Baseball Realignment

[DEVILRAYS]

Commissioner Bud Selig has come up with a
and new realignment plan that would destroy baseball as we know it. Basically, he puts the Diamondbacks in the AL West and bumps the Rangers to the Central. And he kicks the Devil Rays into the
and new NL Southeast with the Braves, the Marlins, and **snicker** the Reds. The remaining three current NL East teams are joined by the Pirates in the new NL Northeast. The remaining teams in the NL Central and NL West stay where they are. This means:<
>Three divisions, two of four and the other of six teams, in the AL. Four four-team divisions in the NL. The wild card is in effect in the AL, not in the NL. Why don't we just make them two completely separate operations altogether? They share so much unnecessary stuff like umpires, inerleague play, and moved teams, yet have different rules? WTF?<
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>The players' union has come up with a simpler, more reasonable plan, involving switching the Houston Astros to the AL West and having balanced, 15-team leagues. This would require interleague play almost every day of the season, except when teams have off days. This plan is endorsed by sportswriter Bob Costas in his book "Fair Ball".<
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>Got any other ideas? They could include expansion to 32 teams, and may have four, six, or eight divisions. Just one rule - they have to be better than Bud Selig's idea, which isn't hard at all. DEVILRAYS Rad Stadium<
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><I>I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be whistling in the dark.</I><i></i>

[DEVILRAYS]

Interesting...all of my ideas entail eventual expansion to 32 teams and searching for teams in specific markets. Here's my most well-thought-out idea:<
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>Baseball adds franchises in Pacific or Mountain time-zone markets, in such places as Portland, Vancouver, or Las Vegas. I figure it's inevitable that the Expos will move to North Carolina, so this plan involves putting the Vancouver franchise in the NL and making a 3-game series between Toronto and Vancouver an annual fixture, along with Cubs-White Sox, Yankees-Mets, Reds-Indians, and others. The Rangers finally get to move to the Central division, and either the Diamondbacks or Rockies move to the AL West. Each expansion team moves to one of the Western divisions, giving each league 5 teams in the East and West divisions and 6 in the Central. Each team plays 12 interleague games (4 3-game series, of course) and 6 games against each league rival not in its division. This leaves 84 games left for theams in the East and West divisions. 84/4 = 21, so each East and West team plays 21 games against each division rival. Ninety games are left for Central teams, and 90/5 = 18. The system couldn't be more perfect! Teams play a meaningful division schedule and now there can be three legitimate pennant races in each league, because:<
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>The three division champions in each league make the playoffs and receive a first-round bye regardless of records. The top two remaining teams are the wild cards.<
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>Wild Card round: Teams play a best-of-5 series, two at the site of the team with the worse record and finally three at the site of the team with the best record. The winner plays the team with the best record in the leagure in the Division series; the other two division champs face off. In the week off, the six division champions, to avoid possible rustiness, could host intrasquad games or games against minor-league All-Stars, charge a couple bucks a head for admission, and give the profits to a local youth group or Little League association (thank you Bob Costas for the idea.)<
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>Division Series: The remainign Wild Card plays a best-of-7 against the top team in the league - 2-3-2 in terms of home-field advantage, of course. The other two teams play a best-of-7 as well, with the better team winning home-field advantage.<
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>LCS: The two remaining teams play each other, with the better regular-season team getting home-field advantage.<
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>World Series: Just like always, only with interleague play in effect, the team with the better record should be guaranteed home-field advantage.<
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>Or another
ainchild of mine:<
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>For now, switch the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays between leagues. But go back to 4 divisions as follows:<
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>AL East: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Detroit, New York Yankees, Toronto<
>AL West: Anaheim, Arizona, Kansas City, Minnesota, Oakland, Seattle, Texas<
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>NL East: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Florida, Montreal (or wherever the hell they move to), New York Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay<
>NL West: Chicago Cubs, Colorado, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis<
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>This would be in effect for about 3 years as Selig announces a plan to add two more teams in Washington D.C. and Portland, both of which play in the AL.<
>From 2001-03: AL teams play 108 games against division rivals (18 per team) and 42 games against teams from the division opposite them in their league (6 per team.) They also play 12 interleague games for a total of 162 games. The NL schedule is a little more complicated, but that's OK since it's only temporary. Four NL teams of the eight in each division play 12 interleague games, while the others play only 9. Those who play only 9 pick up an extra 3-game series against a team in the division opposite them in their league. This added to 48 games against the division opposite them in their league
ings their total to 60, One problem - 102/7 isn't an even number, so teams would play 14 games against some teams in their division and 15 against the others. Hopefully, all two-game series can be eliminated this way.<
>The top two teams in each division play a Division Series, a best-of-seven, of course. The winners of those series play in the LCS's, also still best-of-seven. Then onto the World Series.<
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>From 2004 on: With eight teams in each division, teams play 12 interleague games and 48 games against the division opposite them in the league. This still doesn't solve the 7 teams into 102 games problem, but that's really the least of MLB's problems at this point.<
>Top 3 teams in each division qualify; 2nd place holds home-field advantage over 3rd-place in the first round, while the division winner receives a bye. Then the first-round winners play their division champs in a best-of-7, and the rest is just like old times, with the division champs in the LCS.<
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>Another idea: Split the major-league season into half-seasons. Also, turn the All-Star Break into an all-out All-Star week. The 32 teams are randomly paired and play a two-game total-runs home-and-home game to see who advances. The winner of this tournament is guaranteed passage to the playoffs, along with each division champion in the first half and second half. To make room for this tournament, the schedule is shortened to 156 games, each team plays 24 interleague games, 48 games against the division opposite them, and 84 division games (cut each total in half to see the half-season totals.) DEVILRAYS Rad Stadium<
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><I>I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be whistling in the dark.</I><i></i>

[Commcorranhorn]

that actually made sense DR thanx i say we boycott the MLB until they institute this DIE MLB!!!!!!!!!!!! MTFBWY ~Commander Corran Horn<
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[The Great Butcher]

I have not watched major league baseball since the strike of '94. The league is too much about money now. That's what division realignment and interleague play is about. Division realignment means longer playoffs which means more tickets sold and more TV airtime. It's not fun anymore <I>The harder you work, the less you'll surrender</I><i></i>

[DEVILRAYS]

Longer playoffs are not necessarily bad if they are done right, like if division champions got first-round byes, amking the division title WORTH SOMETHING AGAIN, and if there were enough division games to go along with that notion. Problem is now, the balanced schedule has teams playing whatever schedule Bud Selig feels like, which has nothing whatsoever to do with division rivalries. Most teams play less than a third of their games against their own division, if I am not mistaken. That and with the wild card acting as a cushion as it does now, there can be no pennant races. At least if there is some SIGNIFICANT advantage to winning the division, there can be pennant races again. Which is why my first idea is so great - or at least I think so. It increases the total number of pre-determined races from zero to six, plus whatever activity for the wild card spots, which no one wants because not only would they have to play an extra series but they would have to play the next round against the best team in the league. Another idea to go along with that - only teams that finish second in their division can be wild cards. No third-place teams. This means if the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox are locked in a pennant race, and each has a better record than any other second-place team in the AL, they can't just sit on their laurels knowing they will all get into the playoffs, because one team will get the good spot skipping the first round, a second will have a tougher run at it, and the third will be wiped off the face of the playoff picture. DEVILRAYS Rad Stadium<
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><I>I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be whistling in the dark.</I><i></i>