A fantastic post by Matt Cerrone over at Metsblog about why he's optimistic for the 2012 New York Mets season. He explains in excellent terms something I've always thought but have never quite been able to put in terms as perfect as these when it comes to that team in the Bronx and their pathetic fair weather fans:
"...I will never understand how some Yankees fan, who barely check in on baseball from April through August, then only watch in September and October, are happy when their team wins. To each his own I guess, and I try not to judge, but, to me, that would be like tuning in to the last five minutes of a movie and cheering when Luke takes down Vadar. At that point, I'd rather not watch at all. I mean, how can you really appreciate the accomplishment and be truly happy for the people on field if you have no real idea about what went in to getting there?"
This explains why I've met so many "Yankee fans" that say they don't like baseball in those seasons when the Yankees are losing but act like they've been there through the years all along when the Yankees are winning. This is even though they have probably never heard of the likes of Steve Balboni, Mel Hall, Kevin Maas, Roberto Kelly and many more.
Showing posts with label New York Yankees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York Yankees. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Balanced Baseball Leagues...what about schedules?
I wrote back in 2009 that a solution to improve Interleague play would be to balance the leagues with 15 teams each. I doubt the powers-that-be at Major League Baseball read my blog post on this but they seem to have done the same thing with the move of the Houston Astros to the American League West in 2013.
One thing I left open in my 2009 post was how the opponents outside of the strength-of-schedule method that I proposed would be selected. My solution: starting with the team with the worst record, select the nearest opponent that is not already scheduled until all of the teams are scheduled. Then, also beginning with the team with the worst record, schedule the three games against the teams with the best record at home, leaving the other three as road games. As the home/road splits get assigned, things start to shake out where everyone gets equitably scheduled.
If this seems a bit random and arbitrary, it's meant to be. Considering that baseball schedules cannot be determined until two years in advance (unlike at the end of the regular season like the NFL), it wouldn't be a huge impediment if, say, Baltimore played Philadelphia more often than other teams because there is not telling where those teams will be two years from now (okay, maybe Baltimore and Philly are bad examples but who would have thought Arizona would go from worst-to-first while Minnesota and San Diego both went first-to-worst in one season?)
I went through this exercise for all of the teams based on the final records of the 2010 and 2011 seasons (because this is how I enjoy spending my free time) and here's a sample of what I came up with:
- The Mets would play six games against the Yankees as a "regional rival". They would also have played, based on the 2010 schedule, Toronto and Seattle at home and Boston and Kansas City on the road. Based on 2011, the schedule in addition to the Yankees would be Houston and Baltimore at home, Toronto and Cleveland on the road.
- Pittsburgh had the worst record in MLB in 2010 and ended up with Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland at home and Baltimore, Kansas City, and Seattle on the road.
- Houston had the worst record in MLB in 2011 and ended up with Arizona, Colorado, and St. Louis at home and Miami, Chicago, and San Diego on the road.
- Philadelphia had the best record in MLB in both years and ended up with (based on 2010) Baltimore, Minnesota, and Toronto at home, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Texas on the road; and (based on 2011) Toronto, Boston, and Baltimore at home, and the Yankees, Detroit, and Texas on the road.
Definitely enough variety there to make the scheduling interesting but also increasing local/regional fan interest by ensuring that teams closest to each other have the best chance to play each other more often.
One thing I left open in my 2009 post was how the opponents outside of the strength-of-schedule method that I proposed would be selected. My solution: starting with the team with the worst record, select the nearest opponent that is not already scheduled until all of the teams are scheduled. Then, also beginning with the team with the worst record, schedule the three games against the teams with the best record at home, leaving the other three as road games. As the home/road splits get assigned, things start to shake out where everyone gets equitably scheduled.
If this seems a bit random and arbitrary, it's meant to be. Considering that baseball schedules cannot be determined until two years in advance (unlike at the end of the regular season like the NFL), it wouldn't be a huge impediment if, say, Baltimore played Philadelphia more often than other teams because there is not telling where those teams will be two years from now (okay, maybe Baltimore and Philly are bad examples but who would have thought Arizona would go from worst-to-first while Minnesota and San Diego both went first-to-worst in one season?)
