Lance Berkman Rips Selig

ThisIsOurCity · Mar 20, 2012

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7...ays-bud-selig-extorted-houston-astros-al-move

Will be a Lance Berkman fan for life. Lance is totally correct about Selig screwing us over in that series with the cubs in 08.

LOLatSoccer · Mar 20, 2012

I miss Lance Berkman

Two Sandwiches · Mar 20, 2012

Lance is probably my all-time favorite Astro.

TheRealist137 · Mar 20, 2012

Lance astro for life, I was rooting for him to win the WS last year even though it was for the Cardinals. it's nice that someone would stand up for this blatant abuse of power from selig.

tellitlikeitis · Mar 21, 2012

I was about to post something rather inflammatory on here a moment ago, but my thought process told me that it wouldn't be a very prudent decision on my part.

tellitlikeitis · Mar 21, 2012

And another thing.... there is no bigger group of morons than ESPN commenters.

4xBracketChamp said:

Sorry Astros: 0 rivals and 0 titles makes you the odd man out. Someone had to be, and you just happened to have a convenient ownership situation. Who else would be???

Replying to "Dbacks to the AL west and the Astros to the Nl west":

Seeing as the Dbacks actually have a title already and the Astros don't, I'd say the Astros could use a change

Replying to: "so you are okay with Selig telling the owner its my way or you dont buy?
Im not okay with any commissioner in ANY SPORT being able to tell a potential owner anything like that"

Dude, someone had to move, why WOULDN'T it be the Astros. Yes, I'm ok with it. It's the commissioner's job to do what he needs to do. It needed to be done

Jesus we got some sour Asstros fans in here. Sorry, but I DON'T SEE WHAT YOU'RE LOSING. You have ZERO rivals. You had 1 friggin pennant and 0 titles in 50 years. You also have new ownership coming in, a convenient fix to a must-solve problem. Who do you suggest would be a better fit to just up and move to the AL?
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TwoFaceBoone said:

I don't know why anyone would you say that Astros-Rangers rivalry couldn't exist? They begin to play meaningful games and the rivalry will grow. The Spurs and Mavs weren't always rivals but it began somewhere and grew. My Houston friends from college always give me crap about Dallas team, and I do the same. The rivalry between the cities already exists, so why could a rivalry between two baseball teams competing for a division not grow?
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sealclubber1016 · Mar 21, 2012

Big puma is like Van Gundy with the rockets, he reps us even when not being on the squad, gotta love that.

MadMax · Mar 21, 2012

I hope he's the Houston Astros first DH.

juicystream · Mar 21, 2012

MadMax said: ↑

I hope he's the Houston Astros first DH.
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I hope so too, but unlikely. I'm guessing Singleton becomes our first DH.

Rocketman95 · Mar 21, 2012

I hereby apologize to Lance for any jabs thrown his way post-Astros career. Love you Puma!

msn · Mar 21, 2012

fire Selig. It will be addition by subtraction. I hate what that guy does, and I hate his smug attitude. *******.

tellitlikeitis · Mar 21, 2012

Astros County: http://www.astroscounty.com/2012/03/on-selig-extorting-jim-crane-astros.html

On Selig extorting Jim Crane

Somewhat lost in the shuffle of yesterday's trade (but more important on a national-interest level) was Lance Berkman eviscerating Bud Selig over realignment, and moving the Astros to the American League.

Berkman:
I feel basically like the commissioner extorted Jim Crane into moving the Astros.

Well, a few of our media favorites let mean old Lance have it for giving it to Mr. Selig.

Troll-in-residence Jon Heyman:
We all love berkman, but how can it be "extortion" w/ MLB reducing #astros cost $50M to get them to go? That's a deal, not extortion.

He continued to refer to the realignment as a business deal, and even provided a definition, straight outta Merriam-Webster:
extortion: "unlawful obtaining of property from another induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence or fear''

Our lovable Chicago-based writer, Phil Rogers, even came to Selig's defense:
...There would have been nothing wrong with (Berkman's) position if he had said that Selig “pressured" the Astros into moving. That’s exactly what Selig did.

He did it because he was getting pressure from the players association, of which Berkman is, of course, a member, to address the lack of fairness in having 16 teams in one league and 14 in the other. This was much more of an issue with the union than Major League Baseball.

In fact, it’s possible that the union would not have agreed to increase the number of playoff teams from eight to 10 if MLB hadn’t found a way to change the math. And Selig’s hands are largely tied on matters of realignment.

So here we have four plot lines:

1. Berkman doesn't know what "Extortion" means.
2. Realignment was a business decision.
3. Berkman hates Bud Selig, and wore him out in the media.
4. Selig couldn't really do anything and if Berkman didn't like it, he could have bucked the MLBPA and said so.

