Ok, what do you think of the Astros moving to AL?
 

Evening out the leagues seems to make total sense:

http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=7239006

I just think the Astros will be at a disadvantage being built for the NL.

The Astros had the worst record in baseball at 56-106 w/ every other N.L team having at least 71 wins.
How much of a disadvantage can there be for them? Perhaps a change in leagues will do them good.
Can they be any worse?

As a fellow Houstonian, I think it's stupid. They should send the Brewers back to he AL.

Can you explain why?

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Moving the Padres to the AL West and Houston back to the NL West makes more sense to me.

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The Astros were built for the IL.[/QUOTE]

:D

Why were the Brewers moved to the NL in the first place?

Anyway, as an Astros fan I'm pretty neutral. The 9 o'clock CST games are gonna suck, but there won't be that many of them I guess. As for the Astros being built for the NL....they're not built at all. They picked up a lot of prospects in last year's dump, but most of them are two years away at best.

You'd never see the Yankees or Red Sox being moved in an effort to realign the leagues. I don't get moving Houston because now there's not an NL team in Texas. I guess it would make for an interesting rivalry between the Rangers and the Astros. Wouldn't that be interesting, an all Texas World Series....

+1

I don't like it if it means one set of interleague games all thru the year. Don't know how else they will make the schedule with an odd # of teams in each league.

I grew up a Milwaukee Brewers fan in Wisconsin, and don't follow them since the moved to the NL. To me, they are an AL team.

contraction
 

I'd rather see MLB dissolve several teams...too many teams....too many wild-cards getting hot and winning W.S....I long for pre-1969 structure.

I for one will miss the Astros. They seemed to be the only NL Central team that my Cubbies can compete with lately.

I think this is a dumb move also. There is already a Texas team in the AL (the Rangers), and no other Texas team in the NL other than the Astros. They should keep the Astros in the NL. I would say they should move the Brewers back to the AL, also, since they were previously in the AL. However, the new team will be going into the AL West, so saying that, I think Houston is probably still the furthest west although Minnesota is very close also.

Astros fan for almost 50 years, so when I read this in the paper this morning, I screamed with glee. Literally. Other coffee shop patrons were confused.

I live in Seattle, within easy walking distance of Safeco, and proudly wear my Astros cap to most games. Now that they're in the same division, I'll get to see loads of Astros and Rangers games, and will no longer care that the Mariners absolutely suck.

I have always thought it was ridiculous that the AL West has only four teams, so from a pure baseball point of view, I'm still happy about this move.

Totally psyched about this!!!

Gary, Kansas city is further west than Minneapolis.

I see no great reason to move the Astros, who have enjoyed national league affiliation for 50 seasons. Move the Brewers back to the A.L., place them in the Central and move the Royals to the West.

I would not mind seeing expansion by two teams, with four divisions of eight teams each. Or maybe eight divisions of four teams each, ala the NFL.
Not likely in the present economy though.

I have always wondered, and still do, why attendees of a MLB game will wear attire of a team that is not playing that day. So if you go to a Mariners/Orioles games, what are you trying to say by wearing an Astros hat? That you like the Astros and could care less who wins the Mariners/Orioles game? Personally, if I go to a game and don't have attire of either team, I'll either buy a shirt of the home team for $25 before the game starts at their pro shop, or I'll wear a generic shirt.

100% non-confrontational question, just wondering! There is no right or wrong answer, only looking for your thoughts. Thanks for any insight!

Rob
:)

Personally, evening out the leagues,and having interleague play stretched throughout the season aren't even the most important parts of that article... I can't be the only one that noticed that the DUMBASS 2nd Wild-card team crap is still in there...

I don't own a Mariners or Orioles cap, but I do have an Astros cap (since it's my team) - I wear it to baseball games because it's a baseball cap and I'm at a baseball game. I guess I could wear a fedora or go bare-headed.

I actually used to have a Mariners cap, and I did wear it to Mariners games, unless the Rangers were playing, in which case I did not, because I wasn't pulling for the Mariners. Basically, I support the team of whatever city I'm living in, except when the Astros or Rangers are in town. Except Atlanta - I lived there for 12 years and never liked them much. I went to lots of games, and pulled for them unless the Astros were in town, but I didn't care much for them.

I never realized this was a peeve for anyone. What gets me is when the Cubs, Yankees or Red Sox are in town - you see thousands of people wearing brand-new gear. Maybe I'm wrong, but they sure seem like bandwagon fans.

