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Astros pitcher ejected then sent back to minors after plunking A-Rod

WhyNotaSooner

WhyNotaSooner

Sooner starter
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Nov 1, 2004
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I have to give up to Astro Mgr AJ Hinch. The Astros for the past few years have been the doormats of MLB and while in the middle of a great season, Mgr Hinch sends a pitcher packing. I guess he thought his mental toughness was ready for the big leagues just yet. Anyway, it's refreshing to see such action taken these days.

BTW, the Astros & Royals, the two teams with the best record thus far in the American League are squaring off against one another with the Astros taking the first of a 3 game series at Minute Maid.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...ejected-demoted-after-stray-pitch-6353894.php
 
WhyNotaSooner said:
I have to give up to Astro Mgr AJ Hinch. The Astros for the past few years have been the doormats of MLB and while in the middle of a great season, Mgr Hinch sends a pitcher packing. I guess he thought his mental toughness was ready for the big leagues just yet. Anyway, it's refreshing to see such action taken these days.

BTW, the Astros & Royals, the two teams with the best record thus far in the American League are squaring off against one another with the Astros taking the first of a 3 game series at Minute Maid.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...ejected-demoted-after-stray-pitch-6353894.php
Click to expand...


The Astros are in the American League? Imagine that, I learn something everyday. What was the reason for the switch?
 
MLb needed to balance the leagues so when the Astros took on new ownership, switching to the AL west was a requirement
 
I don't follow MLB close enough, but I'm thinking the Washington Senators addition upset the apple cart... again. Not sure though.
 
tok1983 said:
I don't follow baseball at all and even I know they're called the Nationals ;)
Click to expand...

Hard to break old habits I guess. ;) Google is our friend. Some of the answer anyway...

MLB wanted to:
1. "Even" the leagues from 16 in NL and 14 in AL to 15 each.
2. Create a rivalry with the intra-state Texas Rangers in the AL West.

The move of the Astros to the AL West results in:
1. An ODD number of teams in the AL and the NL
2. Because of #1, forces interleague games every day of the season and further dilutes the original purpose of the AL vs. NL World Series.
3. Astros in the NL Central were in the same time zone (Central) as four of its rivals (Cincinnati in EDT was the exception)
4. Astros in the AL West are now in the same time zone as one (1) of its rivals (Rangers) with the other three West rivals who are two (2) hours different in the Pacific time zone.
5. Astros fans wanting to watch away TV games vs. Angels, A's and Mariners will have to wait til 9:00 pm (Central) for the first pitch.

Other than that - "Change is good". lol
 
The pitcher sent to the minors, Oberholzer, was sent down because he sucked after coming of the DL, not because he threw at ARod, IMO.
The Astros were forced in to the AL by Commissioner Bud. Once MLB decided it didn't make sense to have unbalanced Leagues (16 teams vs 14 teams) and unbalanced divisions (4 teams vs 5 or 6 teams), common sense said just have the Brewers move BACK to the AL (the league they spent most of their history in). But Commissioner Bud, who was also an owner of the Brewers (imagine that), sort of liked having his rivalry games played in his own time zone. So instead of pushing the Rockies or Diamondbacks to switch leagues (they couldn't be forced to change, it had to be voluntary), he realized that Drayton McLane was trying to sell the team in Houston. The primary interested buyer, had a skeleton in his closet (discrimination suit), so he blackmailed him in to moving. New ownership has to be approved by 75% (I think) of the other owners. Bud told him that he would never get approval because of the discrimination suit in Crane's history. But, if he would agree to move the Astros to the AL (easiest route to equalizing leagues), they miraculously could get the 75% required. They also forced McLane to reduce his asking price by $20 million to make it attractive for Crane to agree.
If I had been Drayton McLane, I would have taken MLB and Selig to court over the deal. Since he didn't, I wonder if they didn't have some sort of back door deal after the sale was completed.
 
K2C Sooner said:
The Astros are in the American League? Imagine that, I learn something everyday. What was the reason for the switch?
Click to expand...


If you are not enough of a baseball fan to know the Astros made the switch to the American League please stay out of this thread. True baseball fans know the reason. You are a great poster but as far as baseball is concerned, please stay away.
 
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