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MLB Playoff Changes: Wild Card Teams Added For Each League
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TMC
Nov 17, 2011, 5:19:41 PM11/17/11
to
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/mlb-playoff-changes-wild-card_n_1099886.html?ref=sports
October baseball just got a little more interesting. Major League
Baseball announced on Thursday that both the American and National
leagues will have an additional wild card team, creating a one-game
playoff between each circuit's pair of wild card winners.
"It's an extra playoff game," Commissioner Bud Selig, per the New York
Daily News. "The one criticism we’ve had is that we didn’t put enough
on winning the division. Now we have. Now we have in a big way."
Selig noted that the new format could happen as early as 2012, but
could be held off until 2013.
Talk of expanding the postseason has been going on for a few years
now. In the Fall of 2010, Selig said that he was "intrigued" by the
idea of making some changes. Later, he said that "if we went to 10
teams, we wouldn't be abusing anything."
Before the 2011 season was underway, Selig informed reporters that the
league was moving toward expansion.
Expanding the postseason was not the only change made. MLB also
approved the sale of the Houston Astros on the condition that the club
will move from the NL to the AL, which would create two 15-team
leagues. MLB approved the sale on Thursday, meaning baseball will have
its first realignment since the Milwaukee Brewers switched from the AL
to the NL after the 1997 season.
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=980713&page=2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/houston-astros-al-mlb-forcing-out-of-nl_n_1098778.html?ref=sports
HOUSTON -- Major League Baseball told Houston businessman Jim Crane it
would not approve his purchase of the Astros unless he agreed to move
the team to the American League, The Associated Press has learned.
Crane was forced to agree to move the sale along, a person familiar
with the negotiations said Wednesday on condition of anonymity because
no official announcement has been made by MLB or the Astros. Approval
of the sale could be announced as early as Thursday at a meeting of
baseball executives in Milwaukee.
Crane reportedly agreed to the move in exchange for a drop in the
sales price valued earlier this year at $680 million. The person who
spoke to the AP could not confirm the sales price.
"We'll let baseball talk about that," current owner Drayton McLane
said Wednesday night. "There were a lot of adjustments, so we'll just
wait and see what they have to say (Thursday)."
The players' association believes two 15-team leagues would create a
more proportionate schedule and has urged baseball to make the switch.
With schedules for next season already completed, the earliest such a
move could take place is 2013.
Time is running out for approval of the Astros deal: Crane has said
that his offer, which was announced on May 16, expires Nov. 30.
Messages were left seeking from Major League Baseball, but
Commissioner Bud Selig did address the Astros' situation during a
Twitter chat on Monday.
"For 15/15 realignment, Houston would be the team moving to AL West.
Would create more fairness in baseball," Selig tweeted via the
Colorado Rockies' feed. He also added that "15 teams in each league
would necessitate interleague play every day but it will be better
schedule overall."
The Astros currently play in the six-team NL Central. The AL West is
the only league in the majors with four teams (Rangers, Angels,
Athletics and Mariners).
McLane said it will be difficult, at least at first, to see his team
in the other league.
"I've always been a National League fan," he said. "Change is a big
part of my life and what I've tried to do in business. I think it's
going to be interesting to see the American League teams come in and
getting a rivalry with the Rangers. That won't be too bad. It's going
to be good."
The move would put the Astros in the same division as Texas. But fans
are unhappy the other three teams are all on the West Coast, meaning
many road games would routinely end past midnight Central time.
Rangers president Nolan Ryan, who pitched for the Astros during his
Hall of Fame career, said he has some of the same feelings as McLane.
"I grew up an Astros fan and I look at the Astros as a National League
team but I understand the desire to balance out the two leagues," Ryan
said Wednesday.
"From our perspective, I like having them in the same division because
it gives us a team in our time zone. ... We've talked about the fact
that there will be more interleague play and how does the schedule
actually work. ... It's going to bring some dynamics. We're not sure
how they'll work. Obviously, it's going to change some things."
McLane bought the team in November 1992 for about $117 million. He
turned down an offer from Crane to buy the franchise in 2008.