After giving this more thought, I wanted to add - I think some people think that when someone shows up in their stadium not wearing the home team's hat, that they are either the enemy (if their team is playing), pretending to be the enemy (if the home team sucks - this happens a lot in Seattle), or they are rubbing another team's greatness in the home team's face.

As an Astros fan, all I can do is show off that there's one team even worse than Seattle, and that we'll be getting a better draft choice.

It will be weird having my favorite NL team, AL team, and home team, all in the same division in 2013. But looking forward to it - might even get season tickets.

I think its great to wear attire of a team's rival as long as that rival is playing. But if a Yankee fan wears a Yankees hat to Fenway when the Red Sox are playing the Orioles or something, it annoys me. And I'm a Yankees fan haha. If I go to Yankee Stadium and they are hosting the Red Sox/Orioles/Phillies/whoever, its great to see the other teams fans show up supporting their team. But it annoys me to see Red Sox attire at a Yankees/Rays game! haha. Just a peave, nothing hateful, but a peave :)

So back on topic, it seems they've approved the Astros to the AL West. Houston fans will have to stay up late watching those West Coast matchups. And also 10 of the 30 teams will now be in the playoffs. 5 AL teams and 5 NL teams. The two Wild Card teams, if I understand it right, will have a 3 game playoff to end up with 4 playoff teams. Personally, I don't like it. In a few years they'll raise it to a 5 game series then 7 game series. Its all for money. Like Yogi Berra replied when asked how much $ is enough ... "Just a little more!"

What you are saying makes sense, and I will keep it in mind - I can always wear my Texas A&M hat to game the Astros aren't playing in. Plus, that way people might feel sorry for me and buy me beer.

I don't like the 10 playoff team thing, but the up-side is that the wild-card team will have to go through an extra series to get to the division winners.

What I really dislike about this is the interleague games will take place throughout the entire season. As you say, it's all about money.

Things that have peeved me about baseball, in no particular order:

DH
Interleague play
Too many playoff teams
No day games for the playoffs
Getting rid of the huge cheap cheap sections in the outfield
Any use of the replay
No brush-back pitches (ala Gibson and Drysdale)
Batters standing and enjoying their HR's (pitchers should be able to nail them for that)
Yankees fans wearing their caps, anywhere :)

I still think adding the extra wild-card teams is ridiculous.

To put it in simple terms, "they're adding a F*ck*ng rat-tail to the MLB Playoffs."

Even with 3 game series', that still means that 3 teams will get a bye. All division winners, I'll assume. Which is even more ridiculous, considering the fact that many wild card teams(under the current system) finish with a better record than the worst division winner.. The whole thing is just a very poorly thought out concept, from top to bottom. What's next? Maybe they can do a loser's bracket, and make the whole thing double elimination? But it is at least a little better than a 1 game playoff.. This whole thing is turning into that scene from "Baseketball"

Dan Patrick: With the first nine months of the Baseketball postseason out of the way, the playoff picture is starting to emerge.
Kenny Mayne: So, with last night's victory over Boston, next week the Milwaukee Beers must beat Indianapolis in order to advance to Charlotte. That's in an effort to reduce their magic number to three.
Dan Patrick: Right, and then the Beers can advance to the National Eastern Division North to play Tampa.
Kenny Mayne: So, if the Beers beat Detroit and Denver beats Atlanta in the American Southwestern Division East Northern, then Milwaukee goes to the Denslow Cup, unless Baltimore can upset Buffalo and Charlotte ties Toronto, then Oakland would play LA and Pittsburgh in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.

DH - while I tend to watch more AL games, I do feel the NL to be more "pure", whatever that means. It seems back in the day (1800s), a team of 9 would should up to play a game. Pitchers could hit. Look at Ruth and Joe Wood!

Getting rid of the huge cheap cheap sections in the outfield - I agree, some stadiums it seems like the cheap seats are still $30/ticket. The Yankees have cheap bleacher seats that I think are $15/ticket but they usually sell out before the season even begins.

