What will it take to fill the stands?

[desertrat23]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

You think the young timers are MLB people?

If you want baseball to survive after you and I are gone, they better be. I for one hope so. The focus needs to be on my kids, not me and those older than me.

[Pura Vida]

Covid fan cutouts?

Free vxxx with every seat purchased?

Still feels the team is being positioned to sell. Nothing is forever.

[Cardly]

This team has some moments. It seems a bit like a mirage of the days when the team was positioned to do a deep October run. It is nothing more than that.

Creating the Tampa Rays model in St. Louis is not appealing now or in the future.

[ForumPolice]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

You think the young timers are MLB people?

If you want baseball to survive after you and I are gone, they better be. I for one hope so. The focus needs to be on my kids, not me and those older than me.

Young people are not baseball people. Are there exceptions? Yes. In general do young people dig mlb? No. Needs to shrink some anyway. Payrolls are bloated as hell, way too many teams that don't even try to compete, and the players union has steamrolled the ownership to the point that the contracts no longer even make sense. Owners are stupid as hell because the percentage of fat contracts handed to free agents that actually work out are so minimal they don't even make sense anymore

[Melville]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

Perhaps the last 2 lines of my post eluded your attention or comprehension.
Being kind and courteous by nature, I will repeat them for you here:
New fans will need to be recruited to fill in the shortfall.
It is going to take the organization time and effort and investment to fill those seats.

[Cranny]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

Perhaps the last 2 lines of my post eluded your attention or comprehension.
Being kind and courteous by nature, I will repeat them for you here:
New fans will need to be recruited to fill in the shortfall.
It is going to take the organization time and effort and investment to fill those seats.

It’s going to take the coming through of the younger players already on the team (and in the high minors) to bring fans back.

[desertrat23]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

You think the young timers are MLB people?

If you want baseball to survive after you and I are gone, they better be. I for one hope so. The focus needs to be on my kids, not me and those older than me.

Young people are not baseball people. Are there exceptions? Yes. In general do young people dig mlb? No. Needs to shrink some anyway. Payrolls are bloated as hell, way too many teams that don't even try to compete, and the players union has steamrolled the ownership to the point that the contracts no longer even make sense. Owners are stupid as hell because the percentage of fat contracts handed to free agents that actually work out are so minimal they don't even make sense anymore

“Young people are not baseball people.”

That’s a hell of a declarative statement. If so, why not? Maybe because it’s a game that caters to older people and focuses more on the past than the future? Every time anything with baseball changes (DH, guys flipping bats, games on streaming services, etc.) people around here act like it’s the end of the world.

Maybe we should embrace the changes that will shift baseball’s demos younger, in hopes that they keep the game sustainable?

[desertrat23]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

Perhaps the last 2 lines of my post eluded your attention or comprehension.
Being kind and courteous by nature, I will repeat them for you here:
New fans will need to be recruited to fill in the shortfall.
It is going to take the organization time and effort and investment to fill those seats.

I agree completely. That time, effort, and investment should be in younger, more energetic, quality players and a top-notch game day experience that caters to kids and young people with families.

[Cranny]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

Perhaps the last 2 lines of my post eluded your attention or comprehension.
Being kind and courteous by nature, I will repeat them for you here:
New fans will need to be recruited to fill in the shortfall.
It is going to take the organization time and effort and investment to fill those seats.

I agree completely. That time, effort, and investment should be in younger, more energetic, quality players and a top-notch game day experience that caters to kids and young people with families.

You mean like with Herrera, Donovan, Winn, Burleson, Nootbaar, Scott, Walker, Gorman,
Pallante, Liberatore, McGreevy, Mathews, etc.?

[desertrat23]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

Perhaps the last 2 lines of my post eluded your attention or comprehension.
Being kind and courteous by nature, I will repeat them for you here:
New fans will need to be recruited to fill in the shortfall.
It is going to take the organization time and effort and investment to fill those seats.

I agree completely. That time, effort, and investment should be in younger, more energetic, quality players and a top-notch game day experience that caters to kids and young people with families.

You mean like with Herrera, Donovan, Winn, Burleson, Nootbaar, Scott, Walker, Gorman,
Pallante, Liberatore, McGreevy, Mathews, etc.?