McLane said he's leaving with mixed emotions, something that hit him
as he attended a meeting with other owners Wednesday.
"Last night when I went to bed, I thought about it. I can remember 19
years ago how elated I was. It's been a wonderful, wonderful ride," he
said.
"Each of these owners have been my friends for 19 years. One of the
strange things is, I'm one of the older owners right now," McLane
said. "There's only seven or eight that have been here longer than I
have. Been a world of turnover."
The $680 million sale price is the second-highest in major league
history, trailing the $845 million purchase of the Chicago Cubs by the
Ricketts family two years ago. The $660 million sale of the Boston Red
Sox in 2002 currently is second. Like the Astros' deal, the Cubs and
Red Sox transactions included related entities.
A major selling point in Houston was the Astros' share in a new deal
with the NBA's Houston Rockets to create a regional sports network
that will begin airing Rockets games in 2012 and the Astros in 2013.
Crane has said the team's 30-year lease at Minute Maid Park, which is
owned by the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, will remain
intact under his ownership.
Crane, who founded a Houston-based logistics company in 2008, is also
the chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital, a private equity
fund company. In 2009, he was in the running to buy the Cubs and last
summer teamed with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in an
unsuccessful bid to buy the Texas Rangers.
http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=370569&page=5
October baseball just got a little more interesting. Major League
Baseball announced on Thursday that both the American and National
leagues will have an additional wild card team, creating a one-game
playoff between each circuit's pair of wild card winners.
"It's an extra playoff game," Commissioner Bud Selig, per the New York
Daily News. "The one criticism we’ve had is that we didn’t put enough
on winning the division. Now we have. Now we have in a big way."
Selig noted that the new format could happen as early as 2012, but
could be held off until 2013.
Talk of expanding the postseason has been going on for a few years
now. In the Fall of 2010, Selig said that he was "intrigued" by the
idea of making some changes. Later, he said that "if we went to 10
teams, we wouldn't be abusing anything."
Before the 2011 season was underway, Selig informed reporters that the
league was moving toward expansion.
Expanding the postseason was not the only change made. MLB also
approved the sale of the Houston Astros on the condition that the club
will move from the NL to the AL, which would create two 15-team
leagues. MLB approved the sale on Thursday, meaning baseball will have
its first realignment since the Milwaukee Brewers switched from the AL
to the NL after the 1997 season.
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=980713&page=2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/houston-astros-al-mlb-forcing-out-of-nl_n_1098778.html?ref=sports
HOUSTON -- Major League Baseball told Houston businessman Jim Crane it
would not approve his purchase of the Astros unless he agreed to move
the team to the American League, The Associated Press has learned.
Crane was forced to agree to move the sale along, a person familiar
with the negotiations said Wednesday on condition of anonymity because
no official announcement has been made by MLB or the Astros. Approval
of the sale could be announced as early as Thursday at a meeting of
baseball executives in Milwaukee.
Crane reportedly agreed to the move in exchange for a drop in the
sales price valued earlier this year at $680 million. The person who
spoke to the AP could not confirm the sales price.
"We'll let baseball talk about that," current owner Drayton McLane
said Wednesday night. "There were a lot of adjustments, so we'll just
wait and see what they have to say (Thursday)."
The players' association believes two 15-team leagues would create a
more proportionate schedule and has urged baseball to make the switch.
With schedules for next season already completed, the earliest such a
move could take place is 2013.
Time is running out for approval of the Astros deal: Crane has said
that his offer, which was announced on May 16, expires Nov. 30.
Messages were left seeking from Major League Baseball, but
Commissioner Bud Selig did address the Astros' situation during a
Twitter chat on Monday.
"For 15/15 realignment, Houston would be the team moving to AL West.
Would create more fairness in baseball," Selig tweeted via the
Colorado Rockies' feed. He also added that "15 teams in each league
would necessitate interleague play every day but it will be better
schedule overall."
The Astros currently play in the six-team NL Central. The AL West is
the only league in the majors with four teams (Rangers, Angels,
Athletics and Mariners).
