MLB Question

[SAINTERS06]

Can someone please explain to me why there are 14 teams in American League compared to 16 in the National League. Why not 15 and 15?

With just 4 teams in American League - West division....surely this is a distinct advantage when it comes to qualifying for the playoffs? Contrary the 6 sides in the National - Central division are surely disadvantaged.

Cheers

 

[Cousin Jed]

If there was 15 and 15, there would always have to be an interleague series on.

 

[usalion]

Baseball is rarely logical with any of their decisions- the more likely scenario would be to add two more teams, but the gulf is too great right now between the haves and the have nots

 

[jonesy86]

Although it's never going to happen... what would MLB be like with a salary cap? Would you need 2 caps, one for bullpen and one for positional players?

I reckon it would be awesome and be a much more open competition. Like the NFL you could get teams going from worst to first in their division with a couple of trades and free agent signings, rather than the 1 in 20yr event like the Rays a couple of years ago. Once Longoria is elligble for free agency you'd think he be gone in an instant.

 

[scottyjc]

Jonesy, this is a never ending debate, on which there are some very good articles.

But it basically comes down to the players union (reportedly the strongest in professional sport), never going to allow a salary cap, baseball is an open economy where the best players are free to earn as much as possible. In a salary cap environment this would not be the case.

Secondly, with salary caps, there is usually a 'floor' in the cap too, which might fall above what some of the smaller market teams are now paying. Just this pre-season the MLB players union lobbied the Marlins to increase their payroll because it was way too low (and they did, handing contracts to J. Johson+Uggla)

And yeah, Longoria will be gone, more than likely he will be traded before he hits free agency so they Rays can re-stock the farm.

 

[usalion]

Yeah, MLB quite a different bast from NFL- the franchoises are not beholden to each other for survival, like the small markets of the NFL once were- and now survive because of massive revenue sharing.

Besides the money from the punters rocking up- see the Red sox, yankees et al for drawing 3 million fans per year to their games, you have the individual television and radio deals made by the indivdual teams- the market for the yankees is a hell of a lot bigger than the Pittsburgh Pirates- so they pocket more money from cable and radio rights.

You can see the start of this back at the beginning of free agency- when Pete Rose signed with the Phillies, the team got a new local TV contract that went way beyond what they had gotten in the past- can't remember exact figures, but what they paid the team to televise games was unreal for that time....and most of that went to Pete's pocket....he earned it, too.

Don't see a salary cap coming in, for these reasons and because of the Players Association.

 

[Davo23]

Another couple of questions:

1. How do fans remain loyal to their team, when their favourite players are traded away each year (and without the player having any choice in it)?
   
   
2. And a team will draft and nuture young players, and then trade them away to take on "enemy" players from other teams. Do you just support the team, and not the players?

On Yankee fan Forums recently, the debate is about Derek Jeter's next contract. Some "fans" are even hoping he has a bad year in 2010 so he doesn't get another good contract.

As a footy follower, I just cannot understand this.


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[usalion]

Wasn't always that way, Davo- really changed in the mid 70s with the advent of free agency. For a lot of folks in the US, you go with the team you grew up with- I grew up putside Philly, so I follow the Phillies- yep, I'm interested to see how guys they used to have do, and i suppose I "support" them, but my prime allegiance is with the Phillies. A lot of times, that is what it is.

But my dad goes the ther way- he grew up in the 30s as a Philadelphia A's fan- he grew up outside Philly as well- but then connie Mack sold his favorite player (Limmie Foxx) to the Red Sox and he turned his allegiance there because of that deal- as he tells people now, "I started following the Sox two years before ted Williams came up."

On your second point, I've become a bit of a minor league fan, since i lived for almost two decades in areas of the country ith no major league teams close by- and i really started following the Phillies teams and how their prospects did- I also followed the players I saw in the minors- for example, I saw Tim wakefield nearly twenty years ago when he was really just learning the knuckleball- have always been interested in him. Saw a lot of Indians minor leaguers in NC and Akron, so guys like Thome, Ramirez et al have been favorites.

Now I'm located on Cape Cod, with the summer Cape Cod League- there are a number of guys who have come through the league even in the last four years that are already in the bigs- and more of the guys I saw will be soon. I've managed to get a lot of autographed pictures- my own camera work- ad so these guys will be ones I will follow with interest, regardless of which team they turn up on. Couple of examples- Gordon Beckham of the white sox and Buster Posey of the Giants- saw both of them in 2007.

As for someone like Jeter- he's the real exception these days- he was drafted a Yankee and will retire a Yankee....but those guys are few and far between these days.

 

[Roger Dodger]

Usalion,

How did you come by Australian Rules football?

And two baseball related questions:

Do you think it's time they realigned the divisions, as they do every once in a while?

Who is the best player you have seen perform live?

 

[usalion]

Usalion,

How did you come by Australian Rules football?

And two baseball related questions:

Do you think it's time they realigned the divisions, as they do every once in a while?

Who is the best player you have seen perform live?

I watched aussie rules in the late 80s/90s on eSPN in the states- when they were doing the strange overseas sports to fill time. Came to Oz in late 1994 and did my PhD at the U of Queensland, and became a member of the Bears/Lions- I just love the action of the game- when played well, flowing from end to end...players using ALL their skills.

Realignment? Gee, I hope not- spme things shouldn't be messed with- I'd rather see two larger divisions, with two teams advancing to the championship series- I remember baseball before the divisions- you played 162 games and then the top team from each league met in the Series. Realignment has broken up some fantastic rivalries- Philly v Pittsburgh were real wars in the 70s and 80s.

