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

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

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

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.

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

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!"

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

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by Runscott

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

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.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

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

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

[Kenny Cole]

Scott,

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

Kenny

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Kenny Cole

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?

[barrysloate]

Wasn't it Mickey Mantle?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

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.