I went through this exercise for all of the teams based on the final records of the 2010 and 2011 seasons (because this is how I enjoy spending my free time) and here's a sample of what I came up with:
- The Mets would play six games against the Yankees as a "regional rival". They would also have played, based on the 2010 schedule, Toronto and Seattle at home and Boston and Kansas City on the road. Based on 2011, the schedule in addition to the Yankees would be Houston and Baltimore at home, Toronto and Cleveland on the road.
- Pittsburgh had the worst record in MLB in 2010 and ended up with Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland at home and Baltimore, Kansas City, and Seattle on the road.
- Houston had the worst record in MLB in 2011 and ended up with Arizona, Colorado, and St. Louis at home and Miami, Chicago, and San Diego on the road.
- Philadelphia had the best record in MLB in both years and ended up with (based on 2010) Baltimore, Minnesota, and Toronto at home, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Texas on the road; and (based on 2011) Toronto, Boston, and Baltimore at home, and the Yankees, Detroit, and Texas on the road.
Definitely enough variety there to make the scheduling interesting but also increasing local/regional fan interest by ensuring that teams closest to each other have the best chance to play each other more often.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Replace "Derek Jeter" with "Brandon Nimmo" and replace "good Yankee" with "good Met"
I recently heard a story during a Yankee telecast (one of the few I watched this season) that when the Yankees drafted Derek Jeter with the 6th overall pick in the 1992 draft, he was brought to meet the team and management at Yankee Stadium. Upon meeting Jeter and his parents, then-manager Buck Showalter remarked, "I don't know if he's going to be a good ballplayer but he's going to be a good Yankee." Now the die hard Met fan will question the existence of "a good Yankee" but I think Showalter's point was that he would represent the organization well and not embarrass himself or the team, which I begrudgingly admit is generally the norm for Jeter.
Watching this video of the Mets first-round pick in this year's draft brings that statement to mind. Keep in mind that this kid is only 18 years old.
Aside from the maturity in the press conference, I noticed he has a sweet swing, which is really smooth. He is often compared to Andy Van Slyke, which is a pretty good comparison if he has that kind of glove to go along with that kind of bat.
Of course I'm no expert on evaluating talent but out of the big three outfield prospects the Mets had in the mid-2000's, I thought the order of talent was Carlos Gomez, then Lastings Milledge, and then Fernando Martinez (I may be proven right here). On the pitching side, I felt that Mike Pelfrey should have gone in the Johan Santana trade and the Mets should have held on to Philip Humber (which I was nearly wrong about but may be proven right in the end too.) Perhaps it was the years prior to then hearing about the over hyped Alex's (Ochoa and Escobar) that conditioned me to look for signs of talent rather than take everyone else's word for it.
Then again, if I'm what I've read about Bryce Harper blowing a kiss to the opposing pitcher after hitting a home run is an indication of his psychological state, I may be proven right in the end with what I said about him two years ago.
Watching this video of the Mets first-round pick in this year's draft brings that statement to mind. Keep in mind that this kid is only 18 years old.
Aside from the maturity in the press conference, I noticed he has a sweet swing, which is really smooth. He is often compared to Andy Van Slyke, which is a pretty good comparison if he has that kind of glove to go along with that kind of bat.
Of course I'm no expert on evaluating talent but out of the big three outfield prospects the Mets had in the mid-2000's, I thought the order of talent was Carlos Gomez, then Lastings Milledge, and then Fernando Martinez (I may be proven right here). On the pitching side, I felt that Mike Pelfrey should have gone in the Johan Santana trade and the Mets should have held on to Philip Humber (which I was nearly wrong about but may be proven right in the end too.) Perhaps it was the years prior to then hearing about the over hyped Alex's (Ochoa and Escobar) that conditioned me to look for signs of talent rather than take everyone else's word for it.
Then again, if I'm what I've read about Bryce Harper blowing a kiss to the opposing pitcher after hitting a home run is an indication of his psychological state, I may be proven right in the end with what I said about him two years ago.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
A New York Yankee fan explains why "It Stinks To Be A Yankees Fan"
Great column today from a Yankee fan that travelled to a number of Major League ballparks around the country and realized that what is missing from the Yankee universe is the innocence that the game is supposed to bring to its fans:
"What’s my point, you ask? Yankees fans need to seriously reflect here. Ask yourselves, do you really enjoy making the playoffs every year?
