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should the Tampa Rays be in the Playoffs?
Posted by RTBjr73 • 10/07/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: boston red sox, los angeles dodgers, philidelphia phillies, tampa bay rays, world series, world series 2008
I am an old school fan of baseball...no DH, no fake grass, no wearing "softball" jerseys aka batting practice jerseys on Sundays, etc.
But my biggest riff is teams like the Florida Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays, and this year's Tampa Bay Rays.
Baseball has been watered down with expansion teams.
Do you agree or disagree?
tommybloggingsports.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/please-boston-dont-let-me-down
User Comments
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Totally agree - although I take a bit of issue with the "softball jersey" statement. In my opinion, baseball got uber boring in the 90's with the plain jane white home/grey road jerseys with no life to them.
Where was the brown/yellow glory of the San Diego Padres? Where was the yellow Sunday day home uniforms of the A's? The Orange of the Orioles? Or the rainbow of putrid colors that were the Houston Astros?
I rather like the color infusion. Give me Boston or D.C. in red uniforms anyday over the drab garments of the 90's.
But yes - expansion killed baseball - along with ESPNs incessant highlights reels of home runs. Parks moved fences in, expansion watered down pitching (especially quality relief pitching) - and of course the infamous strikes ruined something of the innocence of the game.
That and Free Agency....I guess we should march on Curt Flood's house and burn it to the ground for that.
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I do not mind free agency. When free agancy came around there was not 14000 major league teams around.
As far as the uniforms? I bet you never thought the Yankees or Dodgers or Bosox uni's looked drab.
and amen to you about the the relief pitching going down the drain. -
Ah, but the Yanks and Bosox (I actually liked the red caps) have more history.
What's a team like Toronto or (gasp)Montrael to have done? I think I abhor teams changing their official colors more than wearing colorful uniforms.
The Padres were brown and yellow. Now they are navy blue and gold? Before that Blue and orange? Makes no sense.
But then again, I still see the Marlins and Rockies as "fantasy" teams that don't really exist.
Why? Because I never had their baseball cards as a kid!
Conversely, Gary Carter, Steve Rodgers, Charlie Lea, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Tim Wallach, and Jeff Reardon are all still out thre somewhere in baseball card valhalla in their Expos uniforms. -
Damn. I'm ok with the expansion teams. Growth is good in a lot of ways. Good for people playing. Good for the fans in cities where people don't have a team. I do hate when a team moves to a new city and gets rebranded. That I hate. But overall, Tampa does belong. I just wish they didn't play in a freakin dome. They're in FL for christ sakes and its sun shiney! Though the humidity is damn killer. -
I think I'm anti-Tampa because they joined the American League East and it was an inevitable matter-of-time until they began playing better baseball than the Orioles.
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Can you imagine what the talent could be in the MLB if there were still only 16 teams.
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It's most certainly watered down. Teams today will have 1 or 2 decent starters and that's about it. Look at some of the teams of the 60's and 70's. It was common for a team to have a "Big 3." And that's when a pitching staff had 4 starters, not the 5 that is more common today. I could name a half dozen teams off the top of my head that had 2 or more HOF (or near) starters.
Circa 1970, just to pick one year: Your Cards had Gibson and Carlton, Mets dumped Nolan Ryan because they felt they had other pitchers who were as good or better to go along with Seaver and Koosman, Orioles had a staff with 4 20 game winners one year, yet they consistently had 3. Palmer, who eventually made it to the Hall, wasn't even considered their best pitcher. Giants had Marichal and Gaylord Perry, A's had Hunter and Odom. Dodgers had Osteen and Sutton.-
@CrotchetyOldMan...see you understand!!! And what is sad is that I will NEVER be able to tell stories like that to my kids.
Outside of Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds, what is there to reminence about to my kids?
David Eckstien? Scott Rolen? They will look at me with that "who gives a shit, Dad?" look. -
Indeed. Look at the O's '79 team that LOST the World Series (and their 1980 club that MISSED the playoffs)
Starter 1: Jim Palmer (HoF)
Starter 2: Mike Flanigan (Cy young '79)
Starter 3: Scott McGregor (20-8 in 1980)
Starter 4: Dennis Martinez (Hof) --that's right, our #4 starter is HoF material...at least I think he's in their.
Spot starter in '79/#5 starter: Steve Stone (25 wins/Pitcher of Year 1980).
What???
Now look at us in recent years. Kris Bensen? Olsen? Daniel Cabrera? Oh how the mighty have fallen. -
...and Kris Benson's wife doesn't count, either.
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Why not, didn't they earn it?
I'm not a baseball fan but it just seems to me like you might be upset that your favorite team is out of the running.
Personally, I would find it boring if it were always the same teams winning championships.-
but what if it is better quality of baseball?
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I understand your point I just don't agree with it. When I was a kid I think it was always NY or Boston (I'm not sure) but it was always narrowed down to 2 teams that you knew would be in the playoffs.
Today (the rays proved this) it could be any number of teams. I think that makes it more interesting. -
you think he's bitter ekim, hell the way my team played this year , I am the bitter one!
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My husband and I were just talking about this the other night as we cried in our beers about the Cubbies getting swept. [sniff sniff...]
What is funny is that I'm so conditioned to the teams that were around when I was a kid that I don't even consider expansion teams to be in the league. They just don't enter my mind when I'm reading the sports section. "The who? Where are they from? Oh."
I feel the same way about the NFL. The only newer team I can say I consider "real" is the Ravens, and that is probably because I remember the Baltimore Colts and it always felt funny for Baltimore not to have a team anymore.
But back to baseball, the Rays? The Nationals? The Diamondbacks? The Marlins?
Nope. They just don't exist.
[Side note to Crotchety Old Man: You think Steinbrenner's re-thinking letting Torre go? he he.] -
The idea expansion has watered down the talent level is a myth. Baseball has been increasing there scouting in Latin Amercia for the past few decades, increasing their territories and as a result a massive amount of talent is signed every year.
On top of that Japan has only recently started allowing its top talent to cross the Pacific, making it one of the biggest potential areas for procuring talent now and in the future.
Even Canada has soon a huge boom in the amount of ameature players being drafted and working their way up to the major leagues. MLB teams now regularly send scouts north of the border to find and procure quality talent.
This isn't even including countries like Australia and Germany that have rapidly developing programs that are beginning to catch the eyes of scouts.
So while their may be more teams then their used to be, their is also far more countries to draw talent from. -
Definately watered down, hell we won the world series once with with a three man starting rotation, 3 man! can you even imagine that now???Not possible...but you know what I am kinda rooting for TB to win, I hate the Red Sox
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alright alright... Mom says 'hate' is a very strong word.
(We like sox, both white and red around here!) -
no my mom lives 4 doors down and she hates the red sox too, but not as much as the yankees
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Of course, I think that it's not a World Series unless it's NY Yankees vs. LA Dodgers...every year!
But I'll take Boston/LA...how could a diehard Lakers fan not want that matchup?
Boston Sucks! Boston Sucks! Boston Sucks!
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