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Bill Giles Visits St. Joe's
Bill Giles, the Chairman of the Board of the Philadelphia Phillies, visited the St. Joe's baseball history class today. I was able to sit in and even managed to ask a couple of questions.
A laundry list of the highlights.
He told a student with a Yankees hat he would have to take it off before he started.
He recounted a couple of his opening day gimmicks including: dropping a ball from a helicopter and a guy named Kiteman who was going to water ski in from the outfield?!
He was not as quick to blame the union for the salaries as much as I thought he would be. He felt that they were just much better organized and led.
He wasn't that hot on the idea of a Bart Giamatti commissionership.
He was 99% sure that there would be no work stoppage.
He felt that revenue sharing was the number one issue in the game. Oh and he doesn't like Steinbrenner all that much either.
He called the Gregg Jefferies and Lance Parrish signings "just plain awful."
For the upcoming labor negotiations he listed these as doable priorities.
1) Revenue Sharing
2) A bonus cap on draft picks
3) A major league supplemental draft like the rule V for 40-man rosters.
4) International Draft
5) Draft college seniors and not juniors.
The questions I asked were.
Q: In the last 15 years, the Twins, A's, Blue Jays and Pirates have all fielded very good teams. Why are things now different that only the Yanks are able to compete?
A: TV revenue, mall parks, and corporate money. Of course to hear him tell it Philadelphia is slightly smaller than Buffalo.
Q: If the Phillies were to sign Alex Rodriguez and win 85 games next year, how much more revenue would you expect to earn?
A: A lot less than if a team with a new ballpark would earn. He feels the revenue per fanny varies dramatically for teams, so some teams are much more likely to want to spend a lot on a player than other teams. I'm not sure the research bears this out.
Another thing.
MLB had an opportunity to invest in ESPN early on and start a National Baseball Channel. Giles pushed hard for this, but the other Lords wouldn't go for it. Nice foresight.
Bill Giles, the Chairman of the Board of the Philadelphia Phillies, visited the St. Joe's baseball history class today. I was able to sit in and even managed to ask a couple of questions.
A laundry list of the highlights.
He told a student with a Yankees hat he would have to take it off before he started.
He recounted a couple of his opening day gimmicks including: dropping a ball from a helicopter and a guy named Kiteman who was going to water ski in from the outfield?!
He was not as quick to blame the union for the salaries as much as I thought he would be. He felt that they were just much better organized and led.
He wasn't that hot on the idea of a Bart Giamatti commissionership.
He was 99% sure that there would be no work stoppage.
He felt that revenue sharing was the number one issue in the game. Oh and he doesn't like Steinbrenner all that much either.
He called the Gregg Jefferies and Lance Parrish signings "just plain awful."
For the upcoming labor negotiations he listed these as doable priorities.
1) Revenue Sharing
2) A bonus cap on draft picks
3) A major league supplemental draft like the rule V for 40-man rosters.
4) International Draft
5) Draft college seniors and not juniors.
The questions I asked were.
Q: In the last 15 years, the Twins, A's, Blue Jays and Pirates have all fielded very good teams. Why are things now different that only the Yanks are able to compete?
A: TV revenue, mall parks, and corporate money. Of course to hear him tell it Philadelphia is slightly smaller than Buffalo.
Q: If the Phillies were to sign Alex Rodriguez and win 85 games next year, how much more revenue would you expect to earn?
A: A lot less than if a team with a new ballpark would earn. He feels the revenue per fanny varies dramatically for teams, so some teams are much more likely to want to spend a lot on a player than other teams. I'm not sure the research bears this out.
Another thing.
MLB had an opportunity to invest in ESPN early on and start a National Baseball Channel. Giles pushed hard for this, but the other Lords wouldn't go for it. Nice foresight.
posted by Sean Foran # 9:00 PM 
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