This isn't a thread neccesarily pertaining to the Astros only, but for the entire state of MLB in-general. The American League is WIPING THE FLOOR with the National League. The Astros have gone 1-3 on this road-trip thus far, while St. Louis went 0-6 on the same road trip, and are about to lose their 7th straight to Cleveland (at home). Boston whoops up on the Phillies... the Yankees bash the Braves in.... the Twins are beating everybody. Seriously... EVERY team in the AL Central has dominated their respective foe in the NL Central (even KC opened up a can of whopass agasint the Astros, Brewers, and Pirates). It normally wouldn't be a big deal, except for the fact that the overall goal this year is to WIN the World Series... and I honestly can't see ANY team from the NL doing that (even those mighty Mets... who WILL have pitching problems in a 7 game series). Its honestly like every single good hitter has found a home on an AL team... and the NL has had to fend for the scrap-heap. In the NL, you consider yourself blessed to have a guy like Pujols and Berkman... but in the AL, you better have one of those guys, plus a couple more who can be just as good on any given night. Also, its not just the DH anymore... everything is better. Starting pitching is more weathered to face tough lineups... bullpens are called upon more to succeed in crucial situations... and each team's bench has guys who are worthy of starting for any contending NL club (definitely a far cry from the Bruntlett's, So Taguchi's, and Oscar Robles' of the NL). The bottom line... we play in an INFERIOR league... might as well be AAAA. (rant over)
So it's like we are the Eastern Conference. We better start making it to the finals....err World Series every season.
Hate to say but I think its true. The NL is the Eastern Conference of MLB. On the plus side the Astros had a chance to win every one of the games against the Sox, which is more than can be said about the Cardinals.
Agreed the AL is rocking right now. And the Astros are struggling....especially in the pitching category. DD
Everything is cyclical. And "inferior" teams win the World Series with regularity. It's why they play the games.
I'm assuming (I don't know for sure, I wasn't around back then) that the DH came about as a result of the AL sucking offensively compared to the NL. *I am not suggesting that the NL should adopt the designated hitter.
I've been noticing this too living in an AL Central city. Its not just hitting the pitching has also gotten a lot better. A lot of people were surprised when Liriano outpitched Clemens but he's been doing that all year. For about a decade the AL Central really sucked with the exception of Cleveland and started building up draft picks so they are chock full of teams with young talent which is just now peaking. Also AL managers seem to be able to get more out of their talent. Watching the AL Central destroy the NL Central unfortunately including the Stros it seems like AL hitters are almost always getting the key hit to extend a rally while their pitchers and fielders are able to get the key out to shut down a rally. Personally I can't wait for this AL Central swing to be over because I've been taking a lot of crap whenever I'm wearing my Stros cap here in MN.
I disagree. The AL is just the favorite of the MLB so they get better media coverage and everyone looks to them as the example for baseball. The NL is where real players go. Look who we have: Pujols, Clemens, Berkman, the only one I would give away is Bonds. Screw the AL and their DH.
BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!! Two hot weeks, and you're caving to the junior circuit?? The AL sucks. Don't worry; you'll wake up from this nightmare soon enough. Just repeat this 20 times every night before you go to bed: "The AL sucks. The DH is the devil. The AL sucks. The DH is the devil."
Average opening day payroll AL 83,476,361 NL 72,376,695 That might have at least a little to do with the disparity.
You have to take out the highest *and* lowest of each league if you're going to do that, or else your results are disingenuously skewed. Besides, the AL sucks, so I don't care what they pay for their rosters.
AL payrolls tend to be higher because they have to pay millions to a decent DH instead of paying a couple hundred thousand to some guy sitting the bench.
that's true. they're paying for 9 everyday hitters. we're paying for 8 and a pitcher. good point, supermac...i never considered that.