Batters standing and enjoying their HR's (pitchers should be able to nail them for that) - I have a feeling you feel this way cuz you watch the opposition hit HR after HR off of Astros pitching lol. Pitchers can retaliate but will likely get rejected :)

Yankees fans wearing their caps, anywhere :) - lol!!!

p.s. I think its the Red Sox who would've benefited from the extra Wild Card team in the AL this year and the Braves in the NL. Imagine though, if they had the 5 team Wild Card - the excitement of STL and the Rays comebacks wouldn't have been there, cuz comeback or not, they would've been playing each other any way in the Wild Card game. More Wild Card teams makes the regular season ever-so-slightly less meaningful.

It's embarrassing to the sport no matter who does it. I love to see a guy hit the ball and just start running. Seriously, can you imagine Ty Cobb or Pete Rose standing around to watch a ball leave the park? What's much more enjoyable is seeing a guy not slow down until second, so he might get a triple if it goes off the top of the fence.

Another one that is irritating is when someone hits a high pop-up or fly ball with no one on base, and they only get a single when the fielder drops it.

Pete Rose was disgusting, but he sure hustled.

Scott <=== wants to see a Mickey Mantle drag bunt again

Scott,

Oh, I get it. You want to watch baseball. Me too. Good luck to us.

Kenny

Haha! Kenny, I'm sure you can relate to this, but isn't it interesting to see the advertisements for the black teams of the 1910's - the highest bragging was to say your team was "the fastest colored team in the country". They talked about stealing bases and heads-up play - almost never about home runs.

But I'm sorry to derail this thread so badly, especially being a diehard Astros fan and thinking about this often the last few days. If I still lived in Texas, I would probably think it was horrible. You know who hit the first home run in the Astrodome?

Wasn't it Mickey Mantle?

Yep. The Twins, Orioles and Yankees all used to sometimes visit the Astrodome for preseason games. Perhaps others as well.

As a Brewer fan, I'd love the move back to the AL. The White Sox rivalry could easily be rekindled and Miller Park is more of an AL type stadium. Also, without the Cubs in their division, Milwaukee would actually have 81 home games. For those who aren't aware, Cubs fans call Miller Park, Wrigley North.

When I go to a game I could care less what hat anyone is wearing.

I think it's similar to when you go to a concert. There certain etiquette guidelines that some people (not necessarily me) have like you're not spoze to wear a shirt of the band that is playing, or a band shirt of a totally different genre, etc.

Some people care, most don't. Just like at baseball games :)

??? I think you just made up those etiquette guidelines. I have a '71 Astros jacket (a real one), a hat, a Clemens Astros jersey and a Petitte Astros jersey (both bought as f.u.'s to the Yankees), and I'll be wearing some subset of them at most every game I go to, just because I'm an Astros fan. In fact, I plan on getting a home cap and a hoodie as well, and possibly a home '60s throwback jersey. We will lose most games, and Mariners fans can laugh at me. Who cares? I'm going to have fun, as I always have.

Scott <=== Astros and baseball fan, no matter what stadium I'm in.

MLB will thank you for your support!

Why Milwaukee Won't Move
 

If you look back at the comment from MilBraves above, you have the answer as to why the Brewers not only will never move back to the AL, but the answer to the question as to why they are currently in the NL. Selig knew the rivalry between the White Sox and Brewers was luke-warm at best and usually only resulted in fights in the seats, which were still half empty as Sox fans don't travel as well as Cubs fans. When he knew that the team had to be sold, he and the pols swindled the taxpayers into building a new stadium which Cubs fans would fill any time the Cubs were in town. Thus, the Brewers had to be moved to the NL Central. Turn up a rock and you'll usually find money or politicians (one follows the other - you choose the order) and the Brewers will never leave their privately used, publicly owned home in the National League.

I just went to see the Foo Fighters on 11/7. For the life of me I couldn't tell you what shirt anyone but myself (Polo golf shirt) had on. I guess things are a little more laid back where I have been. My take is if someone is spoiling for trouble they'll find it shirts and hats notwithstanding. Typically alcohol and a general lack of decorum suffice.

I am from Houston
 

I am from Houston, now in Dallas. I can't name 1 guy on the Houston team or 3 guys on the Texas team. Move or not, doesn't matter to me. Mostly a bunch of overpaid cry babies in Pro sports.....GO MMA.....

Leon, who do you root for? St. Louis Browns? Philadelphia Athletics?

I recently received a new road Astros cap and have been enjoying sitting near the window in my local pub, letting the hat face the street so these Seattle Mariners fans can be reminded there's about to be a new losing team in town.

Go 'Stros!!!