That’s how Arte and John see it. Arte and John come from the world of marketing. They see the Angels best marketing opportunities as “how can they entertain” their guests. They see the Angels and think, how can we offer a “good” experience that’s affordable, while also making a profit? Is it winning or creating a 3 hour long “show”?

Look at the last 10 years. They have consistently gone after players known to “hit home runs” or be “power hitters”. Josh Hamilton, Vernon Wells, Luis Valbuena, Justin Upton, Albert Pujols, and Anthony Rendon. All players known to hit home runs. Then they arbitrarily lowered the home run to entice more home runs.

In the eyes of Arte and John, they see home runs as in-game entertainment. They want more home runs. It gets the crowd loud, it creates a fun experience. Winning a singular moment and then people go home. But if everyone is having fun watching their favorite players crush home runs, they’re more likely to get up, go to the concessions stand and make more purchases. They went so far as to arbitrarily change the ground rules to lower the right field wall (without actually lowering it) to induce more home runs.

So long as they continue to feed the fan base in-game entertainment, winning doesn’t really matter as much as in-game fun experiences. It doesn’t impact the number of fans that come out or the amount of merchandise sold. Look at the stands! They’re still selling 30,000 tickets a game even when the team hasn’t had a winning season in eight years.

We’re all pawns in the game and eat up the bullshit produced by the front office.

Do you want to see change?

STOP. GOING. TO. GAMES.