Comments on: Astros sale approved, team will move to AL West in 2013

By: gostros19

gostros19 — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:47:36 +0000

you are who i am talking about then. not a true fan at all.

By: pfruge

pfruge — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:01:00 +0000

I’ve been an avid Astros fan for over 40 years, through good years and bad. I don’t live in the Houston area (I’m about 200 miles east of Houston) so this blackmailing by Selig may be the impetus for me lose my attachment to this team and MLB.

Thanks Bud.

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:34:18 +0000

If they are going to switch teams, buy out nonperforming teams and increase interleague play why bother having two leagues. Go all the way and have one league or three leagues. What does history and keeping to the intent of two leagues mean anyhow?
When they made the Washington Nationals, then was the time to put a team in the American League. It is just a game of checkers for the big shots. They have no intent to keep baseball as America’s Game.
The average attendance at a NFL game is twice what it is at an average baseball game. Even the NCAA Division I FBS footbal average football game has a 20% higher average attendance than baseball. Face it, its all about money and not the quality of the game.

By: greggatx

greggatx — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:58:15 +0000

This is insane. I’ve been a Houston baseball fan since the begining. So I guess this is the END of the line. As our governor once said “Adios MoFo” I will now have to find another NL team to root for.
I’ve already got my AL team(s) and it’s Not the Astros or the Rangers. Milwaukee is the one that should move! I guess that’s the politics of the game! I still don’t understand why the Rangers and now the Astros will be in the West. Insanity Reigns!

By: clydeserra

clydeserra — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:53:10 +0000

Wait, you say the astros should be in the NL because they have always been in the NL, and bolster that by noting a 30 year old game between the National league west champion astros and the national league west LA team (that had been in LA about 23 years at that point), and I am the one messing with traditions?

Look, I don’t think this decision will make you or me like baseball better, but its not about us, its not about the 10 year olds that ran home from school to find that Dave Goltz had ruined what was the most exciting weekend ever, its about FOX/TBS tv contracts.

I will type this slowly.. You are pointing to laughable “traditions” that aren’t really traditions. And they really don’t matter, at all, even to baseball.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:09:23 +0000

What you say makes some sense. Fans will follow the Team no matter what league they are in. However, they will have to show a winner to keep the fans very long.

By: cintiphil

cintiphil — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:01:46 +0000

I don’t think TLR quite said it is harder to manage in the AL. What he meant I think, that it is harder to go through the line up for the pitcher, because you don’t have the weak hitting pitcher to throw to. You must say that it is harder to manage in the NL, as what time do you pull the pitcher for a PH, and when do you leave him in, etc. This also makes it harder for a team to get to a relief guy when the starter is going great either tied or with a 1 run lead. However, anyway he meant it does not matter.

The truth is that the game was meant to be played by ALL players on the field. There is no reason to allow a pitcher a break from hitting. Everyone should take a turn at bat or in the field when the ball is hit to him. If one player is a poor fielder, should it be not allowed to hit it to him? That is the game. The only reason for the DH, is in the minor leagues to allow more potential starts to get to bat and show what they can do at the plate. the change to the DH does not improve the game in my opinion.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:57:52 +0000

I simply don’t agree Philip. I also saw a previous post of yours that stated TLR indicated it is easier to Manage pitchers in the NL rather than the AL because in the NL the decisions are made for you. This is ridiculous. It’s actually the opposite. You have far more decisions in an NL game as EVERYTHING is more strategic and each decision more magnified. I watched the TLR interview with Bob Costas and Tony said (if forced to choose)…he favors the NL over the AL because of the aformentioned strategy.

By: gostros19

gostros19 — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:30:27 +0000

Ok heres the thing. I at first was not thrilled about this move but, with that being said, I am probably the most die hard Houston Astro fan there is. Hell, just look at my screen name here. Astro fan who are complaining about this and claiming that they are done watching them, then you were never a true fan at all. We still have our team dang it! It could be worse, you could lose your team like Montreal did. Just shut up and watch your team…who cares if its the AL.

