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Berkman Again Rips Realignment, Says Astros' Crane Was "Extorted"


Don Quixote

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St. Louis Cardinals outfielder and former Houston "Killer B" Lance Berkman lashed out today at the agreement last year to move the Houston Astros to the American League to facilitate the club's sale, proclaiming MLB Commissioner Bud Selig "extorted" new Astros owner Jim Crane.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7714711/st-louis-cardinals-lance-berkman-says-bud-selig-extorted-houston-astros-al-move

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If you have the power some times you have to make hard decisions.

I think in time the fans will love playing the Rangers. Honestly if we were in the same division as the Nats it would over time become a very very big deal.

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I am confused though, how is the scheduling going to work with Houston moving to the AL? With each league having 15 teams, is interleague play an all-year thing now?

(I know this is an old story, I just didn't pay much attention the first time around.)

That's what will happen.

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They should put Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincy, and Cleveland in the same division, just like football. We would actually have a chance then!

I mean, seriously think about how we would feel right now if this was our division. We would have hope for a decent year, instead of our current predicament.

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How so? Houston is further west than KC.

Anyone ripping Selig for anything is OK in my book.

Because the Brewers are an American League club, and were for 29 seasons; they've spent less than half that time in the other league. Houston is celebrating its FIFTIETH anniversary as an NL club. Both clubs represented those leagues in the World Series.

They should have done 15-15 from the start.

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OK, thanks.

And, blech. I really hate IL play. Are teams going to be playing any more IL games than before, or are they just going to be spread out throughout the year?

Same games, generally. Just instead of "Interleaguepalooza '13" they will play through the year. So the Orioles could open the year against Washington, or close against Philadelphia, for example.

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Because the Brewers are an American League club, and were for 29 seasons; they've spent less than half that time in the other league. Houston is celebrating its FIFTIETH anniversary as an NL club. Both clubs represented those leagues in the World Series.

They should have done 15-15 from the start.

Gotcha. But if we're looking at it from what the league looks like now, it makes sense. That said, I'd keep the Astros in the NL and abolish interleague play.

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Because the Brewers are an American League club, and were for 29 seasons; they've spent less than half that time in the other league. Houston is celebrating its FIFTIETH anniversary as an NL club. Both clubs represented those leagues in the World Series.

They should have done 15-15 from the start.

I think the no-brainer is 16-16. Or 30. Or 10-10-10. Or 8-8-8-8.

I'd absolutely love four 8-team leagues, mostly independent, mostly free to do whatever is in their best interest. If three of them want interleague play and a DH, and the other one doesn't, that's all good. If the Western League wants to play a 171-game schedule, cool.

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