McLane said it will be difficult, at least at first, to see his team
in the other league.
"I've always been a National League fan," he said. "Change is a big
part of my life and what I've tried to do in business. I think it's
going to be interesting to see the American League teams come in and
getting a rivalry with the Rangers. That won't be too bad. It's going
to be good."
The move would put the Astros in the same division as Texas. But fans
are unhappy the other three teams are all on the West Coast, meaning
many road games would routinely end past midnight Central time.
Rangers president Nolan Ryan, who pitched for the Astros during his
Hall of Fame career, said he has some of the same feelings as McLane.
"I grew up an Astros fan and I look at the Astros as a National League
team but I understand the desire to balance out the two leagues," Ryan
said Wednesday.
"From our perspective, I like having them in the same division because
it gives us a team in our time zone. ... We've talked about the fact
that there will be more interleague play and how does the schedule
actually work. ... It's going to bring some dynamics. We're not sure
how they'll work. Obviously, it's going to change some things."
McLane bought the team in November 1992 for about $117 million. He
turned down an offer from Crane to buy the franchise in 2008.
McLane said he's leaving with mixed emotions, something that hit him
as he attended a meeting with other owners Wednesday.
"Last night when I went to bed, I thought about it. I can remember 19
years ago how elated I was. It's been a wonderful, wonderful ride," he
said.
"Each of these owners have been my friends for 19 years. One of the
strange things is, I'm one of the older owners right now," McLane
said. "There's only seven or eight that have been here longer than I
have. Been a world of turnover."
The $680 million sale price is the second-highest in major league
history, trailing the $845 million purchase of the Chicago Cubs by the
Ricketts family two years ago. The $660 million sale of the Boston Red
Sox in 2002 currently is second. Like the Astros' deal, the Cubs and
Red Sox transactions included related entities.
A major selling point in Houston was the Astros' share in a new deal
with the NBA's Houston Rockets to create a regional sports network
that will begin airing Rockets games in 2012 and the Astros in 2013.
Crane has said the team's 30-year lease at Minute Maid Park, which is
owned by the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, will remain
intact under his ownership.
Crane, who founded a Houston-based logistics company in 2008, is also
the chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital, a private equity
fund company. In 2009, he was in the running to buy the Cubs and last
summer teamed with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in an
unsuccessful bid to buy the Texas Rangers.
http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=370569&page=5
Claude
Nov 17, 2011, 6:05:04 PM11/17/11
to
"TMC" wrote in message
news:3e3b3c7a-ce82-45e6...@a5g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...
So, more of a chance of also-rans during the season being declared "world
champion".
CardsFan
Nov 17, 2011, 10:00:50 PM11/17/11
to
"Claude" wrote in message news:ja43uu$orn$1...@dont-email.me...
"TMC" wrote in message
news:3e3b3c7a-ce82-45e6...@a5g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/mlb-playoff-changes-wild-card_n_1099886.html?ref=sports
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So, more of a chance of also-rans during the season being declared "world
champion".
Not if the two wildcard teams are forced to play each other in the one-game
playoff. This guarantees only 1 wildcard team can advance in each league,
just as now, so the chance of a also ran being world champion will still be
one in eight.
If it matters, I don't claim the 2011 Cardinals were the best team. They
can claim to be "world champions" since that's the way the system is
structured, but we know the Brewers were a better team.
AJM
Mark Anderson
Nov 17, 2011, 10:54:34 PM11/17/11
to
In article cpet...@rochester.rr.com says...
from 1/4 to 1/3 (whereas in 1969 it was 1/6 and before that 1/10). More
teams eligible for playoffs means more GMs getting feathers in their
caps and when it comes time to fire them they can proclaim to the
minions as to how many times their teams went to the playoffs compared
to historical normals conveniently ignoring the higher odds of playoff
participation in pre wild card and pre divisional days.
Soon there will be three wild card teams with a playoff schedule much
like the NFL with two division champions getting byes and the one left
stuck playing with the wild cards in a 5 game series, adding a complete
new level of playoff guaranteeing the season goes well into November.
