Play Ball! Marketing Baseball's Opening Day

Today is Major League Baseball's opening day, with six games scheduled. The Giants, who won last year's World Series, will play the Dodgers. The Rangers, who lost to the Giants in the Series, open their season against the Red Sox tomorrow.

Topps, maker of baseball trading cards, is marketing a special "opening day" assortment. Sports Illustrated has an entire section on opening day predictions, opinions, players, and so forth.

For a business wrap-up of last year's season and a preview of this year's business possibilities, click over to Forbes. The Yankees (my hometown team) have already sold $3 million worth of tickets--at the league's highest prices, says Forbes, which predicts that the Yankees and Phillies will be tops in attendance in 2011.

You say you want a baseball app? Well, you've got lots of choices. Never miss a game or a score, even if you're hundreds of miles from the nearest stadium. Batter up!

Yanks and Red Sox Online

With baseball's opening day not far off, I took a look at the MLB sites of archrivals Yankees and Red Sox. Both operate off the MLB platform and are similarly busy, with video segments offered in top right corner and live coverage of preseason games in top left corner. Lots of options in the menu across the top of the screen, from the latest news to fantasy baseball info.

A countdown to opening day box is at center, so you know exactly how many days and hours AND minutes are left until the first pitch is thrown. These are unusually engaging sites with a wealth of interactivity so many clickable areas to entertain fans and tempt money out of their wallets.

At bottom left of both sites are blog corners, where the fans are invited to add their own blogs to the list of blogs rooting for Yankees or Red Sox. MLBlogs even have a bracket competition going, playing off the March Madness going on right now in college hoops.

Yanks are on Twitter, of course, tweeting the latest team news, as are Red Sox. Let the rivalry continue.

Farewell to House That Ruth Built

clipped from newyork.yankees.mlb.com

Watching last night's emotional farewell to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx brought back many childhood memories of going there with my father and sisters. We never saw a World Series game in person, but we did see many Yankee greats play--Maris and Mantle and other legends of this once mighty baseball team.

Mounting the stairs to the subway station as the final inning drew to a close, we'd peer over and see the last out(s) from the platform and then slip into a subway car and be gone before the crowds surged out of the stadium. Babe Ruth would (should) be angry that the house he built is being torn down.

Farewell to an era. I doubt the new stadium will inspire the strong feelings that this grand old stadium has inspired over its 85 years.