Changes to sports

[Poiponen13]

MLB could realign its divisions so that Phillies and Pirates would play in same division.

[jeffandnicole]

MLB could realign its divisions so that Phillies and Pirates would play in same division.

Knocking out the Braves to another Division? I'll be ok with that!

[1995hoo]

MLB could realign its divisions so that Phillies and Pirates would play in same division.

It probably doesn't really matter with the changes they're making to the scheduling model. Divisional play will be severely reduced.

[hbelkins]

Speaking of a change of which I just recently became aware, am I alone in thinking banning the defensive shift in baseball is one of the stupidest things ever?

Maybe batters should learn how to hit to the opposite field if they want to get on base, instead of banning the defense from shifting to playing against known pull hitters.

[mgk920]

MLB could realign its divisions so that Phillies and Pirates would play in same division.

It probably doesn't really matter with the changes they're making to the scheduling model. Divisional play will be severely reduced.

It seems to me like the Brewers and Cubs play each other like every other week (in reality it is not THAT often), nut I do appreciate them being in the same division.



Mike

[Poiponen13]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

[cockroachking]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

Wut? This makes absolutely zero sense. Please elaborate.

[Scott5114]

Please elaborate.

Don't hold your breath.

[GaryV]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

Wut? This makes absolutely zero sense. Please elaborate repeat.

FIFY.

[NWI_Irish96]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

AL and NL are going to go away before too long anyway. Just need a few more of the old school owners who are against it to sell/die.

[Henry]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

AL and NL are going to go away before too long anyway. Just need a few more of the old school owners who are against it to sell/die.

I wouldn't count on that. The two leagues have been competing against each other for 120 years, and it's worked well, so why mess with the formula? It would be like the NFL getting rid of the NFC and AFC, which I don't see happening anytime soon either. IOW, leave them as they are.

[Poiponen13]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

AL and NL are going to go away before too long anyway. Just need a few more of the old school owners who are against it to sell/die.

I wouldn't count on that. The two leagues have been competing against each other for 120 years, and it's worked well, so why mess with the formula? It would be like the NFL getting rid of the NFC and AFC, which I don't see happening anytime soon either. IOW, leave them as they are.

But Rangers and Astros shouldn't be in same division.

[1995hoo]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

AL and NL are going to go away before too long anyway. Just need a few more of the old school owners who are against it to sell/die.

I wouldn't count on that. The two leagues have been competing against each other for 120 years, and it's worked well, so why mess with the formula? It would be like the NFL getting rid of the NFC and AFC, which I don't see happening anytime soon either. IOW, leave them as they are.

But Rangers and Astros shouldn't be in same division.

They shouldn't be in the same LEAGUE. The Astros were a National League team for many years. I'm not a fan of this business of moving teams between leagues just to suit the commissioner's whims.

[Poiponen13]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

AL and NL are going to go away before too long anyway. Just need a few more of the old school owners who are against it to sell/die.

I wouldn't count on that. The two leagues have been competing against each other for 120 years, and it's worked well, so why mess with the formula? It would be like the NFL getting rid of the NFC and AFC, which I don't see happening anytime soon either. IOW, leave them as they are.

But Rangers and Astros shouldn't be in same division.

They shouldn't be in the same LEAGUE. The Astros were a National League team for many years. I'm not a fan of this business of moving teams between leagues just to suit the commissioner's whims.

Expansions and divisional changes should happen more frequently, especially in MLB. It is too boring to have same 30 MLB teams in same divisions in every year.

[hotdogPi]

If teams play closer teams more often (which is done currently but would be eliminated in your proposal), it cuts down on travel time, which is beneficial.

[triplemultiplex]

AL and NL are going to go away before too long anyway. Just need a few more of the old school owners who are against it to sell/die.

I wouldn't count on that. The two leagues have been competing against each other for 120 years, and it's worked well, so why mess with the formula? It would be like the NFL getting rid of the NFC and AFC, which I don't see happening anytime soon either. IOW, leave them as they are.

If it's worked so well, then why has baseball been hemorrhaging fans for the last 30 years?
(I personally pin most of it on the rise of an impatient, instant gratification culture in that time period.)

This season is going to take us another step in the direction of AL/NL being closer to a formality to sort playoff teams.

[CoreySamson]

Uh, why the heck would you separate the Rangers and Astros? They are natural rivals (in fact, I would say that they are our biggest rivals). It just doesn't seem like it right now since the Astros have been so dominant for the past several years and the Rangers, uh, have not.

[1995hoo]

Uh, why the heck would you separate the Rangers and Astros? They are natural rivals (in fact, I would say that they are our biggest rivals). It just doesn't seem like it right now since the Astros have been so dominant for the past several years and the Rangers, uh, have not.

The same reason the Yankees were separated from the Giants and the Dodgers, the Cubs were separated from the White Sox, the Cardinals were separated from the Browns, the Phillies were separated from the Athletics, the Red Sox from the Braves....because that's how the leagues developed. Something significant was lost when the World Series no longer matched up two teams that hadn't met during the season.

The Astros originally landed in the National League, BTW, because the American League had expanded the year before and added Washington (to replace the departed Senators who became the Twins) and Los Angeles (the Angels, because the AL owners weren't going to let the NL have California all to itself). The NL added Houston and the New York Mets (to replace the Dodgers and Giants). The same sort of reasoning that applied to the AL adding the Angels is part of the reason why the 1998 expansion placed the Devil Rays in the AL–the 1993 expansion put the Marlins in the NL (because that league had two fewer teams than the AL did) and the AL owners didn't want the NL having Florida to itself.

