MLB ponders realignment, moving NL team to AL (or could they possibly add 2 teams?)

cbssportsline.com ^ | 6-11-11 | By Evan Brunell

[ken5050]

Good analysis. The two best sugestions I ahve heard to make baseball better, and which could be done easily, are:

1. Cut the number of interleague games in half.

2. During interleague play, when an AL team plays in an NL ballpark, they should use the DH. THis way NL fans get to see players like Bug Papi.

[SamAdams76]

I don’t think Las Vegas can have a professional team due to the legalized gambling. Anyway, it is fun to go to Las Vegas on a Sunday during football season. You get to sit in the sports room of your favorite casinos and see every single game on huge screens. I’ve done lousy gambling on the games however, I do better at the blackjack and craps tables.

[justiceseeker93]

Selig has already wrecked baseball beyond recognition. As an older fan, I'd like to get rid of the leftist bufoon. When you had eight teams in each league (or even ten or twelve) without the dumb interleague play, fans not only knew the players are their team, but just about all the players on the opponents. With so many players on so many teams and such a high level of player movement, even a fanatic of average intelligence doesn't know the skills or lack thereof and the backgrounds of all the players. In other words, you can't keep track of it without a handy computer (and a good knowledge of Spanish and Japanese) and can't really appreciate the strategy.

And that's not the end of it, not by far. I can list at least two dozen changes for the worse from the dedicated American fan's point of view - starting of course with ridiculously high prices for admission and overly pampered athletes not 100% into competing. And Selig is the poster boy for much of it.

More expansion? Is he kidding?

[proudpapa]

There are already three MLB teams in Southern California...

And none in Oregon.

[CommerceComet]

San Juan has the same problem Mexico City has: It’s a poor area relative to the major U.S. markets, and wouldn’t be able to generate enough.

The Latin city which would put all the others to shame in supporting its team would be Havana if those damned Castro brothers would die. Okay, some other things would have to fall into place as well and this a far-into-the-future candidate but I don't think that any Western Hemisphere city would have more potential once Cuba gets out from under its political yoke.

[Jacquerie]

Homosexuality, DH and regular season interleague play are all crimes against nature.

[buccaneer81]

I was only going by metro area size.

Is Portland a "baseball" town? The Blazers have had great players and six excellent seasons, but do they make money? I guess with Paul Allen as owner, that's probably not a big issue.

[buccaneer81]

Homosexuality, DH and regular season interleague play are all crimes against nature.

So is beer in plastic bottles, also found at major league ball parks.

[buccaneer81]

Excellent point. Agree 100%.

[Luke21]

“Did you know that the Montreal Expos are now the Washington Nationals, and the Seattle Pilots are now the Milwaukee Brewers??????”

He was being funny. No one but a real fan would know that those four teams joined baseball in 1969.

[Junior_G]

Would it help to get rid of the Seattle Mariners? Please?

[Jacquerie]

It may be served in plastic, but at least its limited to Butt Light for $7.00.

[boop]

Interesting comments about a MLB team in Mexico City. The Mexican League is AAA level, with 20 teams. None are associated with a MLB club, however. The Mexico City Red Devils play in a stadium for 26,000 fans. For such a baseball loving country, that’s pretty small. But huge for a AAA team. Especially when they have that soccer stadium that holds over a hundred thousand. Maybe a MLB club COULD tap into more fans, and have it be a source of national pride.

[raccoonradio]

And of course NL teams would object to #2 (as would probably AL teams: would the Red Sox want to give up the DH in
interleague games at Fenway?)

[choirboy]

Fans needed to bring jackets to night games even during the peak of summer, as temperatures often dip down into the 50s once the sun goes down at that elevation.

You mean like San Francisco . . . at sea level elevation . . . day or night. Tomorrow will be warm though. It's expected to get up to 60 degrees.

"The coldest summer I spent was a summer in San Francisco." -- Mark Twain.

[buccaneer81]

Worst MLB venue for beer was the Old Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. In 1999, there were three choices: Iron City, IC Light and Coors Light. In other words, no choice at all. Just horrible.

[buccaneer81]

"The coldest summer I spent was a summer in San Francisco." -- Mark Twain.

You mean, "The coldest winter...

[choirboy]

OOPS! Thanks for the correction.

[muir_redwoods]

In Hartford every year they play a few teams in what is know as Base Ball. It is played with period rules, uniforms and equipment. It’s fun, sporting and a good up close look at what might have been

[justiceseeker93]

I guess you mean "Base Ball" of the 1800s. I don't advocate playing that game, but the major league game of the 1950s and the early 1960s would be just fine.

In the last eight team league, the National League of 1961, every team had at least one future Hall of Fame player, for a total of twenty, not including those who made only brief appearances. (average 2 1/2 per team). With all the dilution of talent today, I'd venture a guess that you wouldn't average one future Hall of Fame player per team, even with diluted standards for election to the Hall of Fame.