by clash_city_rockers 7 Replies latest social physical
I'm still bitter about that sell out Jason Giambi going to the Yanks.
I might be tempted to take the batteries out of my walkman next A's home game against N.Y. and chuck them at him...Just kidding but still bitter.....
Did you know that Jose Canseco used to be married to a witness girl?
go Raiders,
jr
Hi JR,
Those are my initials too!!
Anyhow, you could feel somewhat good knowing that your team is not about to be cut out of the major leagues! They are threatening the Twins and Expos with "contraction", although that won't solve baseball's economic problems.
Of course, the notion that these cities don't deserve teams is ludicrous. The Twins won World Series in 1987 and 1991, and in '92 (I believe that was the year) they were the VERY FIRST major league franchise to attract 3 million fans in a season!
And the Montreal Expos had the best record in baseball in 1994, with Pedro Martinez and many other talented players. Then came the stupid strike, and no world series (which the Expos probably would have won). In 1995, the Expos were economically forced to shed their expensive players, and the fans never came back in Montreal.
At least in Oakland you have a rich baseball heritage (think the 1972-73-74 World series, and also the teams of Canseco and McGwire from 1988-90, and also your teams there from the last two years). And you have a smart general manager in Billy Beane, who will make the best out of the situation.
I'd rather be a baseball fan there in Oakland than in Minnesota, Montreal or Florida.
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Look Goph,
The Twins too have a very good history...Harmon Kilabrew 65'AL Champs 69',70, AL West Champs Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven and KERBY P.... 87' and 91 World Champs... 92' is when Eck in the ALCS got lit up again Toronto Blue Jays beat Atlanta....
Major League Baseball is a bunch of greety slobs, [>:(]
jr
It isn't about what a team used to do. It's about attendance. Both those teams aren't getting supported. All about profits and losses.
Never Squat With Yer Spurs On
LB and clash city, thanks for your comments!
LB, the reason I posted information about the PAST history of these baseball teams is to show that Major League baseball itself had good, well-supported products in these "minor" markets, and blew it. This rarely happens in other sports. Baseball is unwilling to apply the solutions that other sports have used to keep salaries in line with reality, and to keep teams in medium sized markets, namely true revenue sharing and salary caps. Instead, we have a union-dominated system where a player can command $25.2 million on a last place team. Meanwhile, fiscally responsible teams do not get rewarded.
And it's not about attendance, not entirely. The Twins contended for the AL Central pennant last year, and drew over 1.6 million fans. Geez, what do the owners expect?
Contraction is all about a THREAT by the owners to try to make the players finally accede to THEIR program, in the face of a walkout or lockout to come within a year.
Maybe we in the Twin Cities would be better off without the headache that is major league baseball.
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
True the free agent market is going to kiss baseball. So far ticket prices are reasonable for big league games unlike basketball. I went to a Portland Blazer game last year and paid 112 bucks a ticket. This for seats behind the basket about 15 rows up. Nuts.
I'm a Giants fan and can't imagine what Barry Bonds thinks he's worth now. He's offered the Giants a hometown discount. Somewhere around 20 million a year. Yeah right, nearly 40, always angry spoiled brat thinks highly of himself doesn't he?
Never Squat With Yer Spurs On
jr,
I think the finest hour for the A's was the 1990 World Series. What do you think. Sweep, sweep, sweep, You bet!
Only the A's did not do the sweeping as expected by the fans.
larc, 1990 was the greatest upset in world series history think of it Cris Sabo, Jose Rojo, Erik Davis and Rob Dibble pulled it off. The fans did'nt see nor did the oddsmakers it was
Oak -1200
Cin +900
in Nevada for the series with a Reds sweep going as high as 45/1
pick against the odds
jr
