South Side Sox, a Chicago White Sox community

According to The Associated Press, the 2009 Major League season began Sunday evening with 69 players on the disabled list, a sharp reduction of injuries compared to 2008, when 106 players began the year on the DL, and 2007, when the number was 97. The only lower total since MLB expanded to 30 teams in 1998, according to the Commissioner's Office, which gave the information to the AP, was the 66 players who opened the season on the DL in 2006. These comparatively healthy Opening Day statistics seem to refute the notion that the recently completed second World Baseball Classic caused more injuries than a normal Spring Training. The inaugural Classic was played in 2006.

There is an interesting story in today’s New York Times on baseball during the Great Depression. I don’t have much time to comment but I thought I would post a chart mapping MLB attendance and GDP from 1920–1960.

Meanwhile, Sox season tickets will go up $1-$2 per game depending on seat location, according to a spokesman. Said the spokesman: "Several years ago, we began a policy of nominal annual increases instead of holding steady for many years and then making a large jump. Feedback is that this strategy is easier on the fans over the long term, and it allows us to plan more efficiently. Our fans also understand that revenues we generate, from tickets or other sources, go right back into making the team competitive, primarily in payroll."