Good find, Max. I guess he and I were wrong. It'll be interesting to see what happens to their numbers once the stadium is completed. I think they may finally be adhering to your method and making Hanley the face of their franchise, so we'll see how the fans respond. Funny side note, I also saw they were going to become the "Miami Marlins". I guess that's a way to drum up hometown support.. but it's still funny to me. The Dallas Rangers? eh..
I like the Miami Marlins I think that sounds a ton better. I don't think the state name is a good thing when you've got multiple teams playing in a state. Particularly for a city like Miami which is so different and unique....and very different from the rest of Florida.
Agreed! "Miami Marlins" would be a superb change. "Dallas Rangers" would be very welcome, too. Or even, "the Dallas Rangers of Arlington". Texas's true baseball team plays in H-town, tyvm.
Or those prospects could turn out to be the next coming of Chris Burke. Highly touted, but one well timed HR aside a pretty dismal career.
from a Chron article...I double checked. It's legit stat "That's important because since baseball introduced the wild card in 1995, 36 of the 42 teams that led a division after games on July 31 went on to win the division. And it doesn't seem to matter much how close the races are on Aug. 1. Only two of the 15 teams that trailed by fewer than three games on that date (the '07 Cubs and the '08 Dodgers) finished in first place. Gotta like those numbers. If you're in first place on Aug. 1, that is." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/solomon/6544805.html
Those numbers don't match up. 1995-2008 encompasses 14 seasons. There are 6 division winners each season, so there should be X out of 84 teams, unless they are just including the National league.
Didn't the Astros have some of the worst attendance in the 90s while having one of the best records in baseball over that time period?
Starting in 1993, their attendance was good in the 90's. 1994 was shaping up as 2,000,000+ until the strike. 1995 was down, probably due to some residual strike affect. http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/1990-99attendance.htm
Attendance for the Astros seems very related to team success. Attendance went way up after we won the division in 97. Apparently people in Houston like seeing a good product.
Last week, the Sox rejected a one-for-one proposal that would have sent Clay Buchholz to Cleveland for Martinez. http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1187952&srvc=rss So if you want to trade Miggy to the Sox it wont be for Buchholz and considering this Id probably scratch Masterson as well. Only way I trade Miggy is for someone like the two meantioned above other then that Il pass. By the way...after the 94 strike everyone's attendance was down if I remember correctly in 96 we were battling for a playoff spot late in the year and played the Pirates at the Dome our attendance was like 15 or 16k...Stros began to draw after the strike in 98 when we got RJohnson, Mgwire/Sosa derby and took off from there...
There was no strike in '98. The Astros began to draw in 98 long before RJ arrived on the scene. They drew because they had won the division title and were continuing to win. As far as attendance ebbs and flows reflecting "liking a good product", I haven't done the study but I'd hazard a guess that every MLB city not named "Chicago" will demonstrate similar trends. IIRC, weren't the Yankees a doormat through the mid-late 80s and early 90s? What was their attendance like? Chicago is the exception, not the rule. And that doesn't make it a "great baseball town" IMO, it makes it a "great beer town" where the idiots are too drunk to recognize a POS perennial loser.
My mistake on 98, grammer error no strike of course, I remember in 98 we drew when Mgwire and Sosa came in, when RJ took the mound and of course downt the stretch but with the exception of those things happening I dont recall drawing to well...some research might be in order on my part though.
remember how cleveland was labelled a great baseball town in the 90's after having had like 20 consecutive games of not selling 10,000 tickets one season in the 80's??