Many of those, yes. But they have to be good enough to get people to want to come out. He’s a solid player, but no kid is going to pester their parents to go downtown because Andre Pallante is pitching.

The most important players in this organization are Masyn Winn and Victor Scott. They HAVE to continue to grow and develop into perennial All-Stars. They’re good and EXCITING for kids to watch. And of course, if you go in the fancy team store can you shell out $300 on a Victor Scott jersey? Nope. Not available.

Fix the roster and fix the gameday experience. Here’s a fun experiment: go online and watch a YouTube of the pregame, starting lineups in LA or San Francisco or New York. Then watch one of the Cardinals’. The Cardinals look like they’re getting ready for Bingo at the Elks in Herculaneum. A little thing? Maybe. But they add up over time.

Aside from doing things five years too late and dedicating this season to John Mozeliak out of misplaced loyalty, they’re on the right track. But they can’t afford any more missteps.

[ForumPolice]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

You think the young timers are MLB people?

If you want baseball to survive after you and I are gone, they better be. I for one hope so. The focus needs to be on my kids, not me and those older than me.

Young people are not baseball people. Are there exceptions? Yes. In general do young people dig mlb? No. Needs to shrink some anyway. Payrolls are bloated as hell, way too many teams that don't even try to compete, and the players union has steamrolled the ownership to the point that the contracts no longer even make sense. Owners are stupid as hell because the percentage of fat contracts handed to free agents that actually work out are so minimal they don't even make sense anymore

“Young people are not baseball people.”

That’s a hell of a declarative statement. If so, why not? Maybe because it’s a game that caters to older people and focuses more on the past than the future? Every time anything with baseball changes (DH, guys flipping bats, games on streaming services, etc.) people around here act like it’s the end of the world.

Maybe we should embrace the changes that will shift baseball’s demos younger, in hopes that they keep the game sustainable?

Because young people have the attention span of a gnat and baseball is, by nature, slow as hell.

And as I said many cities that have MLB teams have never sniffed success so why should their young fans invest in it?

I like baseball. I grew up in the seventies playing it and loving Lou Brock and company. This is just a different time we live in. I would still typically rather watch NFL or NHL than a baseball game though and I don't know that that was always the case. So maybe my attention span has shrunk some as well

[desertrat23]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

You think the young timers are MLB people?

If you want baseball to survive after you and I are gone, they better be. I for one hope so. The focus needs to be on my kids, not me and those older than me.

Young people are not baseball people. Are there exceptions? Yes. In general do young people dig mlb? No. Needs to shrink some anyway. Payrolls are bloated as hell, way too many teams that don't even try to compete, and the players union has steamrolled the ownership to the point that the contracts no longer even make sense. Owners are stupid as hell because the percentage of fat contracts handed to free agents that actually work out are so minimal they don't even make sense anymore

“Young people are not baseball people.”

That’s a hell of a declarative statement. If so, why not? Maybe because it’s a game that caters to older people and focuses more on the past than the future? Every time anything with baseball changes (DH, guys flipping bats, games on streaming services, etc.) people around here act like it’s the end of the world.

Maybe we should embrace the changes that will shift baseball’s demos younger, in hopes that they keep the game sustainable?

Because young people have the attention span of a gnat and baseball is, by nature, slow as hell.

And as I said many cities that have MLB teams have never sniffed success so why should their young fans invest in it?

I like baseball. I grew up in the seventies playing it and loving Lou Brock and company. This is just a different time we live in. I would still typically rather watch NFL or NHL than a baseball game though and I don't know that that was always the case. So maybe my attention span has shrunk some as well

OK, Boomer — I will remove myself from your lawn.

[ForumPolice]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

You think the young timers are MLB people?

If you want baseball to survive after you and I are gone, they better be. I for one hope so. The focus needs to be on my kids, not me and those older than me.

Young people are not baseball people. Are there exceptions? Yes. In general do young people dig mlb? No. Needs to shrink some anyway. Payrolls are bloated as hell, way too many teams that don't even try to compete, and the players union has steamrolled the ownership to the point that the contracts no longer even make sense. Owners are stupid as hell because the percentage of fat contracts handed to free agents that actually work out are so minimal they don't even make sense anymore

“Young people are not baseball people.”

