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Murder weapon greed
Look forward to reading comments about the Astros move to the American League West.
This move is a travesty. It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham which is Major League Baseball.
Melottfan
Not a fan of the Astros, but i do appreciate the history of this franchise. The worst mistake was getting a used car salesman with a history degree become the Commissioner of Baseball.
2005 World Series Champs
I'm curious but why is it so bad there moving? What other team would you move thats a better choice. Honestly I dont see Texas baseball fans caring too much. Half of em probably wont even notice anyways.
"(Shoeless Joe Jackson's fall from grace is one of the real tragedies of baseball. I always thought he was more sinned against than sinning." -- Connie Mack
"I have the ultimate respect for Whitesox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Redsox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country."--Jim Caple, ESPN (Jan. 12, 2011)
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Well, Good, Bad or Otherwise, I would like to formally welcome you to the AL West!
Registered User
I understand that Astros fans may have some attachment to the NL, but it's not like they aren't getting something amazing in return. The NL has been extremely successful in the World Series over the past few years, but the AL is by far the more exciting league. The Astros will host the Yankees and Red Sox every year which is a 3 day event wherever those teams go. Plus the Rangers and Rays are exciting teams. If some of the less exciting teams have incredible players like Bautista on the Blue Jays and Ichiro on the Mariners. Besides the A's, O's, and Indians most AL teams have some sort of draw. This is a good move for the Astros. Houston fans were given an early Christmas present here, even if they can't see it right now.
New York Baseball Fan
Agreed. It's a little odd, and it's going to take some time to get used to, like when Milwaukee moved to the NL in '98. But like with the Brewers, in about 4 or 5 years it'll feel like they've been in the AL forever. The only thing I don't like about it is the year-round interleague play, but I suppose the jury is still out, as that could work out nicely (rather than taking a 2 week break during the season to play interleague games, giving them the feel of glorified exhibition).
Though I think the biggest winners in this realignment scenario are the Rangers. They now have another division opponent in their time zone, which sounds crazy when you think about it.
"Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamp post: for support, not illumination."
-Vin Scully
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Houston gets to have a "Farewell Season" playing all of it's N.L opponents on a regular basis one final time. This coincides with their 51st season, or (for marketing purposes) the 50th anniversary of their inaugural season. They have a full year to get used to the idea that they'll be switching leagues, which is probably more time than any other sports franchise in any major sport has ever had when they were forced to switch leagues or conferences. This is not as big a hump to get over as some Astros fans think it is, and as the previous poster pointed out, within a few years being a member of the American League will seem completely natural to the team, organization, and its fans.
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As long as they can win their division and reel off 13 or 14 game winning streaks as they did in September, you have to include the Detroit Tigers on that list of exciting American League teams that the Astros can look forward to hosting.
Moderate Moderator
Although I'm in favor of having an equal number of teams in the two Major Leagues, and although I'm in favor of adding a team to the AL West, I have many trepidations about both leagues having 15 teams. It literally cements the need for interleague play from Opening Day throughout the entire season. And I'm not altogether in favor of interleague play. Instead of resolving to end it, MLB is going the other way by forcing it, and I'm not sure if it's a fair trade-off.
But what is is. Apparently the decision has been made, so, as with anything MLB has done in the past with which I disagree, I'm gonna have to accept it. One can only wonder how this will affect the amount of times a team plays another from its own division.
Put it in the books.
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Not moving anyone would have been a fine choice. There's no NEED to have interleague play every day. No interleague would be even better!Originally Posted by chicagowhitesox1173
Farewell fellow 1962 expansionists.
Last edited by metfan13; 12-03-2011 at 07:54 AM.
Registered User
Good grief. It's not like the team is being moved to another city or contracted! They are just going to play a different set of teams! No disrespect intended, but it's not like the Astros are a storied franchise. I understand they have played in the NL for a long time and that's where the Stros fan's hearts are. However, it's not as if they wont have baseball to watch at all. How great would a Cardinals-Astros World Series be?
Mod against IL play!
As a fan of a team that moved the other direction, you get over it. Your team will form new rivalries and you'll become just as passionate about the new found rivalries as you were the old.
RIP - HGF [1937-2009]
Registered User
I will keep this as short and sweet as i can.
