http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastro...s-potential-for-astros-move-to-al-a-travesty/ Berkman calls Astros potential move to the American League ‘a travesty’ Lance Berkman’s slip of the tongue wasn’t your average inadvertent trip back through time like referring to the AL wild card winners as the “Devil Rays” or that tower next to the Galleria as whichever name was the old one. Oh, it was definitely an unintentional slip, but when Berkman – now cashing checks originating from St. Louis – referred Tuesday to the Astros as “we,” there was more to it. Even as he revels in the memory of his Cardinals winning the World Series, a memory fresher than some still-potable cartons of milk at just 12 days young, Berkman still considers himself a Houstonian. It’s a bond with the city that did not end when Berkman was traded away in July 2010 and certainly did not end even upon his joining the fiercest division rival from Berkman’s 12 seasons with the Astros. “The only thing that would have made winning a world championship better is if we would have done it here,” Berkman said at a press conference to announce his exclusive memorabilia deal with Houston-based TriStar. “I still consider myself a Houston Astro even though I’m not playing for them anymore.” It’s a bizarre love affair that even though a long marriage and 2010 divorce still has both sides sharing the amorous feelings. Not that there haven’t been bumps, most notably when Berkman took heat from Astros Hall of Fame broadcaster Milo Hamilton among others for being in better shape in St. Louis than he was in his final years in Houston, which Berkman continued to deny. But for the most part, no hard feelings. In fact, TriStar honchos were surprised, in the short time that Berkman’s signed Cardinals World Series gear has been on sale, just what portion of the orders have come from Greater Houston. The World Series, pitted the rival Cardinals, who quashed the Astros’ hopes in 2004 and were vanquished by the Astros the next year, against the closest geographical neighbor the Texas Rangers trying to win the state’s first crown. In a nausea-inducing matchup, Berkman became the tiebreaker for some in choosing a reluctant rooting interest. “That’s been the most gratifying thing is that there are so many people who seem genuinely happy that I was able to win a World Series,” said Berkman of his experience since returning after the parade to Houston, where his family lives year-round. “You almost feel like you won it for a lot of people and they shared in it.” As for his pronoun malfunction, one moment of telling weakness in a broad and mostly jovial 20-minute press conference, he quickly corrected himself. But he did come off with a typical fan’s enthusiasm about the Astros when asked about a potential move to the American League that could accompany the sale of the franchise. “I think it’s a travesty,” Berkman said. “It’s a National League franchise. I think if they were going to do something like that, Milwaukee’s the choice to go back to the American League; they’re historically an American League franchise. “It’s a shame, I think, that Bud Selig is probably going to make that be sort of a condition of the sale. I don’t like it. Even when I retire and live here in Houston, I don’t want to go watch American League baseball. I’d like to have a National League team.” Jim Crane’s prospective ownership group, which could be approved by vote of Major League Baseball’s current owners next week, has engaged in conversations with MLB regarding possible compensation for a move to the American League. The National League currently has 16 teams and the American 14 with a move of the Astros to the AL West a way to get the six divisions to five teams apiece. It’s a thought that bothers some Houstonians, and Tuesday, they were joined by another unmistakable Houstonian. He had to leave to get his ring as the Astros plummeted to their worst season in franchise history, and that’s something that doesn’t sit well. But he’s back home at least for a few months before heading back to the Cardinals on a one-year, $12 million deal. And after that, who knows? “Now I can just ride off into the sunset and say that there’s nothing on the baseball field that I haven’t done,” Berkman said.
I'm glad I stood behind Berkman. The guy may not have hustled to 1st, but no superstar does. He's a good guy that loves Houston and the Astros.