That’s a hell of a declarative statement. If so, why not? Maybe because it’s a game that caters to older people and focuses more on the past than the future? Every time anything with baseball changes (DH, guys flipping bats, games on streaming services, etc.) people around here act like it’s the end of the world.

Maybe we should embrace the changes that will shift baseball’s demos younger, in hopes that they keep the game sustainable?

Because young people have the attention span of a gnat and baseball is, by nature, slow as hell.

And as I said many cities that have MLB teams have never sniffed success so why should their young fans invest in it?

I like baseball. I grew up in the seventies playing it and loving Lou Brock and company. This is just a different time we live in. I would still typically rather watch NFL or NHL than a baseball game though and I don't know that that was always the case. So maybe my attention span has shrunk some as well

OK, Boomer — I will remove myself from your lawn.

Boomer. The stone hurled by a millennial when they've run out of things to say.

And yes, my lawn is meticulous so I appreciate your self removal

[bgwinn01]

To the OP. Stop it. Just stop it, please. With the weather finally getting better and the kids out of school, plus a good, young team playing well, don't worry about the attendance.

[Melville]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

Perhaps the last 2 lines of my post eluded your attention or comprehension.
Being kind and courteous by nature, I will repeat them for you here:
New fans will need to be recruited to fill in the shortfall.
It is going to take the organization time and effort and investment to fill those seats.

It’s going to take the coming through of the younger players already on the team (and in the high minors) to bring fans back.

And, I suspect, one or two highly paid, ASG quality players with star power on the roster at all times.
That is just how the world works.

[Melville]

What will it take for the best fans in baseball to return? 1st place in the Cental by June? 10 games over .500? 15 games?

A different downtown and an economy not plaguing consumers with a high cost of goods and services might help as well.

this is correct. we used to have a split of season tickets with friends.
We gave them up within 2 years, the pure hassle of:
-driving to the stadium
-parking
-waiting in a long line to enter the stadium
-waiting in a 5 minute line for the bathroom, 20 minutes for my wife
-waiting in line for an entire inning we missed to get food and drink, then spending 50 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 hot dogs
-waiting in line to exit the stadium
-hoping to avoid being harassed by beggars while walking to our car
-hoping our windows aren't broken (happened once)
-waiting 30 minutes just to exit the parking lot
-driving another 35 minutes home

hard pass

Absolutely perfect explanation.

Thank God old-timers who are either afraid of or uninterested in life aren’t the target demographic.

You think the young timers are MLB people?

If you want baseball to survive after you and I are gone, they better be. I for one hope so. The focus needs to be on my kids, not me and those older than me.

Young people are not baseball people. Are there exceptions? Yes. In general do young people dig mlb? No. Needs to shrink some anyway. Payrolls are bloated as hell, way too many teams that don't even try to compete, and the players union has steamrolled the ownership to the point that the contracts no longer even make sense. Owners are stupid as hell because the percentage of fat contracts handed to free agents that actually work out are so minimal they don't even make sense anymore

“Young people are not baseball people.”

That’s a hell of a declarative statement. If so, why not? Maybe because it’s a game that caters to older people and focuses more on the past than the future? Every time anything with baseball changes (DH, guys flipping bats, games on streaming services, etc.) people around here act like it’s the end of the world.

Maybe we should embrace the changes that will shift baseball’s demos younger, in hopes that they keep the game sustainable?

Because young people have the attention span of a gnat and baseball is, by nature, slow as hell.

And as I said many cities that have MLB teams have never sniffed success so why should their young fans invest in it?

I like baseball. I grew up in the seventies playing it and loving Lou Brock and company. This is just a different time we live in. I would still typically rather watch NFL or NHL than a baseball game though and I don't know that that was always the case. So maybe my attention span has shrunk some as well

One of my kids is in his early 30's.
Baseball, not football, not basketball, is his favorite pro sport.
He holds an advanced scientific degree and possesses a highly developed attention span.
No, young people do not reject baseball because it is slow.