Time for expansion?

[Slateman]

The DH is the last thing differentiating the AL from the NL. That's a good thing. If it were up to me, i'd dump interleague except for natural rivals (NY, CHI, LA, CIN/CLE, maybe a few others), bring back the league offices, and use separate umps again, too.

9-man baseball should be preserved at all costs. I don't mind the DH in the AL, but leave my 9-man baseball alone.

There is nothing that differentiates conferences and leagues in other sports. Why does there have to be one in baseball

As for Montreal having it's own team, they had one. It failed. Move on. Personally, I think Vegas should get a team.

[NAHSTE]

[Palooza]

There is nothing that differentiates conferences and leagues in other sports. Why does there have to be one in baseball

As for Montreal having it's own team, they had one. It failed. Move on. Personally, I think Vegas should get a team.

Nats suck give us our fucking team back.

[Slateman]

Does the league average starting pitcher have an ERA of 2.91?

Nats suck give us our fucking team back.

At least more than 4k fans show up to a game.

[NAHSTE]

To say the Expos failed is like saying the king in MacBeth passed from natural causes. And how many chances is Washington DC going to be afforded? They've had more "failures" than Montreal.

[Palooza]

Does the league average starting pitcher have an ERA of 2.91?



At least more than 4k fans show up to a game.

It's only April, once they continue to suck through May, not even buttheads like you will wind up at games.

[Warner2BruceTD]

There is nothing that differentiates conferences and leagues in other sports. Why does there have to be one in baseball

Because history & tradition matters in baseball more than in other team sports. Nobody cares about history, numbers, or tradition in the NFL or NBA. I get the sense the NHL is closer to baseball in that regard, but i'm not a hockey guy and can't definitively say.

[Slateman]

It's only April, once they continue to suck through May, not even buttheads like you will wind up at games.

I rarely go to games as it is.

But even when the Wiz were awful, they drew more fans than the Expos. Heck, even when the Nationals were a 100 loss team (twice!) they still pulled in over double what Montreal did its two of their last three seasons and close to it.

There are too many people in the DMV area with too much money for the Nationals to even approach the numbers Montreal had at the end.

Because history & tradition matters in baseball more than in other team sports. Nobody cares about history, numbers, or tradition in the NFL or NBA. I get the sense the NHL is closer to baseball in that regard, but i'm not a hockey guy and can't definitively say.

It's a reasonable answer, but baseball has made rule changes before along with massive changes to parks and it hasn't messed with the "tradition."

[Goober]

I rarely go to games as it is.

But even when the Wiz were awful, they drew more fans than the Expos. Heck, even when the Nationals were a 100 loss team (twice!) they still pulled in over double what Montreal did its two of their last three seasons and close to it.

There are too many people in the DMV area with too much money for the Nationals to even approach the numbers Montreal had at the end.



It's a reasonable answer, but baseball has made rule changes before along with massive changes to parks and it hasn't messed with the "tradition."

The Wizards average attendance this year was 17k, from 1977 to 1997, the Expos had a higher average attendance in all but three years.

Do you think that maybe the Expos bad attendance in the early 2000's could have something to do with it being announced the team was leaving?

[MVPete]

I don't even care what the numbers say, there is so much fucking trash ball going on daily that it counters the low scoring games. Fuck expansion, got enough teams that are absolute dog shit already.

[Slateman]

I don't even care what the numbers say, there is so much fucking trash ball going on daily that it counters the low scoring games. Fuck expansion, got enough teams that are absolute dog shit already.

Exactly. Time for some contraction. Get rid of those crappy Florida teams that no one wants to see anyway. While we're at it, get rid of Angelos and the Nats.

[Senser81]

Everyone loves seeing strike outs and home runs, but when you go 4 innings without seeing a runner on base the game can feel a bit like women's college softball.

Fixed.

Zimmerman's solution is surprisingly crazy. That would be the most extreme solution, which would probably create 10 other problems in an effort to fix 1.

Baseball should go to an offense/defense platoon split like the NFL. You would have a starting lineup of 8 fielders plus 1 pitcher, and 9 hitters. Guys who can hit and field would be rare "two way" players. Managers wouldn't have to dick around with pinch hitters or fielding replacements. You'd have the best hitters facing the best fielders. A reasonable argument would be made for Darwin Barney's inclusion in the MLB.

[NAHSTE]

Fixed.

Zimmerman's solution is surprisingly crazy. That would be the most extreme solution, which would probably create 10 other problems in an effort to fix 1.

Baseball should go to an offense/defense platoon split like the NFL. You would have a starting lineup of 8 fielders plus 1 pitcher, and 9 hitters. Guys who can hit and field would be rare "two way" players. Managers wouldn't have to dick around with pinch hitters or fielding replacements. You'd have the best hitters facing the best fielders. A reasonable argument would be made for Darwin Barney's inclusion in the MLB.

All for this*, because then the Braves could stop pretending Evan Gattis is a catcher or that Christian Betancourt has a future as a hitter.

Would have saved micromanaging types like Mike Scioscia from themselves as well. No longer would Mike Napoli rot in the dugout at the expense of shitbums like Jeff Mathis.







(*not really all for this but the scenarios are fun to imagine)

[Senser81]

All for this*, because then the Braves could stop pretending Evan Gattis is a catcher or that Christian Betancourt has a future as a hitter.

Would have saved micromanaging types like Mike Scioscia from themselves as well. No longer would Mike Napoli rot in the dugout at the expense of shitbums like Jeff Mathis.







(*not really all for this but the scenarios are fun to imagine)

What are your issues with an offense/defense split?

[Hasselbeck]

Forget expansion, if you want to see more offense.. bring back steroids.