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Phils, Rays could have been division rivals
The Phillies and Rays have only played 15 regular season games against each other in 11 years, and that is only because of the abomination known as Interleague Play. If it wasn’t for some backroom dealings, they would have played a lot more as rivals in the National League East.
Does anyone find it strange that, of the four new expansion teams, three of them (Florida, Colorado, and Arizona) are in the National League and one of them is in the American League?
Before 1993, there were 14 teams in the American League and 12 in the National League. Plans were to expand by four teams over a five-year period and have 16 NL teams.
Of course, there are 16 NL teams, but not the way anyone thought there would be.
Let’s go back to 1992, when the San Francisco Giants were supposed to move to St. Petersburg. The team was sold, the deal was done, and Bud Selig reversed it all and forced the Giants to give the people another chance to build them a stadium out west.
This was a blow to Tampa Bay, but we Florida folk were told back then that it was OK, because we would get an expansion team in the first wave of two teams.
That of course didn’t happen, as Denver and Miami got the first two teams. This is because Marlins owner H. Wayne Huizenga had more money and more friends than folks in Tampa Bay.
Huizenga didn’t stop there. He insisted that, when Tampa Bay was awarded its franchise, that the Rays were not in the NL with the Marlins. The Arizona owners had a few friends, too, and they demanded assurances that the D-backs would stay in the NL.
So how did the Rays end up in the AL? What team would want to switch leagues and give up all the rivalries its fans had grown accustomed to for a whole new group of teams?
The only solution was for Bud Selig to move his own team – the Milwaukee Brewers – into the NL to open up a spot in the AL for the Rays.
This had two effects on the Rays’ franchise. First, 80 years of spring training in the area had built a strong fan base for National League teams, which meant that a lot of longtime baseball fans would not be able to see their teams. Hence, horrible attendance for a decade.
Second, they were stuck in a division with the megapowers – the Yankees and Red Sox – for all eternity. Hence, a horrible team for a decade.
Clearly, they overcame it this year, but will it last once the Yanks have an unlimited revenue stream in a new stadium?
Does anyone find it strange that, of the four new expansion teams, three of them (Florida, Colorado, and Arizona) are in the National League and one of them is in the American League?
Before 1993, there were 14 teams in the American League and 12 in the National League. Plans were to expand by four teams over a five-year period and have 16 NL teams.
Of course, there are 16 NL teams, but not the way anyone thought there would be.
Let’s go back to 1992, when the San Francisco Giants were supposed to move to St. Petersburg. The team was sold, the deal was done, and Bud Selig reversed it all and forced the Giants to give the people another chance to build them a stadium out west.
This was a blow to Tampa Bay, but we Florida folk were told back then that it was OK, because we would get an expansion team in the first wave of two teams.
That of course didn’t happen, as Denver and Miami got the first two teams. This is because Marlins owner H. Wayne Huizenga had more money and more friends than folks in Tampa Bay.
Huizenga didn’t stop there. He insisted that, when Tampa Bay was awarded its franchise, that the Rays were not in the NL with the Marlins. The Arizona owners had a few friends, too, and they demanded assurances that the D-backs would stay in the NL.
So how did the Rays end up in the AL? What team would want to switch leagues and give up all the rivalries its fans had grown accustomed to for a whole new group of teams?
The only solution was for Bud Selig to move his own team – the Milwaukee Brewers – into the NL to open up a spot in the AL for the Rays.
This had two effects on the Rays’ franchise. First, 80 years of spring training in the area had built a strong fan base for National League teams, which meant that a lot of longtime baseball fans would not be able to see their teams. Hence, horrible attendance for a decade.
Second, they were stuck in a division with the megapowers – the Yankees and Red Sox – for all eternity. Hence, a horrible team for a decade.
Clearly, they overcame it this year, but will it last once the Yanks have an unlimited revenue stream in a new stadium?
posted by Matthew Osborne at
11:32 PM
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