Not me... the Astros need to be sold, and Crane has the passion and energy the team needs. Not happy with the move to AL, but very happy to have someone taking over that really wants to win.
hate this so much. worst sports news i've received since the 'stros threatened to move town. can't begin to express how much i dislike this.
Justice: AL issue won't decide Crane's fate By RICHARD JUSTICE, Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle Updated 11:49 p.m., Wednesday, September 7, 2011 http://www.chron.com/sports/justice/article/Justice-AL-issue-won-t-decide-Crane-s-fate-2160257.php THE WRITER OF WRONGS STRIKES AGAIN!!!!
This tells me two things...Drayton has checked out and is desperate to sell the team at this price and Crane has some mighty big skeletons in his closet. Stros are in a bad spot here, Crane needs to take over because if he doesn't McLane will leave the team in neutral until he finds another buyer. Crane might not be a great guy but either were stuck with an owner who doesn't want the team for years or move to the AL and take our chances with the new guy, warts and all.
I hate the whole way the American League game is played. I love the way the game is played in the NL so much more. In the NL, you don't have a DH, so runs are at more of a premium. You have to sacrifice, steal, and generate your scoring. You have to move the guys around into scoring position. You need speed. All of that causes defenses to have different pressures and positioning forced upon them. It's such a greater game of baseball than American league games. Sometimes I'll watch an American League game but I really prefer the National League games so much more
i'd rather stick with mclane for a few more years than switch leagues. geez, that's kind of a long term decision.
Selig is screwing up MLB so badly. It's going to be just another NBA before long. Everybody pretty much plays everybody, and over half the league--including losers who can't win as many as they lose--make the playoffs. Bud, just go the hell away. You suck.
To be honest I don't like the move To the AL but I have accepted it. Look, winning fixes everything. You win the NL central or the AL west...all the same to me but losing that NL tradition does sting. I don't want a lame duck owner, especially with the top pick on the horizon. It would set this franchise back so much to have Drayton leave Wade in control while he spends as little as possible in all aspects of the organization, especially now that we have a little momentum within the farm system.
I agree with everything you said there but, getting another owner may take a year or two. A move to the AL is virtually permanent.
I *hate* AL "baseball". I'll take Cardinals/Dodgers over Yankees/Red Sox every day. I hate the DH, I hate "homerball", I don't even like the teams. Why are they picking on Houston again? Uncreative, simple-minded dolts.
7 of the top 8 teams in stolen bases are in the AL (3 of the top 4 players). The Average AL team has 104 SB, the average NL team has 97 SB. The NL does have nearly twice as many sacrifice bunts, but I'm guessing most of that difference is made up by the pitchers (and there is less than 1/2 a bunt per game difference between the team with the most, Florida, and the team with the least, Boston). Maybe this is an anomalous year, I don't feel like checking other seasons, but this year at least the AL is more the speed league (and the homer league), and the difference in sacrificing shows up about once every four games on average.
New season ticket holder when this happens if only just to re-sell my tickets to Ranger, Yank, Sox fans.
They may have more speed on the bases. But that still isn't the style of game they play most of the time.
That isn't the style of play anyone plays most of the time. Every four games you get one more sacrifice bunt in the NL. That means three out of four games you have the same amount of bunts, the same amount of stolen bases. The only real difference is that in the AL a competent batter comes up at the bottom of the lineup. In the NL you get to see Roy Halladay come to the plate with his .116/.141/.145 slash line. That is the difference most of the time. The "NL style of play" thing is a myth. When the pitcher is up and there are men on base and there are no outs (sometimes with one out) you will get more bunts than under the same circumstances with an AL #9 hitter. That is the big difference. The NL manager doesn't tell his other batters not to get extra base hits. The AL manager doesn't tell his fast players to go station to station. Maybe one game in 10 the NL manager will leave a pitcher in to get one more guy out than the AL manager would because he is due up the next inning. Beyond that, the difference is in your perception, not in the way the game is played.
If the AL was so great, and there was such a windfall to playing more games against the Yankee and Red Sox, you would have a half-dozen NL teams VOLUNTEERING to move over the Astros. The truth is, switching leagues sucks. Especially for a relatively "young" team that had just won its first pennant, and should always have been associated with its fellow-expansion franchise (Mets) as life-long NL teams. Same reason why Arizona doesn't want to change leagues. Or Flordia doesn't want to change leagues. Everybody would rather stay associated with a singular league... it promotes stability. Now, the Astros going to be an AL step-child for the next 10-15 years AT LEAST. The Brewers are only NOW starting to seem more like an NL team, and that's only after they finally are having a good season (and developing the needed rivalries to add to the fandom).. but in the end, they're still not more of an NL team than the Astros. I also really hate having interleague every series throughout the season. Suddenly a Cardinals-Mariners matchup one week and an Atlanta - Oroles matchup another week could go towards deciding a wild card spot in the NL. Hell, since NL teams will be playing on average 2 interleague series IN AL parks per month, they might as well start investing in DH's (not the makeshift ones, but legitimate ones).
I'm not the only one that sees the difference. this is from wiki answers This website also mentions the difference in style. http://www.differencebetween.net/mi...-between-american-league-and-national-league/ It doesn't make sense that the AL and NL would all have such crappy managers that they wouldn't adapt their style of play to the difference in rules. While I do watch more NL games I still watch some AL games. I see the difference when I watch.