I agree with this guy, the AL is gonna be better than the NL for awhile... Sam Donnellon | AL dominance isn't just a trendBASEBALL IS a game of trends and streaks, so the following information should be viewed with that in mind. An American League team has won 10 of the last 14 World Series, six of the last eight, and has swept the last two. The AL's All-Star representatives are unbeaten in the last nine meetings. Over those nine seasons, AL teams have won 32 World Series games and lost 16 - a winning percentage that would put them atop any division right now. The American League is dominating interleague play again this season, including sweeps this weekend by the first-place Tigers over the first-place Cardinals, and the first-place Red Sox over the, ahem, second-place Phillies. Sure, it's been like this over the life of the game - one league taking it to the other for stretches of time. If you grew up in the 1970s and '80s, it was the National League pounding the American League. There are even similarities. The Big Red Machine was a perennial postseason contender as the Yankees are now. There were those great Cardinals teams of the 1980s as well. Here's where it is different, though. There were no $300 million television contracts in those days, no regional networks like the one in New England and in other places, no blank-check mentality driving competitors to do the same. The idea behind baseball's luxury tax - besides cost containment - was to level the playing field. Instead, it has encouraged a caste system. According to a recent story in the New York Times, the Yankees' payroll of $208 million last year was twice as high as any in the National League. Owner George Steinbrenner paid as much in revenue-sharing and taxes as the Mets - with the NL's highest payroll - did on salaries. The Mets have their sweetheart TV deal too, and so do the Red Sox, and a host of others. It's not just the Red Sox and Yankees going for broke anymore. The White Sox, Angels, and Rangers are pushing more chips to the middle of the table than all but one or two teams in the National League. If the Phillies were an American League team, the debate about whether they were sellers or buyers would be over by now. The big-spending Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays would alone dictate that, without even factoring in the war between the White Sox and Tigers in the Central Division, or even the milder one out west between the Rangers and Athletics. Oh yes, you can all forget about getting Barry Zito. Given how well Billy Beane and his boys do in judging talent, we should be looking to sell, sell, sell. Arizona nearly put itself in bankruptcy to win its World Series. Twice the Marlins have won the World Series and then blown up their team for financial reasons. That's not to say money isn't spent in the National League. Averaged out, there's not much of a difference between the two leagues. But the top four payrolls reside in the American League, a clear indicator that Steinbrenner's team plays there. The four AL clubs who made the postseason last year were 47-25 against the National League. More telling perhaps is that the four National League teams were one game under .500 (31-32) against the AL. When GMs were asked by Sports Illustrated this spring to rank the best teams, eight of 11 were from the American League. Steinbrenner doesn't get all the credit or scorn for that. Constructed to both employ a designated hitter and defend against one, American League teams seem to have an advantage come postseason, especially if they keep gaining home-field advantage by winning the All-Star Game. American League relievers play a more crucial and consistent role throughout the regular season, and face more potent everyday lineups. Provided they are not spent as Tom Gordon was with the Yankees last season, it stands to reason that those relievers are more battle-ready when October rolls around. Hate the DH as you should, but understand as long as their league has one and yours doesn't, you are playing with one bat tied behind your back - and maybe both hands, too. That's not a trend. That's Major League Baseball as currently constructed. The big dogs are all in the American League, and will remain there. The teams in the National League will continue to trail by a good distance, hoping to collect enough scraps to make an occasional meal. http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/baseball/14910158.htm?source=rss&channel=philly_baseball
All based on that cheap-assed crutch known as the DH. Let's give them a rover, too. Why not? How many rules can we change for the junior circuit? Screw the AL, that's not baseball. Give me Nolan Ryan hitting dingers and Mike Hampton driving in all 3 runs in his own 9-inning shutout every day of the week. Give me Shaner bunting some lightweight shortstop over to 2nd and Bidge doubling him home. Give me some well-executing run manufacturing and not every team sitting back waiting for the long ball or the big inning. Give me the hit-and-run instead of the sit-and-wait. Yeah, screw the freaking junior circus. The AL wins more games (for now), and the AL still sucks. Check, check.
Why do AL teams still beat the crap out of the NL teams in their own ballparks where there isn't a DH? An american league lineup is just plain deeper all around, regardless of the DH.