Is it an accomplishment that is really celebrated, or something expected that finally and inevitably comes to pass? Be honest. It’s the latter and it’s a shame. A division championship or a postseason birth is something that should be valued and appreciated, not viewed as a divine right.
I’m sure fans of other teams reading this right about now are asking themselves: “So what’s the problem? I’d want to make the playoffs every year. It’s awesome.” Think again.
As a kid waking up on Christmas morning, there was nothing cooler than seeing a brand new bike wheeled out after all the presents were opened as some kind of uber-surprise. Even though you realized something was up (since there weren’t really any gifts under the tree for you), it was still the thrill of a lifetime. Even though the ground was blanketed with snow and it was just 25 degrees outside, you would get on that bike and ride it until your face froze. It was the best.
Do you think it would feel that way if every single Christmas morning you got a new bike? Nope. Soon it would become an expectation, to the point if you didn’t get the bike, no matter the substitute, it would be a disappointment that would dwarf any feeling of joy. You’d become spoiled and entitled. It’s bad for the person receiving the gift and the person giving it.
The Yankees fan is the kid that gets a new bike every Christmas — and their parents can’t figure out a way to top it."
"What’s my point, you ask? Yankees fans need to seriously reflect here. Ask yourselves, do you really enjoy making the playoffs every year?
Is it an accomplishment that is really celebrated, or something expected that finally and inevitably comes to pass? Be honest. It’s the latter and it’s a shame. A division championship or a postseason birth is something that should be valued and appreciated, not viewed as a divine right.
I’m sure fans of other teams reading this right about now are asking themselves: “So what’s the problem? I’d want to make the playoffs every year. It’s awesome.” Think again.
As a kid waking up on Christmas morning, there was nothing cooler than seeing a brand new bike wheeled out after all the presents were opened as some kind of uber-surprise. Even though you realized something was up (since there weren’t really any gifts under the tree for you), it was still the thrill of a lifetime. Even though the ground was blanketed with snow and it was just 25 degrees outside, you would get on that bike and ride it until your face froze. It was the best.
Do you think it would feel that way if every single Christmas morning you got a new bike? Nope. Soon it would become an expectation, to the point if you didn’t get the bike, no matter the substitute, it would be a disappointment that would dwarf any feeling of joy. You’d become spoiled and entitled. It’s bad for the person receiving the gift and the person giving it.
The Yankees fan is the kid that gets a new bike every Christmas — and their parents can’t figure out a way to top it."
Saturday, July 2, 2011
A-Rod: Jose Reyes is "the world's greatest player"
From ESPNNewYork.com:
"They have the world's greatest player playing shortstop over there, and the most exciting," Rodriguez said, referring to electrifying New York Mets leadoff hitter Jose Reyes. "I turn on the TV every time I get a chance to watch him."
The tolerant side of me thinks A-Rod is being honest and channeling his childhood as a Met fan. The cynic in me is wondering if this is a setup to try to woo Reyes to be a Yankee next season. Unfortunately we can only wait and see...
"They have the world's greatest player playing shortstop over there, and the most exciting," Rodriguez said, referring to electrifying New York Mets leadoff hitter Jose Reyes. "I turn on the TV every time I get a chance to watch him."
The tolerant side of me thinks A-Rod is being honest and channeling his childhood as a Met fan. The cynic in me is wondering if this is a setup to try to woo Reyes to be a Yankee next season. Unfortunately we can only wait and see...
Friday, June 24, 2011
"Don’t make Reyes pay because of Jason Bay."
A life-long Yankee fan offering great advice on why the Mets should keep Jose Reyes and an honest assessment of Yankee fans:
"Maybe as much as a third of the Yankees’ fan base are front-running, J.Crew, wine-and-cheese chumps who only go to games because it’s trendy and daddy can afford the ticket. None of them can name a game or a player prior to 1996. Ask who Ron Hassey is and they will likely say a senator from Indiana."
This is very true. In fact, I had to remind a Yankee fan friend of mine who Mel Hall was. In his defense though, he was only 13 years old when Hall hit that home run in Minnesota when he took half a minute to round the bases.
"Maybe as much as a third of the Yankees’ fan base are front-running, J.Crew, wine-and-cheese chumps who only go to games because it’s trendy and daddy can afford the ticket. None of them can name a game or a player prior to 1996. Ask who Ron Hassey is and they will likely say a senator from Indiana."