[Flint1979]

Speaking of a change of which I just recently became aware, am I alone in thinking banning the defensive shift in baseball is one of the stupidest things ever?

Maybe batters should learn how to hit to the opposite field if they want to get on base, instead of banning the defense from shifting to playing against known pull hitters.

Nope you aren't alone at all there.

[Flint1979]

I'm happy the Tigers and White Sox play in the same division. Then I can go do a baseball road trip in Detroit to see the Sox play.

[Flint1979]

The change that should be made to MLB is that Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks should swap leagues, so their "natural rivals" would be Astros and Rockies.

AL and NL are going to go away before too long anyway. Just need a few more of the old school owners who are against it to sell/die.

Speaking of old school owners I can't wait until Jerry Reinsdorf no longer owns the White Sox. He is one of the worst owners in sports. Just look at the White Sox most recent offseason, talk about going from rebuild to nothing quickly.

[CoreySamson]

Uh, why the heck would you separate the Rangers and Astros? They are natural rivals (in fact, I would say that they are our biggest rivals). It just doesn't seem like it right now since the Astros have been so dominant for the past several years and the Rangers, uh, have not.

The same reason the Yankees were separated from the Giants and the Dodgers, the Cubs were separated from the White Sox, the Cardinals were separated from the Browns, the Phillies were separated from the Athletics, the Red Sox from the Braves....because that's how the leagues developed. Something significant was lost when the World Series no longer matched up two teams that hadn't met during the season.

The Astros originally landed in the National League, BTW, because the American League had expanded the year before and added Washington (to replace the departed Senators who became the Twins) and Los Angeles (the Angels, because the AL owners weren't going to let the NL have California all to itself). The NL added Houston and the New York Mets (to replace the Dodgers and Giants). The same sort of reasoning that applied to the AL adding the Angels is part of the reason why the 1998 expansion placed the Devil Rays in the AL–the 1993 expansion put the Marlins in the NL (because that league had two fewer teams than the AL did) and the AL owners didn't want the NL having Florida to itself.

I do not want to sound rude, but I don't really see your point. Are you saying that the Astros should have never moved to the AL West?

[Flint1979]

Uh, why the heck would you separate the Rangers and Astros? They are natural rivals (in fact, I would say that they are our biggest rivals). It just doesn't seem like it right now since the Astros have been so dominant for the past several years and the Rangers, uh, have not.

The same reason the Yankees were separated from the Giants and the Dodgers, the Cubs were separated from the White Sox, the Cardinals were separated from the Browns, the Phillies were separated from the Athletics, the Red Sox from the Braves....because that's how the leagues developed. Something significant was lost when the World Series no longer matched up two teams that hadn't met during the season.

The Astros originally landed in the National League, BTW, because the American League had expanded the year before and added Washington (to replace the departed Senators who became the Twins) and Los Angeles (the Angels, because the AL owners weren't going to let the NL have California all to itself). The NL added Houston and the New York Mets (to replace the Dodgers and Giants). The same sort of reasoning that applied to the AL adding the Angels is part of the reason why the 1998 expansion placed the Devil Rays in the AL–the 1993 expansion put the Marlins in the NL (because that league had two fewer teams than the AL did) and the AL owners didn't want the NL having Florida to itself.

Those examples you gave though are from two teams in one city. Arlington and Houston are 4 hours from each other by car in normal traffic. They are further apart than NYC and Boston are.

[jgb191]

In an effort to reduce travel costs and fatigue, I wish the NFL would divide the conferences to East and West.  Also New Jersey is one of the tiniest states in the country and does not need two teams; move one of them to a city in the Mountain or Pacific Time Zone. 

Northeast Division:  Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and (Giants or Jets)
Mid-Atlantic Division:  Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Washington
Great Lakes Division:  Cleveland, Cinncinati, Detroit, Indianapolis,
Southeast Division:  Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa

North Central Division:  Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, Green Bay
South Central Division:  Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Tennessee
Southwest Division:  Los Angeles (Rams), Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego (Chargers)
Northwest Division:  Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, and (Giants or Jets)

And also go by actual city name instead of state name especially baseball.  What's wrong with calling them Denver Rockies?

[Roadgeekteen]

In an effort to reduce travel costs and fatigue, I wish the NFL would divide the conferences to East and West.  Also New Jersey is one of the tiniest states in the country and does not need two teams; move one of them to a city in the Mountain or Pacific Time Zone. 

Northeast Division:  Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and (Giants or Jets)
Mid-Atlantic Division:  Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Washington
Great Lakes Division:  Cleveland, Cinncinati, Detroit, Indianapolis,
Southeast Division:  Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa

North Central Division:  Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, Green Bay
South Central Division:  Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Tennessee
Southwest Division:  Los Angeles (Rams), Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego (Chargers)
Northwest Division:  Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, and (Giants or Jets)

And also go by actual city name instead of state name especially baseball.  What's wrong with calling them Denver Rockies?

Do not make us play the Eagles twice a year along with the Bills please. And these names suck, go back to original names. Boston Patriots died in 1970. And why are the Giants or Jets in the NORTHWEST Division? That makes no sense!