Man- best I've seen- how about if I do a best by position- my all time all Stars- I go back to the 60s on this...but I'll be NL dominated, as i grew up in Philly- and these are guys i saw live

C- Bench- no cntest
1B- Pete rose- need a spot for him- he brought the title to Philly
2B- Joe Morgan- Does it tell you anything that the first three I name are Reds from the 70s? Chase Utley getting close to Morgan
3B- Mike Schmidt- best 3B ever
SS Ozzie Smith- tough one- Ozzie did so much- could put in Ripken here...he was just a gamer
OF- Mays, Aaron and Gwynn- saw the first two in the last years of their careers- certainly past their best, but still damn fine players. Gwynn a pure hitter.
SP- Carlton and Maduux- one dominant with power, the other with his spotting of the ball
Closer- Bruce sutter- Truly dominant for 5 or 6 years

Now, if I had to pick one out of those, I really would take Pete rose- hated him when he played in cincdy, but loved him in Philly- the man came to play every day, played the game the way it is supposed to be played and never let up. Mays obviously had more natural talent, but Rose simply would not lose.

 

[flamethrower]

The make up of the American and National Leagues is due to tradition. The 14 teams in the AL have always been AL teams - some since the AL started in 1901. Ditto with the NL, apart from the Milwaukee Brewers who were originally an AL team (the Seattle Pilots) until they changed leagues when the 2 leagues were radically realigned geographically in the 90s. Most of the NL teams have been in the NL since 1876!

Until relatively recently, the 2 leagues were seperate and only played each other during spring training and the World Series, hence the reason why there are an even number of teams in each league. It was only the advent of Interleague play, introduced by Bud Selig to help waning popularity of the game after the strike of 1994, that now sees the 2 leagues playing each other during the regular season.

Now that interleague play is an established part of MLB, there has been some discussion about realigning the teams once again so that there are 5 teams in 3 divisions in each league, or as some have suggested, a return to no divisions at all with the top 4 from each league making the playoffs. Originally each league had 8 teams, with the 2 teams finishing first playing in the World Series.

As for a salary cap, the MLBPA would never agree to it. As it is MLB has a luxury tax where the 5 teams with the highest player payrolls pay a percentage of their payroll into a pool that is distributed amongst the teams with the lowest payrolls.

 

[Davo23]

Do fans and the Media complain about the unevenness of the divisions?

As a Yankee fan, it seems strange to me that the Yankess and Red Sox compete directly against each other, yet are always pretty much the two best teams in the MLB. Yes I know that the Sox are crap right now, but the Rays are in the same Division.

Plus, you can never have a Yankess/Red Sox World Series.

I would have thought that the TV networks would also be against this.

Do the fans just accept this?


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[usalion]

No, but I suspect some of the teams in the AL East are getting a little perturbed about the dominance there.

Thing about it is, the dominance really is something that is new, when the divisions began to shrink...yeah, there were stretches where teams dominated for three or four years, but until about 15 years ago, that was about it.

The real problem is the absolute disparity of salaries...teams like Pittsburgh and Kansas City are unlikely to be regularly competitive because of their small payroll. They might make a run once every decade or so, if things break right for them.

Short of a salary cap, which won't happen because of the union, I don't know what MLB can really do.

 

[sjsdu]

Been back in the US for 5 mos after spending 10 years in Aus. Baseball is going well this year. Much of the time I was in Oz, I was off baseball. The 02 series had me interested, but other than that..not really perhaps it was the distance..now, being back in CA, baseball is interesting to me again. That said, it needs help...here are my ten suggestions for improving the game.
http://bit.ly/byd98V

 

[JorgePosada]

Man- best I've seen- how about if I do a best by position- my all time all Stars- I go back to the 60s on this...but I'll be NL dominated, as i grew up in Philly- and these are guys i saw live

C- Bench- no cntest
1B- Pete rose- need a spot for him- he brought the title to Philly
2B- Joe Morgan- Does it tell you anything that the first three I name are Reds from the 70s? Chase Utley getting close to Morgan
3B- Mike Schmidt- best 3B ever
SS Ozzie Smith- tough one- Ozzie did so much- could put in Ripken here...he was just a gamer
OF- Mays, Aaron and Gwynn- saw the first two in the last years of their careers- certainly past their best, but still damn fine players. Gwynn a pure hitter.
SP- Carlton and Maduux- one dominant with power, the other with his spotting of the ball
Closer- Bruce sutter- Truly dominant for 5 or 6 years

Disappointed with the lack of Yankees there!

Don't rate Mo, Hoffman, Goose or Eck as better closers than Sutter?

It's a fun exercise naming best evers.

 

[usalion]

Disappointed with the lack of Yankees there!

Don't rate Mo, Hoffman, Goose or Eck as better closers than Sutter?

It's a fun exercise naming best evers.

Well, covered that with the bit that I'd seen these guys live- not just on TV.....

Of the five you have listed, Mariano is clearly at the top....I'd probably put Hoffmn second....Goose nd eck were superb, but tainted a bit by also being starting pitchers (I know they shouldn't be, but they are in my eyes)

Sutter was downright nasty for 6-7 years, and his split finger pitch really did change baseball.

Goose threw absolute heat. I'd take any of 'em to save a game if my life depended on it.

And it is fun to look them over that way.

 

[JorgePosada]

Well, covered that with the bit that I'd seen these guys live- not just on TV.....

Of the five you have listed, Mariano is clearly at the top....I'd probably put Hoffmn second....Goose nd eck were superb, but tainted a bit by also being starting pitchers (I know they shouldn't be, but they are in my eyes)

Sutter was downright nasty for 6-7 years, and his split finger pitch really did change baseball.

Goose threw absolute heat. I'd take any of 'em to save a game if my life depended on it.

And it is fun to look them over that way.

Unfortunately if i were naming players i saw live they'd be ABL players...