This is very true. In fact, I had to remind a Yankee fan friend of mine who Mel Hall was. In his defense though, he was only 13 years old when Hall hit that home run in Minnesota when he took half a minute to round the bases.
Friday, June 3, 2011
MLB Players Poll: Most Overrated Player - Photos - SI.com
SI.com polled 185 MLB players to name the most overrated player in baseball. SI's photo gallery lists the top 16, which includes Yankee players in the top three spots and five Yankees (and one former Yankee) overall.
More David and Jose thoughts...
A few more nuggets about Jose Reyes and David Wright. Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote yesterday that the Mets unlikely to get a lot back for veteran stars. Additionally, Jeff Bradley of The Newark Star-Ledger wrote that Sandy Alderson is familiar with the Jose Reyes situation:
"The date was June 21, 1989, and Alderson, then the 41-year-old GM of the Oakland A’s, fleeced the Yankees for Rickey Henderson, sending pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk, and outfielder Luis Polonia east for the greatest leadoff hitter in major-league history. Four months later, the Henderson-led A’s were World Series champions.
At the time of that deal, Alderson believed Henderson — in his walk year — was most likely going to be a short-term rental for the A’s. But taking Henderson was a risk he took on behalf of Oakland that translated into that team’s one and only World Series title during an era the A’s appeared ready to dominate."
I remember the Henderson trade, remember the buzz created by Caderet, Plunk, and Polonia. The buzz was especially loudest about Polonia growing up blocks away from Yankee Stadium and that the Yankees got back the fireballer Plunk, who they sent to Oakland when they traded to get Rickey Henderson a few years earlier. The only other buzz thereafter was when Luis Polonia was arrested after an incident involving a 15-year old girl in a Milwaukee hotel room.
[On a side note, any Met fan over the Reyes era can tell you that Jose's mindset as a leadoff hitter or focus as a basestealer didn't really solidfy until the Mets hired Rickey Henderson as a baserunning coach. I don't think it's a coincidence that is when Reyes' game really picked up.]
Which is why Ken Rosenthal's column at FoxSports.com today is so appealing. I mentioned in my blog post yesterday that replacing Reyes would be much more difficult than replacing Wright and I even made some comparison to Nomar Garciaparra. However, Rosenthal makes some great points that I hadn't considered that replacing Wright isn't so simple either:
"Let’s see if I can build a market for this ne’er-do-well third baseman, whose OPS-plus from 2008 to ’10 — as pointed out by Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger — was comparable to Mark Teixeira’s from ’06 to ’08 at a similar age.
Wright would fit for both Los Angeles teams, both Chicago teams, the Rockies, Orioles, Twins, Tigers and Mariners. He could replace Scott Rolen in Cincinnati, Chipper Jones in Atlanta and Aramis Ramirez with the Cubs.
That enough?
No, the Mets probably wouldn’t trade Wright to the Braves or Phillies. But I’d bet that the Phillies’ uber-aggressive GM, Ruben Amaro Jr., would move heaven, earth and a killer prospect package to get Wright’s right-handed bat at Citizens Bank Park.
I’ll say it again: The entire discussion is ridiculous. If so many teams could use Wright, then maybe, just maybe, the Mets could use him, too."
"The date was June 21, 1989, and Alderson, then the 41-year-old GM of the Oakland A’s, fleeced the Yankees for Rickey Henderson, sending pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk, and outfielder Luis Polonia east for the greatest leadoff hitter in major-league history. Four months later, the Henderson-led A’s were World Series champions.
At the time of that deal, Alderson believed Henderson — in his walk year — was most likely going to be a short-term rental for the A’s. But taking Henderson was a risk he took on behalf of Oakland that translated into that team’s one and only World Series title during an era the A’s appeared ready to dominate."
I remember the Henderson trade, remember the buzz created by Caderet, Plunk, and Polonia. The buzz was especially loudest about Polonia growing up blocks away from Yankee Stadium and that the Yankees got back the fireballer Plunk, who they sent to Oakland when they traded to get Rickey Henderson a few years earlier. The only other buzz thereafter was when Luis Polonia was arrested after an incident involving a 15-year old girl in a Milwaukee hotel room.
[On a side note, any Met fan over the Reyes era can tell you that Jose's mindset as a leadoff hitter or focus as a basestealer didn't really solidfy until the Mets hired Rickey Henderson as a baserunning coach. I don't think it's a coincidence that is when Reyes' game really picked up.]
