Bisons have tried to make it interesting in recent years, and they have listened to fans at times. The mascot races have been a big hit, particularly as we wait anxiously for Celery to actually win for once. But it's funny how little things matter. Ever try to keep score there? The lineups are reviewed so quickly before the start of the game that no one can write them down in a scorebook. Some of the in-game promotional activities come off as a little lame and not worthy of Triple-A. And don't sit under an overhang if you are afraid of the dark.
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News wrote a piece earlier this month that has a long list of other items. I like to say that Mike is one of the few people that truly cares if the team wins or not. He's concerned with individual performances, pennant races, etc. The players want to do well so they can advance to the majors (winning is just a happy byproduct of that), and the coaches want to see those players go up and contribute to the majors (because their job is to prepare the players to do exactly that). The fans like to see the home team win, but I would guess few could evenly vaguely quote the International League standings at a given moment.
Bisons' management likes to see the turnstiles spin and the beer sold, of course. Will a better team (and in terms of win-loss record, it almost has to be better) help that, or do the attendance problems go even deeper? Is it really "the same" if the team doesn't win?
Stay tuned.
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Showing posts with label Buffalo Bisons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buffalo Bisons. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Quote of the day/month/year
Congratulations to Amy Moritz, for collecting what is my favorite quote of 2009 at the Bisons' game on Monday (it appeared in Tuesday's newspaper).
The Bisons have a record of 13-30, are in last place in the overall International League standings, and flirted with the worst record in baseball for a while.
After Fernando Martinez led the Bisons to a win Monday night, Amy supplied this quote from Martinez's manager about the outfielder's performance:
"It's phenomenal. Where would we be without him?," said Bisons' manager Ken Oberkfell.
Ummm, last?
By the way, Martinez went up to the majors and played for the Mets Tuesday night. And the Bisons lost to Lehigh Valley on Tuesday night without him.
Thank you, Amy.
The Bisons have a record of 13-30, are in last place in the overall International League standings, and flirted with the worst record in baseball for a while.
After Fernando Martinez led the Bisons to a win Monday night, Amy supplied this quote from Martinez's manager about the outfielder's performance:
"It's phenomenal. Where would we be without him?," said Bisons' manager Ken Oberkfell.
Ummm, last?
By the way, Martinez went up to the majors and played for the Mets Tuesday night. And the Bisons lost to Lehigh Valley on Tuesday night without him.
Thank you, Amy.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Rooting for the home team
Earlier in this space, I wrote about getting a community to be convinced that a winning pro sports team matters. Let's move to a side issue of such a discussion, that of the minor league team in a town with major league teams.
The Buffalo Bisons are that team in Western New York. The Bisons are a member of the International League, and they've been going strong ever since the mid-1980's when Bob Rich and Rich Products bought the franchise.
The Bisons can't sell pennant races, since most people don't know much about the standings at a given moment. And they can't sell the opposing players, since most people have never heard of almost all of them. They can, however, sell baseball -- complete with a hot dog and a cold drink on a nice summer day or night.
My friend Glenn Locke used to musically say, "So it's root, root, root for the Bisons, if they don't win it's the same." In other words, enjoyment isn't measured on wins and losses, something that doesn't apply to the Bills or Sabres. I like to joke with Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News that he is the only non-Bisons employee who really follows how the team does.
Yet the Bisons are putting that theory to a severe test this season. Buffalo has gotten off to a horrible start in 2009. They won two games over the weekend, matching their victory output for the rest of the calendar year. The Bisons are 4-18, and are already 14.5 games out of first place in the standings. Buffalo's fans are rather spoiled when it comes to decent baseball, because the Cleveland Indians put a consistently good product here over the years. But the Indians left for Columbus last fall, and now the baby Mets are in town.
I went to the Bisons' game this afternoon. It was a sunny, 65-degree day -- a sweatshirt was more than enough for comfort -- and there was hardly anyone in the place, relatively speaking. I sat upstairs, which I do when possible, and acres of empty seats kept me company. It's tough to estimate the actual attendance when a 19,000-seat ballpark is that empty, but it sure didn't look like it crawled far into four figures, if at all. (The tickets sold count was 5,416.)
There's nothing like empty seats to flatten emotion at a sporting match. Today's game was quickly played in a little more than two hours, and the Bisons even won. But it sure didn't seem like an "event."
The unpredictable spring weather always is a challenge for the Bisons, and the actual crowds in the ballpark are sure to pick up once June arrives. Still, it's obvious that a little enthusiasm is missing in Coca-Cola Field, and I'm glad I'm not the person in charge of trying to get it back.
The Buffalo Bisons are that team in Western New York. The Bisons are a member of the International League, and they've been going strong ever since the mid-1980's when Bob Rich and Rich Products bought the franchise.
The Bisons can't sell pennant races, since most people don't know much about the standings at a given moment. And they can't sell the opposing players, since most people have never heard of almost all of them. They can, however, sell baseball -- complete with a hot dog and a cold drink on a nice summer day or night.
My friend Glenn Locke used to musically say, "So it's root, root, root for the Bisons, if they don't win it's the same." In other words, enjoyment isn't measured on wins and losses, something that doesn't apply to the Bills or Sabres. I like to joke with Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News that he is the only non-Bisons employee who really follows how the team does.
Yet the Bisons are putting that theory to a severe test this season. Buffalo has gotten off to a horrible start in 2009. They won two games over the weekend, matching their victory output for the rest of the calendar year. The Bisons are 4-18, and are already 14.5 games out of first place in the standings. Buffalo's fans are rather spoiled when it comes to decent baseball, because the Cleveland Indians put a consistently good product here over the years. But the Indians left for Columbus last fall, and now the baby Mets are in town.
I went to the Bisons' game this afternoon. It was a sunny, 65-degree day -- a sweatshirt was more than enough for comfort -- and there was hardly anyone in the place, relatively speaking. I sat upstairs, which I do when possible, and acres of empty seats kept me company. It's tough to estimate the actual attendance when a 19,000-seat ballpark is that empty, but it sure didn't look like it crawled far into four figures, if at all. (The tickets sold count was 5,416.)
There's nothing like empty seats to flatten emotion at a sporting match. Today's game was quickly played in a little more than two hours, and the Bisons even won. But it sure didn't seem like an "event."
The unpredictable spring weather always is a challenge for the Bisons, and the actual crowds in the ballpark are sure to pick up once June arrives. Still, it's obvious that a little enthusiasm is missing in Coca-Cola Field, and I'm glad I'm not the person in charge of trying to get it back.
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