Berkman is the type thats definite designated hitter material, and he played with the storied Yankees. Would figure he'd develop a somewhat supportive view of the AL. But he still STRONGLY supports National League baseball
Thanks, Richard: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/te...move-to-al-to-become-rangers-punching-bag.ece Columnist: Astros should move to AL to become Rangers' punching bag While back in Houston, current Cardinal and former Astro Lance Berkman weighed in on rumors that his old club could be a candidate to switch to the American League. Berkman, who played with the Astros for 12 seasons, said he thought a league switch would be a "travesty," in part because the team has such a long history in the National League. But Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice thinks Berkman might have ulterior motives in hoping the 'Stros stay National. "Let’s be fair. It’s not right that the Cardinals get to fatten their won-loss record on the backs of the most sorry, no-account sports franchise on earth," Justice wrote on the Chronicle's blog Tuesday. "It’s time for the Astros to be someone else’s punching bag. Do you think maybe the Texas Rangers would like 15-17 additional victories a year?" Justice spends most of his post taking tongue-in-cheek jabs at Berkman and the Astros, but he seemed genuinely in support of a move that would ship Houston into a division with the Rangers. "It’s the right thing for the Astros to move to the American League. First of all, it’s better baseball. Second of all, it has better baseball teams," Justice wrote. "Third of all, the Texas Rangers could use the easy victories they’ll get by playing the Astros a 15-20 times a year."
god i hate that guy so bad. and i take solace in the fact that people i know who work close to him think he's a grade-a turd as well.
http://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?...from-today&catid=70:mlb-club-sales&Itemid=157 In what may be a now or never moment for prospective Astros owner Jim Crane, exactly one week from today the potential vote to approve the $680 million sale of the club from Drayton McLane could take place. The vote was delayed in August to allow time for owners to gain a larger comfort level with Crane on several issues, some surrounding aspects around his business in the wake of the league’s dealings with the bankruptcy case surrounding Frank McCourt and the Dodgers. But, in recent weeks, a key aspect has been negotiating compensation for moving the Astros to the American League. Crane is seeking as much as $50 million off the sale price saying that later start times for AL West games, impacts to a new regional sports network, and likely changes in how the major league roster is comprised based in competition from the Rangers and Angels factor in. The realignment is being sought by the league to allow for additional Wild Card teams to be added for the 2013 season. Drayton McLane has been making the case to the owners that there are no other bidders that can come close to the $680 million sale price. That figure would be the second-highest for an MLB club behind only the Cubs sale, which included Wrigley Field, and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago for $835 million. It seems highly unlikely that Commissioner Selig will call a vote if he has any trepidation about it passing the muster by at least the required 75 percent of the owners. The last time a vote was held by the owners where it prospective owner was rejected was with Miles Prentice and his attempt at purchasing the Kansas City Royals. While the character issues may still linger, the negotiations around compensation for moving to the AL West appears to be the key point, now. Will Crane be approved on the 17th? That seems to still be up for debate. By all accounts negotiations are still taking place. If history is any indicator, MLB sent out a press release the Monday before the Owners Meetings in August to inform that the delay to approve Crane was taking place. It seems doubtful that MLB would outright say Crane is wholly rejected. Once again, if there are concerns – what ever those are – with Crane, it will be framed as a “delay”. The exclusive agreement between Drayton McLane and Crane for the purchase expires on Nov. 30, less than 2 weeks after the scheduled date for a possible approval would take place. By December it seems clear that one way or another, we’ll know if the 2013 season for the Astros will be piloted by Crane or McLane.