What? no posts about MLB contraction??? (1 Viewer)

[John Thomas]

(If MLB doesn't do this, then I think it's high time we returned to the pre-1962 season schedule of 154 games.)

...while we're at it, get rid of the DH. If I were an Arizona fan, I'd be highly po'ed about the possibility of going to the (yeck!) AL.
------------------

My Top 10 Movies of 2000 of 2001
Fox: Please release P.C.U. on DVD!

 

[Michael*K]

...while we're at it, get rid of the DH. If I were an Arizona fan, I'd be highly po'ed about the possibility of going to the (yeck!) AL.

They should count their blessings! What team in their right mind would want to move to the NL? Yeck! When the Brewers switched leagues fans were ready to slash their wrists because A.) NL ball is boring and B.) because they lived in Milwaukee.

------------------
--Mike
Amazon Hot 100 DVD's

 

[John Thomas]

Man, you've got to be kidding. The DH is a blight on traditional baseball. Any baseball purist will tell you this. Tell ya what, let's add some targets out in the outfield and if you hit them, you get an extra run. That's typical AL/DH-style thinking for you.
------------------
Spoiler:One Thousand Words
My Top 10 Movies of 2000 of 2001
Fox: Please release P.C.U. on DVD!
[Edited last by John Thomas on November 09, 2001 at 09:09 AM]

 

[Joel Mack]

NL is boring? Are you kidding? At least in the NL there's actual strategy involved...
In the AL, I'm surprised they need a manager at all...

------------------
"The internet is a place where people from all over come together to
bitch about movies and share pornography."

 

[Michael*K]

The DH is a blight on traditional baseball.

As if anything is traditional about baseball these days.

------------------
--Mike
Amazon Hot 100 DVD's

 

[Jack Briggs]

I agree about the DH: it's an afront to the purity of the game. I'd also go one further: Given that hitting is becoming wildly out of control, it's also time to return the pitching mound to its pre-1969 height of fifteen inches. Then--viola!--the statistics would be valid again.
------------------

 

[SalMaglie]

As a DBacks fan, and lifelong NL fan, I'll be sorry to see them go to the AL. And the DH sure didn't make that much difference between the run scoring output of the DBacks vs the Yankees during the regular season. In fact, the DBacks ended up scoring more runs than their World Series foes over the course of the year.
As far as contraction goes, why does a billionaire like Pohlad need a corporate welfare handout to build a stadium? And if the rumors are true that the Twins and Expos owners are going to get $250 million each for closing up shop, why doesn't Selig & Co just use that money to build those teams new stadiums? AAnd speaking of that $350 million, the way Pohlad and Loria have screwed up those franchises, why should they get more than double what those teams are worth?

 

[MickeS]

As far as contraction goes, why does a billionaire like Pohlad need a corporate welfare handout to build a stadium?

Billionaire capitalists enjoy milking the taxpayers for all they're worth if it suits them.
The stadium-building business has to be one of the most corrupt ares of business there are.
/Mike

 

[Brian Perry]

The stadium-building business has to be one of the most corrupt ares of business there are.

You couldn't be more correct. Here in Chicago the Bears and the city are trying to ram a mostly publicly-financed stadium down the taxpayers throats, with no real debate. The proposed stadium looks to be a flying saucer eyesore plopped down in the middle of the Soldier Field columns.
------------------
Home Theater Pictures

 

[Joel Mack]

Is it too late to consider contracting the Vikings, instead of the Twins?
------------------
"The internet is a place where people from all over come together to
bitch about movies and share pornography."

 

[Bill Slack]

Hey, if Arizona went to the AL, then I guess Brenly would be forced to play his second best (perhaps, even, hisr best...) hitter, eh?
That said, I still hate the DH.
(That would be Durazo I'm refering to.)

 

[Tom-G]

More than contraction, I'm hoping for a prolonged work stoppage in baseball. If that happens, that means that the owners will have finally banded together for a salary cap and revenue sharing. I'm tired of these primadonna baseball players who are every bit as greedy as the owners. The problem is, not too many people in MLB are thinking long term. The only remedy for MLB's small market teams is a salary cap and revenue sharing.
I used to be a huge baseball fan. I live near Pittsburgh and have been to many, many Pirates games. Back in the late '80s and early '90s when the Pirates were fun to watch, I couldn't get enough of baseball. Ever since the strike year in 1994, I've soured on baseball and I've been a distant follower. I've turned to football and hockey as my sports fixes, but primarily football because the economic structure there gives every team almost equal opportunity to compete. Opportunity is the key word.
The amazing run of championships by the Yankees is somewhat watered-down. They and a handful of other teams are the only ones who can compete. Baseball is the closest thing to a fixed sport as you can get. I was hoping that Yankees would have continued their streak if for nothing else but to make a case for small market teams.
Teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Mets and Braves can go to hell. I almost hope for a financial collapse of baseball that would leave the aforementioned teams and a few others left to compete among themselves. Then the people in those cities would see how fun baseball is to watch.
Am I hoping for contraction? Nope. I hate that any city has to be faced with losing their team. Especially Minnesota. Here is a team that has found to make money and they have won two championships in the last 15 years and they are faced with losing their team. What a bunch of shit.
I hate what baseball has become. Am I bitter? Oh yeah. My Pirates haven't competed for almost 10 years now and I won't watch baseball again until the owners and players get their shit together.
Here's to hoping for a shut down of baseball until the owners and players come up with an economic structure similar to the NFL's. I just want the small market teams to have a CHANCE to compete, not necessarily win the World Series every year.
Like I said, baseball is the closest thing to a fixed sport as there is.
------------------

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I believe the threat to disband the Twins is a ploy to bully the taxpayers into building a new stadium for the team. The owners will lie through their teeth to avoid paying any of their own money to build a ballpark. The same thing happened here in Detroit. Mike Illitch promised to spend lots of money on players if he got a new stadium. Now that the taxpayers built him one, the Tigers have continued to slash salaries.
Baseball's current financial state is a disaster, but dumping the Twins will not fix anything. I gave up on baseball after the strike, and I do not see anything happening to get me back to the ballpark or to watch a game on TV. The entire enterprise could go under for all I care anymore (this coming from someone who used to attend about a dozen games a year, followed the local team faithfully and never missed a World Series game on TV).
------------------
My DVD Collection
AFI 100 Films to watch: 40 -> 1
[Edited last by Scott Merryfield on November 13, 2001 at 08:44 AM]

 

[Jeff_A]

Minnesota fans are cheering loudly right now and hopefully not too soon. A local judge has just ordered the Twins to complete their lease agreement with the Metrodome. This will certainly throw a serious wrench into the plans of Bud Selig, Carl Pohlad, and the rest of the baseball owners to get this thing done quickly.
Breaks my heart, Carl.

http://www.espn.go.com/mlb/news/2001/1116/1279311.html