Sping Training in Florida.....Then where are the players???

Question

In hockey, more great hockey players come out of Canada. Many people feel that hockey does not belong in Florida, because attendance at games and advertising in those markets in what makes the sport possible.

If Spring Training is pretty much in Florida, then why does Tampa Bay and Florida have the worst attendance and crappy standing? Wouldn't you assume they could pick up some good players locally, since baseball (Spring Training) is everywhere down here? Wouldn't you assume it would be like hockey?


http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings

Answer 1

Welcome to the Baseball section, Haley! :)

I think ownership plays a great role in the lackluster attendance of both teams. The Florida Marlins have cheated fans over the past 15 years with building championship-caliber teams only to strip them down to absolute nothing. With the Marlins, Jefferey Loria has been so arrogant believing the fans will come no matter what, putting profit above all else. Meanwhile, the Rays ownership equally cheated fans by trotting out garbage teams to small crowds. Add to that the fact that the Rays have yet to post anything resembling a winning season and the fans stay away like none other. Both the Marlins and Rays play in football-type environments and stadiums. On top of that, the fans have other means of entertainment on those hot summer nights (CSI: Miami is filmed there, after all. Plus you have the Heat, Panthers, Dolphins, University of Miami football; for Tampa, you have the Lightning, Buccaneers, and an exciting nightlife).

In short, ownership of both teams have one way or another given many reasons for fans to simply stay away from attending games.

As far as players go, there haven't really been any significant ballplayers from Florida outside Alex Rodriguez, Doc Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Johnny Damon, et al. This has more to the other options available than the quality of players.

Answer 2

The fact that spring training is held in Florida and Arizona has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the local players in those states are talented. Spring training is held there for the simple reason that they are warm weather climates during February and March.
A small amount of research would, however, let you see that a good number of the American born players in the Major Leagues were raised in Florida or Arizona, as well as the other more temperate climates (California, Texas, etc.) for the simple reason that they can play baseball nearly all year round in those areas.
Keep in mind, however, that the teams in Tampa Bay and in Miami do not have any kind of "first dibs" on players from Florida. While perhaps it may be a bit easier for them to scout some of the local talent, baseball has a draft, and nowadays, every major league team has an amateur scout based in Florida to evaluate the talent of high school and college players there.
The fact that the teams in Florida both stink and do so poorly at drawing fans is part of the "vicious circle" that is success in Major League Baseball today - without a good team, you don't draw fans, but if you don't draw fans (in person or via the media outlets) you can't afford to put a good team on the field.
The most amazing thing is not that these 2 teams don't draw well, but is instead that both of these incredibly bad teams that have very little fan support, are both trying to hold up their local governments for new stadiums.
As to the idea that it should be like hockey, sorry, I don't get why the fact that there are a lot of Canadiens in hockey should have anything to do with it. By your argument, the Canadian teams should be the better teams, but yet, the more successful teams now are based in American cities.Why? Because the teams are not "local" teams, they are simply a collection of good hockey players that happen to play half of their games in a particular city, just as the case is in baseball.

Answer 3

All baseball drafts are done on a national level - that means that the Rays and the Marlins have no particular advantage in getting local players to play for them.

As for attendance and performance - the Marlins have proved they are capable of on-field success (2 World Series championships in their 15 year history). Their lousy attendance, however, is mostly due to incompetent marketing - they did well their first few years in Miami. Since then, lack of a good stadium, a tendency to strip the team of good players after any success, and ownership's decision over the last few years to not spend any more money than necessary to field a team.

For Tampa Bay, it all comes down to demographics - they're situated in the 19th largest metropolitan area in the country (or 7th smallest, by MLB standards). Combine that with the lack of a lengthy history and playing in a division with large market teams, and they have little hope of ever becoming a contending team.

Answer 4

Both Tampa Bay and the Marlins have the 2 worst stadiums in baseball.Although the Marlins have more championships in there short history than my Phils(2) they were never a huge draw.They have both been terrible for years.TB on the other hand did have Wade Boggs get his 3,000th hit(A Homer mind you).Also remember that it is Florida,What you rather do go to a Marlins game or hang out at the beach.

Answer 5

Many of the people in attendance for the Spring Training games are making a pilgrimage from their local areas, you see a lot of guys from Boston, NY, Detroit...all flying down to Spring Training; many of the locals do not support the teams that are there because the teams do not support themselves. If ownership committed to giving them a good product then people would show up more.

Answer 6

Is it also safe to say, that many baseball fans have retirement homes for the winter seasons in Florida and Arizona, and return to the north for the summers. Many Tiger fans for instance live in Florida for the winter, which would be part of the deal that attendance for spring training is not that bad, but regular season support for the home teams is not there. I know of a couple retired folks, who chose to live near Lakeland, just for the Tigers, and are also season ticket holders for the regular season up north!

Answer 7

Most of the fans in spring training come from other cities. spring training Attendance was so low in florida that even the Dodgers are leaving Vero Beach for Arizona. Most teams are going to Arizona. So florida has also failed in spring training.

Answer 8

Tim Lincecum 1 inning pitched 1 hit allowed