Which is why Ken Rosenthal's column at FoxSports.com today is so appealing. I mentioned in my blog post yesterday that replacing Reyes would be much more difficult than replacing Wright and I even made some comparison to Nomar Garciaparra. However, Rosenthal makes some great points that I hadn't considered that replacing Wright isn't so simple either:
"Let’s see if I can build a market for this ne’er-do-well third baseman, whose OPS-plus from 2008 to ’10 — as pointed out by Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger — was comparable to Mark Teixeira’s from ’06 to ’08 at a similar age.
Wright would fit for both Los Angeles teams, both Chicago teams, the Rockies, Orioles, Twins, Tigers and Mariners. He could replace Scott Rolen in Cincinnati, Chipper Jones in Atlanta and Aramis Ramirez with the Cubs.
That enough?
No, the Mets probably wouldn’t trade Wright to the Braves or Phillies. But I’d bet that the Phillies’ uber-aggressive GM, Ruben Amaro Jr., would move heaven, earth and a killer prospect package to get Wright’s right-handed bat at Citizens Bank Park.
I’ll say it again: The entire discussion is ridiculous. If so many teams could use Wright, then maybe, just maybe, the Mets could use him, too."
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Mets are New York's Most Beloved Team (according to a Yankee fan!)
Great blog post at The Bleacher Report by Harold Friend, a Yankee fan that believes the Mets are New York's most beloved team. This is my favorite part of the post:
"The low point, which illustrates the point that the majority of Yankees fans are front runners occurred on Sept. 22, 1966.
The last place Yankees played a rescheduled game against the Chicago White Sox. Hall of Fame broadcaster Red Barber told the television audience, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game."
There were 413 paying fans.
Barber asked the cameras to pan the empty stands. The head of Yankees' media relations refused."
Now THAT would have been really funny to see!
"The low point, which illustrates the point that the majority of Yankees fans are front runners occurred on Sept. 22, 1966.
The last place Yankees played a rescheduled game against the Chicago White Sox. Hall of Fame broadcaster Red Barber told the television audience, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game."
There were 413 paying fans.
Barber asked the cameras to pan the empty stands. The head of Yankees' media relations refused."
Now THAT would have been really funny to see!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
My Two Cents (or, more accurately, my 1,200 words) on How to Improve Interleague Play in Major League Baseball
I said in my post two weeks ago that I would share an opinion on Interleague play in Major League Baseball. Basically, there are a few things we have to accept:
Balance the schedule. Right now, the scheduling is ludicrous, with one NL series taking place during Interleague play since there are two more NL teams than AL teams. Monday through Thursday of this week the St. Louis Cardinals will play the New York Mets at CitiField, giving them an extra series against each other than either of them will play against their other non-division opponents. Frankly, there's no clear understanding as to why the Cardinals and Mets drew each other. Of course, you can't balance the schedule until you balance the leagues, so...
Balance the leagues. Right now, there are 16 NL teams and 14 AL teams. The best way to balance it would be to balance them at 15 teams per league, similar to the NBA. For purposes of illustration, I will suggest moving Milwaukee back to the AL Central and moving Kansas City to the AL West. The leagues would look like this (team order is based on hypothetical 2008 final standings):
NL East
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Washington Nationals
NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres
AL East
Tampa Bay Rays
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
AL Central
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago White Sox
Minnesota Twins
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
AL West
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Texas Rangers
Oakland Athletics
Kansas City Royals
Seattle Mariners
Of course, by balancing the leagues, this would mean...
There would be an Interleague series taking place every day, which isn't a bad thing. Right now, Interleague play gets a lot of flack when teams like Pittsburgh and Kansas City play each other. This is akin to two non-Conference last place teams in the NBA playing each other in meaningless games at the end of the season. What Interleague games played at a specific time does is point unnecessary spotlight on these games when they really should blend into the background. Also, scheduling Interleague games over the entire season rather than at a specific time helps teams and the schedule makers by...
Making it easier to schedule road trips. If games were scheduled across the season, an Interleague series could be scheduled at any time. For example, if the Angels were to play the Phillies in Philadelphia, the Phillies-Angels series could be scheduled during the Angels' East Coast road trip where they are also playing Boston, New York, and Baltimore. Same can be done for all of the other teams. Also, Joe Girardi of the Yankees complained about how Interleague play prevents him from using a DH for a stretch of games and even suggested last year that games should be broken up throughout the season. The question is, who plays whom and how often? The answers are...