To #1: No, Jim Crane was not extorted, because his property was not taken from him unlawfully. Crane didn't have to pay Selig $50m to keep unflattering pictures off of Deadspin. There's a fine line between extortion and blackmail. Crane received a partial refund for giving in.

What Berkman probably meant to say was that Selig coerced Crane into accepting the move to the American League, as one definition of Coercion is:
The intimidation of a victim to compel the individual to do some act against his or her will by the use of psychological pressure, physical force, or threats.

If we're talking about a will (as in, the death kind), if someone is "forced to make provisions in his or her will that he or she otherwise would not make if permitted to act according to free choice. It is an element of both duress and Undue Influence."

Should this take place, the will can be declared nullified.Whether or not this applies in this situation, I guess, depends on whether or not you're a Letter of the Law or a Spirit of the Law type of person.

Regardless, it was pretty clear that Jim Crane had two choices:
1) Accept the move, and get approved as owner by the other owners.
2) Don't accept the move, and the sale gets rejected.

Hey, I took the LSAT. I didn't do anything with it, but I still took it. And that sounds to me more like coercion than extortion. In the original piece, Crane said:

"I think it was a good deal for baseball. I think it was a good deal for our owners. Would we have preferred to stay in the National League? Probably, yeah. But that wasn't the deal that was presented to us."

So a scenario in which the Astros stayed in the NL was never on the table, apparently. And, under Crane's own admission, he would have kept the Astros in the National League. The rules changed during the process, and Crane ultimately agreed.

To Point #2: We can argue all day about Crane's role in this. And before y'all start thinking about Heyman's definition of a business deal, let's not give him too much creative thinking credit, because Crane said as much yesterday. Crane is perfectly willing to admit that Lance's language was a bit strong, that it was the cost of doing business. If Crane doesn't want to pursue any additional action, or concessions, then that's his business. He wanted a baseball team, and he got one, albeit not the one he thought he was getting - a National League one. But why wouldn't he say it was a business deal? Owners who got on Selig's bad side (cough, Frank McCourt, cough) don't typically have things turn out all sunshine and rainbows.

To Point #3: Yeah, I don't think Berkman likes Bud Selig. During the Hurricane Ike fiasco, Berkman said:
"Major League Baseball has always valued the dollar more than they do the individual, the players and their families."

To Point #4: We just don't know enough about the process to make an evaluation of Who Screwed The Astros: Selig, or the MLBPA? What's clear is that MLB took the path of least resistance in balancing the leagues. It's mentioned that the Diamondbacks could have switched to the AL, and the Astros to the NL West, which would have resulted in west coast trips to LA, San Francisco, and Colorado. MLB chose to piss off one fan base instead of two. We just happen to be the fanbase.

So to sum up: Yes, this sucks; No, there's not a whole lot we can do about it. Would you rather have Drayton/Ed in the NL, or Crane/Luhnow in the AL?
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Plowman · Mar 21, 2012

Preach on Puma.

raining threes · Mar 21, 2012

Yes,

I would rather have Uncle D/Ed running the Astros in the NL, than Crane/Luhnow running the Astros in the AL.

lean · Mar 21, 2012

"The designated hitter corrupts the purity of an otherwise elegant game. Illogical. Illogical."

It should have been the Brewers moving back. Also it goes without saying but Berkman is awesome.

msn · Mar 23, 2012

Months in, still sucks.

Selig sucks.

Interleague sucks.

The DH sucks.

...any questions?

TheresTheDagger · Mar 24, 2012

I am in shock that anyone can defend Selig in this situation. Instead we have "journalists" (and I use that term lightly) focusing on the word "extortion" vs. "coercion".

Miss the forest for the trees much there???

JayZ750 · Apr 10, 2012

I don't understand the point of divisions/leagues in the first place in a sport where you play 162 regular season games. Or in basketball, either.

But that'll never change.

The ESPN comments don't seem that ridiculous to me... but I'm not an Astros fanatic, just a casual fan... so the league change actually seems refreshing to me.

MadMax · Apr 11, 2012

JayZ750 said: ↑

I don't understand the point of divisions/leagues in the first place in a sport where you play 162 regular season games. Or in basketball, either.

.
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What don't you understand about it?

Division championships are actually meaningful in baseball...they were even more meaningful before the wild card was added. But even today, they're celebrated with champagne and confetti, because there is a premium on playoff spots....after 162 games, you should pretty much know who the teams deserving of a playoff spot are.

juicystream · Apr 11, 2012

MadMax said: ↑

What don't you understand about it?

Division championships are actually meaningful in baseball...they were even more meaningful before the wild card was added. But even today, they're celebrated with champagne and confetti, because there is a premium on playoff spots....after 162 games, you should pretty much know who the teams deserving of a playoff spot are.
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Stupid play-in games.

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