For what it's worth, the 2006 number (and I assume all of them) are based on opening day salaries, so after Clemens signed, I believe they shot up to 3rd or 4th.
Where are these numbers from? I could have sworn we were top 5 when we made the WS and top 10 the last 3 or 4 years.
I thought that was strange without Clemens. But we know that was an aberration. Like I said, it would be great for the team if payroll was consistently about 10 which I believe is right in line with our media market.
You can generally find them on ESPNs web site (among others). Do a search for: mlb payroll and the year. You can see the various numbers. Also, they tend to be opening day payrolls so they can go up and down accordingly, but probably not as drastic as Houston's went up in 2006 after Clemens signed.
The difference was Clemens. http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/teamdetail.aspx?year=2007&team=21
It was mattress mac buying those tix, lol, and those were for good oiler teams, just 8-9 years after fans packed the stands for Luv ya blue . The antiquated blackout rule combined with fan apathy meant that most oiler fans got to see home day games on the radio.
That's what I think will happen. He makes sense on a lot of different levels. I don't know that he'll sign here...but I do think the Astros will make him a legit offer. He's highly marketable and will likely be the biggest name trading places this offseason. I think Drayton will want to make a splash on the heels of this season. He's a great CF'er and perfect for MMP.
it was most often randall's and people who generally cite a "lack" of sell-outs for the oilers usually don't understand what, exactly, there're saying. yes, the oilers often failed to sell out games... 72 hours in advance of kick-off, which was an NFL/network policy (and it was channel 2, not 11 - nbc had the afc rights all thru the oilers' history; or at least in my lifetime). the purchases made by local businesses ensured the games would be broadcast; they were in NO WAY indicative of fan apathy - you're talking about a few 1,000 tickets, not 10's of thousands. keep in mind, this was prior to the internet, when ticket purchases were more often than not made in person. fact is, even when they sucked, the oilers always did brisk walk-up business (the astros still do, too). there's no reason whatsoever to think that they wouldn't have sold out those games had they had a weekend to sell the additional tickets. it was not an apathetic fan base. never.
Didn't we have one of the smallest stadiums? Also, I remember several times it was on channel 11. Perhaps they were playing an NFC team.
it was nothing more than a guarantee...randall's very rarely had to ever actually buy the tickets, because they would be sold within that window of time and the oilers enjoyed strong walk-up sales. the oilers claimed in their report prepared by coopers & lybrand that for the 8 seasons prior to their threats to move in 1994, oiler crowds occupied 110% of the building...that there were SRO crowds...people standing in the catwalks watching the games. if you were at these games in the early-90's, you knew this to be so. i do not recall going to an oiler game that wasn't sold out and loud during the run and shoot era. house of pain.
yes. and it oversold capacity for too many years, which led to adams first asking for more seats (which he got in 1987) and then a new, bigger stadium (which he got... in tennessee). between 87-93, they played 118 games, including playoffs; cbs broadcast 10 of them.
actually... the road team determines the network. so they would have all been home games against nfc opponents.
im sorry, i blame this on purpura. the owner gave this guy close to 25 mill to spend this offseason. he gives lee half of that, he gives woody 6.6 mill, and he trades 3 players making the minimun for a sucky pitcher making 6 mill, he then goes out and signs rick white, gives jason lane 1 mill! this is not draytons fault, no way! purpura couldve gotten 2 hitters for the price of carlos lee, he couldve made a better trade, he stuck with ausmus, everett, and lane too long! horrible gm! horrible talent evaluator
I don't like the moves he made, but if you've kept up with the Astros or even the recent articles published.. its well known McLane is very meddlesome. I highly doubt Purpura was given much leeway to make his own decisions, and was more likely a puppet. Its unfortunate he wasn't given a chance to run the team on his own.
Name these 2 hitters... based on players who actually signed last season for the combined price of Carlos Lee. Also, you do realize that the main problem is PITCHING... not Ausmus, Everett, Lane, etc.