Play 18 interleague games per team, 9 at home and 9 on the road. Then teams can play 16 games against teams in their own division and 8 games against non-division teams, giving everyone 162 games per season as it is now. Since a major complaint is there aren't enough games within the leagues, this ensures that all league opponents are played more than any Interleague opponent and everyone plays the same number of games against everyone else.
Maintain only true "natural"/regional rivalries. As much as Major League Baseball tries to convince us, San Diego and Seattle are not natural rivals unless you consider it natural that they're the only two West Coast teams that don't share their market with another team. Basically, the true natural rivalries are:
Mets-Yankess
Nationals-Orioles
Marlins-Rays
Cubs-White Sox
Astros-Rangers
Cardinals-Royals
Reds-Indians
Dodgers-Angels
Giants-Athletics
(If Pittsburgh is moved to the AL Central instead of Milwaukee, you can add Phillies-Pirates and Brewers-Twins as two more natural rivals.)
These teams listed above would play two home-at-home 3-game series' against each other. The other 12 remaining teams would play one home series against one team and one road series against a different team, randomly selected among the 12. (More on randomly selected opponents below.) Then, MLB should...
Take a play out of the NFL's playbook and determine opponents by strength of schedule. The reason I use the 2008 final standings above is to show, by example. The New York Mets finished in 2nd place last year. In addition to their six Interleague games against the Yankees, the Mets would play three games each against the other 2nd place teams from 2008: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox (based on the standings above), and Texas Rangers. This leaves three more games to be determined by...
Each team draws a randomly selected opponent (or opponent by process TBD by someone that can think one up.) So the Mets in my previous example would play the Yankees, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Rangers, and team TBD. Should the Mets and Yankees both finish in 2nd place (as they did in 2007), they would not play each other 9 times. Rather, they would still play the 6 games scheduled as natural rivals and each team would draw another random opponent (or opponent by process TBD.) So this would address scheduling and parity of scheduling. One more thing to make Interleague play more interesting and fair would be to...
Switch the DH/pitcher rules for Interleague play. Right now, NL teams gain an advantage by not having the AL team's DH bat in their home parks. This is grossly imbalanced in favor of the NL. Unless MLB can agree with the player's union to keep/dump the DH across the league, a twist to make Interleague play more interesting for the fans that don't get to see the "other" brand of baseball would be to have the DH for Interleague games in NL parks and have pitchers hit in Interleague games in AL parks.
Well, that's all I came up with. I welcome any comments, criticisms, and any thoughts on what I may have missed. Thanks for reading!!
- Interleague games are here to stay. They are too big a cash cow for the league to discontinue.
- The current way games are scheduled and opponents are selected are clunky, at best.
- Teams have a lot of issues with interleague play, especially American League teams that lose their DH in National League parks.
Balance the schedule. Right now, the scheduling is ludicrous, with one NL series taking place during Interleague play since there are two more NL teams than AL teams. Monday through Thursday of this week the St. Louis Cardinals will play the New York Mets at CitiField, giving them an extra series against each other than either of them will play against their other non-division opponents. Frankly, there's no clear understanding as to why the Cardinals and Mets drew each other. Of course, you can't balance the schedule until you balance the leagues, so...
Balance the leagues. Right now, there are 16 NL teams and 14 AL teams. The best way to balance it would be to balance them at 15 teams per league, similar to the NBA. For purposes of illustration, I will suggest moving Milwaukee back to the AL Central and moving Kansas City to the AL West. The leagues would look like this (team order is based on hypothetical 2008 final standings):
NL East
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Washington Nationals
NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres
AL East
Tampa Bay Rays
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
AL Central
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago White Sox
Minnesota Twins
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
AL West
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Texas Rangers
Oakland Athletics
Kansas City Royals
Seattle Mariners
Of course, by balancing the leagues, this would mean...
There would be an Interleague series taking place every day, which isn't a bad thing. Right now, Interleague play gets a lot of flack when teams like Pittsburgh and Kansas City play each other. This is akin to two non-Conference last place teams in the NBA playing each other in meaningless games at the end of the season. What Interleague games played at a specific time does is point unnecessary spotlight on these games when they really should blend into the background. Also, scheduling Interleague games over the entire season rather than at a specific time helps teams and the schedule makers by...