I heard Selig say in an interview he wanted to expand playoffs to a
level like that of the NBA or NHL. With two wild cards they're tied
with the NFL with 1/3 teams getting in. With three wild cards they
reach almost NBA and NHL level of playoff participation which is about
1/2 of the teams get in.
Although I was for the single wild card when they came out with it,
IMHO, adding more teams now really cheapens post season. It used to be
a tremendous honor to play baseball in October. Now it will truly
become more or less routine and something every team should experience
every three or perhaps even two years on average. Also tie breaking
rules can get pretty archaic and the more wild card teams that get let
in, the more weird tie breaking scenarios that will surface. It's hard
enough trying to figure out the byzantine process football uses with
only 16 games let alone what will need to be done to separate teams
after 162 games.
> So, more of a chance of also-rans during the season being declared "world
> champion".
Allowing one more team reduces the odds of getting into the playoffs
> champion".
from 1/4 to 1/3 (whereas in 1969 it was 1/6 and before that 1/10). More
teams eligible for playoffs means more GMs getting feathers in their
caps and when it comes time to fire them they can proclaim to the
minions as to how many times their teams went to the playoffs compared
to historical normals conveniently ignoring the higher odds of playoff
participation in pre wild card and pre divisional days.
Soon there will be three wild card teams with a playoff schedule much
like the NFL with two division champions getting byes and the one left
stuck playing with the wild cards in a 5 game series, adding a complete
new level of playoff guaranteeing the season goes well into November.
I heard Selig say in an interview he wanted to expand playoffs to a
level like that of the NBA or NHL. With two wild cards they're tied
with the NFL with 1/3 teams getting in. With three wild cards they
reach almost NBA and NHL level of playoff participation which is about
1/2 of the teams get in.
Although I was for the single wild card when they came out with it,
IMHO, adding more teams now really cheapens post season. It used to be
a tremendous honor to play baseball in October. Now it will truly
become more or less routine and something every team should experience
every three or perhaps even two years on average. Also tie breaking
rules can get pretty archaic and the more wild card teams that get let
in, the more weird tie breaking scenarios that will surface. It's hard
enough trying to figure out the byzantine process football uses with
only 16 games let alone what will need to be done to separate teams
after 162 games.
Claude
Nov 18, 2011, 9:14:40 AM11/18/11
to
"CardsFan" wrote in message news:ja4hoq$8lv$1...@dont-email.me...
As usual, I appreciate your openness and lack of defensiveness. As I have
posted before, I am a baseball conservative (education and my personal
habits are the only other places where that designation would apply). I
think of baseball as a marathon which should end up with the 2 teams having
the best records in their respective leagues playing in the World Series for
a world championship....not the 2 teams that had the hottest streaks in the
play-offs. The wild card concept in all professional sports is a
money-making construction that keeps more fans interested for a longer
period of time. That said, if the Cubs got into the playoffs I would
emotionally buy into it, hope they got into the World Series, and then won
it. However, they should not be considered to be "World Champions", the
still current, but not as common, designation for the World Series winner.
Perhaps some other designation for the ultimate winner in baseball would be
more appropriate. Hockey has the Stanley Cup; pro football has "Super Bowl
Champs" or something like that.
cop...@yahoo.com
Nov 21, 2011, 3:40:08 PM11/21/11
to
Far worse than a second wildcard team is constant interleague play
during the season. It was interesting at first but except for a very
few matchups, not really appealing any more.
Brandon
during the season. It was interesting at first but except for a very
few matchups, not really appealing any more.
Brandon
O'Neil's Faggy Prostate - Save America: VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2012
Nov 21, 2011, 4:01:25 PM11/21/11
to
when you cheer for your team every game is exciting. You must be a
Liberal!
PETER SHORTS
Nov 21, 2011, 7:24:20 PM11/21/11
to
On Nov 21, 4:01 pm, "O'Neil's Faggy Prostate - Save America: VOTE
yes, it's usually liberals who favor tradition, and conservatives who
want to change everything. good call.
want to change everything. good call.
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