By: koufaxmitzvah

koufaxmitzvah — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:29:35 +0000

“Um, how’d that final weekend of 1980 work out for you guys?”

That was an exciting season. Which kind of proves my point, Clyde.

But, hey, when you can argue for no other reason than you like to argue wearing nothing but your boxer shorts, why bother making any sense?

So, to repeat, Clyde, and for you I am typing very slowly, this is a terrible decision by Bud Selig and the rest of Major League Baseball.

By: koufaxmitzvah

koufaxmitzvah — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:26:55 +0000

I felt I proved that pitchers could be good hitters. And you proved what?

Love the internet. Full of brilliant mind spew.

By: koufaxmitzvah

koufaxmitzvah — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:23:46 +0000

Another brilliant orange bomb to the apple pie.

Right turn, Clyde.

By: balewsquare

balewsquare — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:25:09 +0000

Diluting the regular season? Baseball has 162 games.

By: mmmpierogi

mmmpierogi — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:29:50 +0000

So … since the Astros got to split, can the Pirates go back to the NL East, too? I went to a game in Milwaukee when Pittsburgh played last year and there were about 3 Pirates fans at the stadium – Milwaukee is (at least seemingly) 1,500 miles away. Ditto for St. Louis and Chicago. At least when they play the Phillys, Mets, Nationals, etc., people travel and/or actually have moved to these places where people at least show up.

By: clydeserra

clydeserra — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:41:17 +0000

Have the Dodgers and Astros ever played in the same division for 25 years?

Um, how’d that final weekend of 1980 work out for you guys?

By: Walk

Walk — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:07:55 +0000

I am not happy that half of baseball is going to be playoff eligible. However i can see why this is happening and i like what the likely outcome will be. Mlb is growing the brand so to speak. A lot of people like to compare Mlb to the Nfl and say baseball is getting stomped flat ratings wise and it is in terms of raw numbers. In football you have a game a week and fans are more invested in the sport so they watch whatevrr game they can get, at least more than baseball fans do. When a football fans local team is put out of playoffs it seems more nfl fans still watch whoever is left, moreso than mlb fans. In baseball multiple games a week are played so fans are more invested in the local teams. When their local team is eliminated less fans watch the remaining teams. After the all star break in baseball teams begin to be eliminated which leads to a decline in viewership. Extra playoff teams will keep more teams in the hunt, probably increase overall interest, and up the ratings of the sport.

By: jdillydawg

jdillydawg — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:47:25 +0000

Inter-league play is great because it only happens a couple times a year. It won’t be so great when it happens all the time. There was a reason for an even number of teams in each league you bozos! Seriously, scarcity is good.

In ten years from now, baseball is going to be like hockey. 30 teams and something like 24 are gonna make the playoffs every year. Ugh…

C’mon baseball. Don’t fix what ain’t broke.

By: Chipmaker

Chipmaker — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:48:25 +0000

This is probably true. It’ll still be baseball, and on that basis I won’t really much care.

My annoyance stems from this change being made without compellingly good reasons for it, and that the consequences will range much further (and give rise to even more complaint than you predict) than NOT making this change would have done. And some of those consequences will be non-obvious and subtle but real nonetheless.

By: bbk1000

bbk1000 — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:50:29 +0000

OK, let’s start an occupy Houston campaign to keep the Astros in the NL….the three or fans that show up may be pepper sprayed, more action there than on the field in recent years…….

Isn’t this NASA’s home yet they are without a space shuttle?

I’m asking….

By: presidentmiraflores

presidentmiraflores — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:49:30 +0000

Right, koufax, that outlier of all outliers sure proves something.

By: rje49

rje49 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:52:07 +0000

Nevermind the inter-league games debate; if I had known about getting a $70 million discount, I’d have bought the Astros myself! All I would have needed was for somebody lend me 10 bucks, for the rest of the team’s value.