I rather see both leagues either adopt the DH rules or remove them altogether. It gives AL teams a clear advantage in the world series and interleague play.
Interesting take: http://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?...y-for-jim-crane&catid=26:editorials&Itemid=39 Are the Conflicting Reports on the Astros to the AL an Exit Strategy for Jim Crane? Given up trying to figure out what’s going on with Jim Crane and the Astros? The vote to approve the $685 million sale from Drayton McLane was delayed in August, and ever since, it’s been in a holding pattern. On Thursday, it will have been a month since MLB announced that the vote was delayed. There are two camps reporting separate reasons for the delay. Here’s the examples. Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle (AL Issue Won’t Decide Crane’s Fate), Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), and myself here at The Biz of Baseball (Jim Crane Stance on Moving Astros to AL Not What is Holding Up His Approval) have all reported that while the jump to the AL is a factor, it’s not the sole issue that is preventing Crane’s approval. The other camp has Mark Berman of FOX 26 (Moving Astros to American League Important For Crane's Bid to Buy Team), Brian McTaggert of MLB.com (Source: MLB wants Astros to move to AL), David Dalati of FSHouston (Sources: Crane’s AL stance holding Astros sale)and recently, comments from ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark in his Sept 9 Rumblings & Grumblings (see “Ready to Rumble”). So, what’s going on? Something that was mentioned by a high placed source a couple of weeks ago could be – repeat could be – playing out. I’ve said repeatedly that the deal to approve Crane will likely go through (technically, a vote can be called at any point), but it could be as late as the quarterly meetings in November before that happens… if it happens. But, if the deal is going to fall through, Crane might have an exit strategy. Crane and his sources could say that it’s the unwillingness to jump to the American League that ultimately doomed the sale. The league will say it’s a number of issues, but not say one way or the other on the jump from the NL. Hypothetically, Crane could have an out. His character ultimately wouldn’t be the reason for the deal not going through. In other words, Crane would save face. It should be clear, it’s a theory. Crane could be approved tomorrow, for all we know. But, there’s rarely been so much conflicting reports from reporters that are known for having solid sources, floating around. Clearly, there’s the different set of sources. Which one is right may no longer be the issue. It could be, maybe, part of any drawn out scenario if, perhaps, Crane is not approvable.
http://blog.chron.com/sportsjustice...l-never-see-a-dime-of-jim-cranes-680-million/ I wonder if Drayton is paying any attention to that little voice telling him he’ll never see a dime of Jim Crane’s $680 million MLB should put a $680-million check in a sealed terrarium in the lobby of Minute Maid Park and allow Astros owner Drayton McLane to come by a couple of times a day to admire it. No tapping on the glass, Mr. McLane! Uh, Mr. McLane, we’ve got a tour beginning in 10 minutes, and we were thinking it best if they didn’t hear you whimpering. How long are you going to lay there on the floor sobbing, Mr. McLane? I’m sure some of you think this is really funny because you’d enjoy watching a really rich guy suffer. You think a little suffering is appropriate considering how much pain he has caused baseball fans around here the last few years. Yet it’s not all that funny when you consider that Ed Wade will be the general manager of the Astros as long as McLane owns them. That changes things, doesn’t it? McLane expected to be long gone by now, and even some of us who love the man thought it was time for him to go. Jim Crane was supposed to be in the catbird seat and beginning the work of turning baseball’s dumbest franchise into one of its smartest. That’s what would have happened the moment Andrew Friedman walked in the door. Crane’s $680-million purchase was sailing toward approval when Commissioner Bud Selig put the brakes on the deal. Crane brought so much unseemly baggage to the table—especially 200 EEOC complaints that were found to have merit and four separate charges of profiteering on the Iraq war—that baseball reached a point where it simply couldn’t get comfortable with him. There’s still a chance Drayton will wear the commissioner down and convince him to allow Crane’s deal to go through. However, those chances diminish by the day, and if it doesn’t happen this week, it probably will be hold until after the World Series. By that time, Crane’s contract with McLane will be closing in on its November 30th expiration date. Again, MLB sources emphasize the deal could still be approved, and everyone will ride happily into the sunset. But there’s a good chance it won’t. There’s so much in the file to consider, and even though Crane says otherwise, it’s a stretch to believe he was the victim of rogue employees or disgruntled employees in every instance. McLane’s problem is that if he has to go find another buyer, he may not be able to snag one willing to pay $680 million. That realization may be why he’s lobbying hard for Selig to okay the deal. Anyway, Drayton will be hosting a little gathering on Thursday when he unveils the team’s logo for its 50th anniversary season. There’s going to be free food for the media, so that should get some of the TV guys out. Drayton almost certainly will use the occasion to say the sale is right on the verge of being approved, and then he’ll say something about how much he’s going to miss all of us. Berman, of course, will laugh so loud that it’ll be unclear exactly what Drayton has just said. A few weeks ago, I got a little emotional thinking how much I was going to miss Drayton. We’re never going to have another owner like him, and I mean that mostly in a good way. Now, though, it’s a little annoying because he may not be going away after all. I won’t make the little party on Thursday, but that’s okay. Drayton and I can catch up next spring in Kissimmee.
not sure i've mentioned this, but I really do not think very highly of sir richard justice's sportswriting abilities.