1) the Astros to the AL only makes sense for the Rangers and Bud Selig. Astros fans have nothing to gain by moving to a league that spends more money when we ourselves will not be able to spend to keep up
2) Yes the Red Sox and Yankees come to town every year which is a big draw, but we also get to host the lowly Mariners, A's, Royals, Orioles.......Not that those are bad teams, but they are teams that we have ZERO connection to and are bad right now. So attendance is going to be paltry for those teams. The Cubs and Dodgers draw just as well here in Houston it seems.
3) Brewcrew, thanks for the kind words, and i am sure we will get over it just fine. It's just the way that it went down that gives fans here a real bitter taste in their mouths. This isnt even too similar to the Brewers situation in that at least the Brewers chose to move to the NL. They werent blackmailed and bribed.
USA09, i dont know which team it is that you follow, but until something like this happens to your team you just wont understand. To say we arent a storied franchise is insulting to me honestly. I think it is a short-sighted statement and shows your age a little bit. I have been a dedicated Astros fan for 25 years (only half of their existence), and i have seen some of the all-time greats play here in Houston. This team and this town have a strong connection to the NL, and we deserve to stay.
Move the D-Backs or Rockies. They would be a better fit in the AL West. If that happened, the Astros would have likely been moved to the NL West, which isnt ideal but at least we have a good connection from our days back when we were part of the NL West. We had a great rivalry with the Dodgers going there for a while.
What's done is done, and i will support my boys no matter what, AL or NL. But let's not all overlook the evilness that is Bud Selig. He did this to my team, and he will do it to your team if he is given the chance. He has already sold his soul to the devil, so all he has left to give is the heart and soul of baseball. Die Bud Selig.
Strikeouts are boring - besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. More democratic. ~Bill Durham
Melottfan
Good idea for the final season, don't believe they will act on it. Since they wearing throughout the serason, retro uni's, how about a few games in the Astrodome if they hadn't tore it down yet?
Grey skies are ahead...
It'll be strange not playing the Astros anymore...but of course with interleague play that novelty wears off ...
good luck in the AL. The Astros, to me, are a true NL franchise. Pitching rich history.
!
Registered User
astrosFANATIC,
As I said, I didn't mean any disrespect by saying the Astros aren't a storied franchise. Perhaps I used poor word choice to explain my point. The reality of the situation is that a team had to be moved from the NL to the AL. It needed to happen to even out the leagues. It was going to be Houston, Arizona or maybe San Diego. I guess Colorado could have been considered too. The Astros being sold provided a good opportunity to even the leagues. My point about them not being a "storied franchise" was that they aren't untouchable. They aren't the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs or Dodgers. Sure, they have played a lot of seasons and some great players have played in Houston, but there isn't be league wide outrage over them leaving the NL. As this thread proves, there are other NL Central and NL in general fans who will miss playing the Astros. However, as stated earlier fans will get over it. Hopefully Astros fans can see some of the positives of moving to the American League. I'll give you the last word and no longer post in the Astros forum. Clearly my opinions are in contrast to that of Astros fans and I don't want to troll.
BTW, I'm not sure what my age has to do with any of this.
Registered User
I think this is ridiculous! I don't like it. I don't like the American League style of play either. For that make the National League's rule comform to American League. DH all 32 teams!
Fan of The NY Mets!
Circle of Bosses
if you are an Astro fan you'll love having the DH when you get a good one.
too bad Houston has no Jeff Bagwell's now
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this will be really tough for the astros. they were no contender in the weak NLC and now they have to play against texas and the angels. there are two WCs now but just look how hard the AL race for the WC is. they would really need to turn it around a lot to even be remotely competetive.
I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time he’s clogging up the bases for somebody who can run. – Dusty Baker.
Registered User
But there are only 30 teams right now. Maybe we need two more teams, one in each league to give each league an even number. Then we wouldn't have to have at least one inter-league series going on at a time. I'd rather just scrap inter-league play anyway. I like being a fan of an AL team (the Rangers) and an NL team (the Rockies), and I don't like seeing them play each other in the regular season. I don't like the Astros move to the AL either. After 51 years in the National League, they should just stay there. Now, if I want to see the Rockies play a National League opponent, Denver and St. Louis are the closest places, and they are both a whole lot farther than Houston.
Rockies fan living in Texas
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RIP Houston Astros 1962-2012 National League Club
Place of death: Wrigley Field Chicago Illinois
Cause of death: Low run support Chicago Cubs 5 Houston Astros 4
Real cause of death: GREED!
Melottfan
Amen Hartman! As I said, that's what you get for hiring a used car salesman with a history degree to be the mouthpiece of the cronies who he is freinds with.
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