By: mojosmagic

mojosmagic — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:35:23 +0000

Ed Wade the Talking Horse of GM’s must have brokered the deal.

By: philiplewis1

philiplewis1 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:03:41 +0000

Not in the last 25 years or so. If you lace em up and pitch, you don’t hit. That’s the way the game is now. Need to get with the program. Based on that logic, we would have no 3 point shot in basketball, no shot clock, goal posts would still be on the goal line, helmet to helmet hits and concussions would be acceptable, no instant replays, no challenges, baseball rosters wouldn’t be at 25, no such thing as a closer, starters only get 3 days rest, all pitchers finish the game they started, etc. etc. All the games need to change to remain fresh and interesting and appeal to the fans. If you watch an AL team all season using the DH, it’s real hard to sit through the boring pitching changes and double switches made in an NL game. By the time I wake up from my nap, the game is over.

By: philiplewis1

philiplewis1 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:47:55 +0000

The NL is probably the only league in the entire world that doesn’t use either the DH or an AH. Enough is enough. Just give up your holdout and admit the DH works. The Astro fans have to at least be glad they won’t have to watch the automatic out every 9th batter. Games may be a little longer and definitely higher scoring, but WAAAY more fun. Also, it stops all those stupid pitching changes when the guy is really throwing well but he happens to be coming up to the plate and you have to pull him. As LaRussa so intelligently said, it’s a lot harder to manage pitchers in the AL than the NL. Too many of the decisions are automatically made for you in the NL.

By: stex52

stex52 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:41:02 +0000

I sincerely hope you are right about the universal DH, but my personal opinion is that we are fighting a rear guard action in a long retreat. I will always favor the NL way of doing things (even as the Astros switch) but I think that we will eventually all be DH’s.

By: stex52

stex52 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:37:19 +0000

Agreed. To date no sports rivalry has been developed between Houston and Dallas in any of the major sports. Over the last 25 years it has been much more about St. Louis, Cinci, or even Philadelphia.

By: antlerclaws

antlerclaws — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:15:13 +0000

Prediction: We’ll have people bitching and whining about the Astros (which nobody outside Houston cared about) moving to AL (and bitching and whining about the DH) for about 2 years, then everything will settle down, the Astros will start to gel with the AL and their new division and will start improving incrementally, and everybody will forget that this was an issue except for a few old stick-in-the-mud types. Honestly, if it was announced that my beloved Rangers were moving to the NL tomorrow, I wouldn’t be crazy about the idea, but I would get over it pretty quick and get back to watching baseball, because I support my team, no matter what, period. I think it’s good to shake things up every few years.

By: foreverchipper10

foreverchipper10 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:11:20 +0000

@FC

Ooh! OOH!!!! A 45 is a record!!!!

I win!!!

By: marshallnbrown

marshallnbrown — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:55:16 +0000

The bottom line, of course, is the teams get richer, players will make more and fans are left paying higher and higher ticket prices. Pro/big league sports is killing the goose that feeds it… all in the pursuit of gold.

By: Chipmaker

Chipmaker — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:28:47 +0000

MLB needs to stop being so candy-ass about realignment and league hopping.

Throw all 30 team names into a hat, pull them out in sets of five, and those become the new divisions. To hell with AL or NL history and rivalries and GEOGRAPHY and all the rest — realign wholesale and get it over with. Enough witless tweaking. League identities are so sapped from what they once were that it’s like arguing Coke v. Pepsi — meaningless.

Combine this with reworking of the season schedule. Stop clinging to “162″ — define what the sked should provide in terms of competitiveness and matchups and so forth and then sort out what number of games nails the issue. Maybe it goes up to 166, maybe it goes down to 158, whatever — it’ll still fit into 26 weeks — and adopt that. 162 solved some logistics in 1961-62, but now is just clinging through historical inertia, and there is no need to let that continue.

If Selig really wants to go out with a bang, the roadmap is before him. Massive realignment, revamped schedule, extended postseason (about which I have no suggestion, since it’s going to happen anyway).