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/18378/realignment-would-bring-back-dh-debate Next week, the GM and owners’ meetings in Milwaukee will have a number of issues to address, but one of the ones I’m most intrigued by is the sale of the Houston Astros to Jim Crane. The deal is hung up on a few things, but perhaps the most interesting sticking point is the suggestion that the franchise is worth $50 million less if forced to be moved to the AL West. The benefit of moving the Astros seems straightforward enough. It would end the unwieldy oddity of baseball’s split between the two leagues, ridding us of both the AL West’s short stack and Bud Selig’s old six-pack in the NL Central. It would also eliminate the stagy quality of interleague play. Instead of lining up interleague for weekends to get top turnout and then calling it a success, AL vs. NL on the schedule necessarily becomes a season-round phenomenon. Don’t be surprised when interleague attendance and ratings drop as these games get welcomed to cold, wet Aprils and irrelevant teams’ Septembers. Outside of David Ortiz, how many truly great designated hitters are out there?There’s plenty to say about what the Astros’ move to the AL would involve, but right now I’m wondering about one element of it: Whether or not moving the Astros to the DH league from the classic-recipe circuit means it’s time to reopen the age-old Designated Hitter debate. If Jim Crane doesn’t want to employ a DH and doesn’t want to bring AL-brand baseball to Houston, maybe it’s time to pop the game’s hood and ask whether or not the DH is an artifact of the ’70s whose time has passed. First, there’s the irony of the financial side of the proposition. At its foundation, the DH was founded as a money-maker. Across baseball’s long history, runs have reliably equaled attendance, and the American League wanted paying customers. If being forced to be in the DH league is part of what might arguably make the Astros less valuable, that’s a remarkable change within the industry. Admittedly, there are other factors to why Crane sees a move to the AL hurting franchise value, but work with me for a minute. What if, instead of knocking down the Astros’ sticker price by $50 million, the owners instead tried to accommodate Crane and do away with the DH altogether? The owners can’t do such a thing unilaterally, of course -- they need the agreement of the union. But the new CBA is open and being negotiated at the moment, which means that this might be an item open for discussion. The 2012 season’s schedule is already set with the Astros in the NL, but realignment in 2013 could make for a convenient time to phase out the DH. The argument from the players’ perspective for keeping the DH has always been about compensation -- in the abstract, they’re protecting the interests of 14 jobs open to well-paid veteran players. But who are today’s DHs? Not Jorge Posada, he just lost his gig in New York. And not Jim Thome -- he risked a move back to the NL. Are we really down to just David Ortiz as the lone example of a DH who lives up to the name? OK, there’s also Billy Butler in Kansas City. A defense of the DH as a place where great hitters reside and get duly compensated would sound a lot better if we still had Frank Thomas or Edgar Martinez or Harold Baines playing. But we don’t get that; instead, we get the used-up husk of Hideki Matsui, and rest days for regulars. In the past 10 years just 10 players have accumulated more than a thousand plate appearances while DHing 50 percent or more of the time: Papi, Thome, Frank Thomas and Edgar Martinez, plus Travis Hafner, Jack Cust, Erubiel Durazo, Brad Fullmer, Mike Sweeney and Josh Phelps, or a lot of fine inheritors to the epic legacy of Ron Blomberg. So other than the Indians’ long-standing regret for overpaying Pronk, maybe we’re back to this really being about David Ortiz’s job, and Butler’s, and perhaps Jesus Montero’s future. And on the other side, there’s a $50 million suggestion that the NL brand’s more valuable, with realignment and whatever goodies the owners might want to toss onto the scales to incentivize the players to get rid of the DH all hanging in the balance. Not that I think this is likely. Slow news days encourage idle thought. And I’ll admit to a bit of sophistry here: I much prefer the DH and watching people who can hit to watching non-hitters flail away when they’re not just robotically surrendering outs in automatic sac bunt situations. Some call that strategy, but how much strategy can it be when that’s the default move? I like the DH because it keeps pitchers safe(r) from doing things that don’t involve pitching, and because it’s a handy way of letting position players take a break from the field while keeping their bat in the lineup. But I like baseball just fine either way. The big-picture questions remain, though. If the Astros don’t want to be a DH team, and if being a DH-league franchise is seen as intrinsically less valuable, maybe it’s time to go over why Charlie Finley’s last good idea is still with us for reasons beyond “it’s good for Papi.”
This last article has me thinking.... how do you convince AL teams that Crane needs you to chip in for him to move his product to your league? There's a bit of a slap in the face to AL folks suggesting that being in the NL is more valuable (and I recognize a big part of this is travel issues/media money). Maybe that creates some pushback from AL squads to contribute anything towards Crane's requested $50 million?
And maybe that helps to keep the Astros in the NL...or maybe it helps to rid baseball of the travesty that is the dh.
