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Realignment [UPDATED]
Published 8:51pm Monday, June 20, 2011 Updated 8:58pm Monday, June 20, 2011There has been a lot of talk again about realignment in the Major Leagues. It’s a topic that comes up every once in awhile but nothing ever seems to get done by it.
It doesn’t get done because it isn’t as easy to do as a person may think. Right now the National League has 16 teams and the American League has 14 so there is thought of sending Houston of the National League over to the American League to even things out.
The National League Central is the only division in baseball with 6 teams and the American League West has only 4 teams so it looks easy enough.
I few things have to be decided first before they can go on with the realignment though. First of all if you have two leagues of 15 teams there would be one team not playing a series unless you continued inter-league play. In this case there would always be a National League team playing an American League team not just stretches as they do now.
I haven’t always been sure how I feel about inter-league play but I do find myself wanting to watch the Twins when they do play a National League team, so I think it will keep going especially after the ratings going up on games this weekend.
They have also thought about eliminating the various divisions and having two 15 team leagues with the first 6 teams making the playoffs. But again with the uneven teams they would still have inter-league play. Would the league consider contracting two teams to even it up?
If they continue to have inter-league play baseball is going to have to figure out a couple of other things. One is to figure out how to even up the schedule so it is as fair as possible for all teams. For example a National League team could get stuck playing the Yankees and Red Sox when their competition in the division may play the Royals or the Orioles. Then the DH becomes a factor. The American League is at a little disadvantage because they play with a DH all year until they play a National League team in the National League Park.
I still feel if they are going to realign they may as well go all the way and throw all the teams in a hat and pick new divisions. Then eliminate the DH or keep it one or the other. Hopefully then they can make a fair schedule after that.
-We have heard the Twins coaching staff talk about “pitching to contact”. A friend of mine sent me another bloggers opinion of what the phrase “pitching to contact” is.
Here it is “Don’t walk people. Throw strikes. Hit spots in the strike zone. Make batters swing the bat. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.”
If this is the coach’s definition then why don’t they just say, “Throw strikes”? I suppose the “pitching to contact” is a fancy way of saying “throw strikes”. Kinda like everyone saying “surreal” instead of just saying the old word “weird”.
Coaches have been telling their pitchers for decades to throw strikes and they have been doing that at every level. I think it means a little more than that. I think throwing strikes is a big part of it as nobody wants to walk anybody. But I think to the Twins it means becoming a pitcher like Brad Radke who has to rely on his control to win games and to out think the hitter to win. With pitchers with the type of arm as Radke that is what you do, like Carl Pavano. But to make a Radke type pitcher out of a Liriano is not the thing to do.
All Liriano needed is some work on his mechanics to become more consistent and then the biggest thing he needed was confidence enough to throw all of his pitches. Of course we all want him and all our pitchers to throw strikes and if the hitter does hit the ball we hope it is right at somebody.
With Liriano you just get him to throw strikes and with his stuff there will be little contact.
Realignment — how much of that talk is being driven by the pile-up in the AL East? I say put two more franchises in New York so market sizes are more balanced. Two leagues of 16 teams each — a scheduler’s dream. Inter-league and unbalanced schedules would be optional. And the Yankees could try to complete on a more level playing field.
I agree that the phrase “pitch to contact” is truly a bad choice of words. It sounds so counter-productive. But I think the concept is good. And we agree that we like the improvement that Liriano has shown. Personally, I think Brad Radke is one of the top 5 Twins pitchers, ever. What’s wrong with Liriano learning to throw his heater for strikes like Radke could do? What’s wrong with Liriano learning the craft of setting up hitters that Radke was so good at? I think it makes him a better, more complete pitcher — like the ace we hope he can become. Adding control and craft to Liriano’s toolbox is a good thing, in my opinion, and not an ill-conceived plot to screw up Liriano. You recall how beatable Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax were in the first part of their careers — they only became dominant pitchers when they learned the craft of pitching and how to control their electric stuff. Hopefully Liriano is on that road.
Finally, we all owe a tremendous debt to Randy. When the Fat Lady stopped in Herman for directions to Target Field, he sent her to Melby. She spent 3 days at the bar doing shots and pull tabs before hooking up with a couple of bikers. Last seen, they were headed for Reno. Yeah, Randy!!!
Thank you very much Tracy, it’s nice to know I contributed to the Twins success. I accept cash donations.
I am not a traditionalist when it comes to realignment, etc. I like change and I like interleague play. It gives us a chance to see and learn about more teams than before. I like the new ideas being bantered about.
Pitching-to-contact could be shortened to just plain pitching. I have really enjoyed watching our starters grow this summer. I love to watch Liriano pitch instead of throw. He’s becoming a force.
Having said that though and even with the Twins current winning ways, they really aren’t playing that well. They are pitching well but the hitting is questionable from the majority of players and the fielding and base running is awful. Take the Padre game the other day. Young gets doubled-up on a fly ball, Liriano picks off a guy and he would’ve beat Hughes’ throw if he hadn’t overslid the base, and the list of miscues go on and on. I am still waiting for our major leaguers to come back.
But ………….. they are winning and I have to give them alot of credit. Go Twins!