Making it easier to schedule road trips. If games were scheduled across the season, an Interleague series could be scheduled at any time. For example, if the Angels were to play the Phillies in Philadelphia, the Phillies-Angels series could be scheduled during the Angels' East Coast road trip where they are also playing Boston, New York, and Baltimore. Same can be done for all of the other teams. Also, Joe Girardi of the Yankees complained about how Interleague play prevents him from using a DH for a stretch of games and even suggested last year that games should be broken up throughout the season. The question is, who plays whom and how often? The answers are...
Play 18 interleague games per team, 9 at home and 9 on the road. Then teams can play 16 games against teams in their own division and 8 games against non-division teams, giving everyone 162 games per season as it is now. Since a major complaint is there aren't enough games within the leagues, this ensures that all league opponents are played more than any Interleague opponent and everyone plays the same number of games against everyone else.
Maintain only true "natural"/regional rivalries. As much as Major League Baseball tries to convince us, San Diego and Seattle are not natural rivals unless you consider it natural that they're the only two West Coast teams that don't share their market with another team. Basically, the true natural rivalries are:
Mets-Yankess
Nationals-Orioles
Marlins-Rays
Cubs-White Sox
Astros-Rangers
Cardinals-Royals
Reds-Indians
Dodgers-Angels
Giants-Athletics
(If Pittsburgh is moved to the AL Central instead of Milwaukee, you can add Phillies-Pirates and Brewers-Twins as two more natural rivals.)
These teams listed above would play two home-at-home 3-game series' against each other. The other 12 remaining teams would play one home series against one team and one road series against a different team, randomly selected among the 12. (More on randomly selected opponents below.) Then, MLB should...
Take a play out of the NFL's playbook and determine opponents by strength of schedule. The reason I use the 2008 final standings above is to show, by example. The New York Mets finished in 2nd place last year. In addition to their six Interleague games against the Yankees, the Mets would play three games each against the other 2nd place teams from 2008: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox (based on the standings above), and Texas Rangers. This leaves three more games to be determined by...
Each team draws a randomly selected opponent (or opponent by process TBD by someone that can think one up.) So the Mets in my previous example would play the Yankees, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Rangers, and team TBD. Should the Mets and Yankees both finish in 2nd place (as they did in 2007), they would not play each other 9 times. Rather, they would still play the 6 games scheduled as natural rivals and each team would draw another random opponent (or opponent by process TBD.) So this would address scheduling and parity of scheduling. One more thing to make Interleague play more interesting and fair would be to...
Switch the DH/pitcher rules for Interleague play. Right now, NL teams gain an advantage by not having the AL team's DH bat in their home parks. This is grossly imbalanced in favor of the NL. Unless MLB can agree with the player's union to keep/dump the DH across the league, a twist to make Interleague play more interesting for the fans that don't get to see the "other" brand of baseball would be to have the DH for Interleague games in NL parks and have pitchers hit in Interleague games in AL parks.
Well, that's all I came up with. I welcome any comments, criticisms, and any thoughts on what I may have missed. Thanks for reading!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Isiah Thomas takes Florida International University Coaching Job
Isiah Thomas was hired as the new coach for Florida International University. Now although Zeke and James Dolan are the reasons I have relinquished my fanhood of the New York Knicks, I think he will actually do well in this role. One thing I always thought about Isiah was he was not properly utilized as a general manager or coach. One thing no one can take away from Isiah Thomas is his eye for talent. I always thought the ideal role for him is similar to the one Gene "Stick" Michael serves with the New York Yankees. He was a pretty lousy manager and general manager but has an eye for talent that is better than anyone else in baseball.
Being a college basketball coach is essentially being an eye for talent and I think Isiah has that. The added bonus is he won't be in a situation where he depletes a salary cap, since college basketball players don't get paid (legally), and doesn't seem like the type that would be afraid of doing something underhanded as many college coaches are known to do (for better or for worse.)
Being a college basketball coach is essentially being an eye for talent and I think Isiah has that. The added bonus is he won't be in a situation where he depletes a salary cap, since college basketball players don't get paid (legally), and doesn't seem like the type that would be afraid of doing something underhanded as many college coaches are known to do (for better or for worse.)
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