Baseball Toaster: The Griddle : The little press conference that nobody loved ...

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Chicago Cubs	97	64	.602	C1
2	Philadelphia	92	70	.568	E1
3	Los Angeles Dodgers	84	78	.519	W1
4	Milwaukee	90	72	.556	C2
5	New York Mets	89	73	.549	E2
6	Houston	86	75	.534	C3
7	St. Louis	86	76	.531	C4
8	Florida	84	77	.522	E3
9	Arizona	82	80	.506	W2
10T	Colorado	74	88	.457	W3
10T	Cincinnati	74	88	.457	C5
12T	Atlanta	72	90	.444	E4
12T	San Francisco	72	90	.444	W4
14	Pittsburgh	67	95	.414	C6
15	San Diego	63	99	.389	W5
16	Washington	59	102	.366	E5

American League

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Los Angeles Angels	100	62	.617	W1
2	Tampa Bay	97	65	.599	E1
3	Chicago White Sox	89	74	.546	C1
4	Boston	95	67	.586	E2
5	New York Yankees	89	73	.549	E3
6	Minnesota	88	75	.540	C2
7	Toronto	86	76	.531	E4
8	Cleveland	81	81	.500	C3
9	Texas	79	83	.488	W2
10	Oakland	75	86	.466	W3
11	Kansas City	75	87	.463	C4
12	Detroit	74	88	.457	C5
13	Baltimore	68	93	.422	E5
14	Seattle	61	101	.377	W4

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The Metro Area Battles

New York

W L GB

Yankees 89 73

Mets 89 73

Baltimore/DC

W L GB

X - Orioles 68 93

Nationals 59 102 9

Chicago

W L GB

X - Cubs 97 64

White Sox 89 74 9

LA/Orange County

W L GB

X - Angels 100 62

Dodgers 84 78 16

SF/Oakland

W L GB

X - Athletics 76 85

Giants 72 90 4.5

X - Clinched

So long and thanks for playing this year

1. Washington (8/31)
2. Seattle (9/1)
3. Pittsburgh (9/6) *
3. San Diego (9/6) *
5. Baltimore (9/8)
6. Oakland (9/8)
7. Atlanta (9/9)
8. Kansas City (9/9)
9. Cincinnati (9/10)
10. Texas (9/13)
11. Detroit (9/15)
12. San Francisco (9/17)
13. Colorado (9/18)
14. Cleveland (9/19)
15. Toronto (9/21)
16. New York Yankees (9/23)
17. St. Louis (9/23)
18. Florida (9/23)
19. Arizona (9/25)
20. Houston (9/26)
21. New York Mets (9/28)
22. Minnesota (9/30)
23. Chicago Cubs (10/4)
24. Milwaukee (10/5)
25. Chicago White Sox (10/6)
26. Los Angeles Angels (10/6)
27. Los Angeles Dodgers (10/15)
28. Boston (10/19)
29. Tampa Bay (10/29)

* - Teams eliminated at same time

The last batter to reach on catcher's interference was ...

Seth McClung of Milwaukee by Koyie Hill of the Cubs on September 26, 2008.

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The little press conference that nobody loved ...

2007-11-05 14:39

by Bob Timmermann

Ended up introducing John Russell as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The article identifies Russell as the "38th manager" of the Pirates. For some reason, there's been a trend in putting ordinal numbers in front of managers now. As if they are presidents or popes or some other job with a lot of responsibility.

And teams that switched leagues early in their history don't seem to want to count those managers. The Pirates aren't counting their years in the American Association from 1882-86. That drops their total from 46 to 38.

I have no idea why teams like the Pirates and Dodgers and Cardinals don't count their American Association years. Is it for convenience?

Do they think the teams were completely remade when they switched leagues?

1886 Pittsburgh players

1887 Pittsburgh players

They're not much different.

However, today's Milwaukee Brewers have moved from the AL to the NL seamlessly.

So why do I care about such matters? Maybe I'm just a fan of the historical record. The 19th Century American Association was a legitimate major league. No one would disagree with that. Do I not have ancestors just because they were born in a different state or country than me? Does a company's history start over if it switches from private to public?

Oh well, my complaining matters for little in this area. Actually, little would be overstating my influence in this area. Perhaps I can go back to my original theory I wanted to espouse and that was that most sports teams are run by people who have little idea that anything existed prior to 1995.

So sorry fans of the Dodgers, no extra league championship for you for 1889. And Cardinal fans, you don't get anything for 1885-88 either. Your PR departments can't be bothered with such trivialities.

Comments

2007-11-05 15:36:19

1. Eric Stephen

Keep fighting the good fight Bob. I wish this post involved the Phillies so I could have said "phight the good phight," but I digress.

2007-11-05 15:37:37

2. Gagne55

To be fair, there aren't exactly 4 AA pennant banners hanging in Busch Stadium.

2007-11-05 15:39:25

3. Bob Timmermann

I never said they were hanging the banners at Busch Stadium.

BUT THEY SHOULD!

2007-11-05 15:44:48

4. Gagne55

1 Too bad the Phillies have always been in the NL. Out of the eight NL teams that have existed since 1900 the break down is as follows:
There since the beggining: Cubs, Braves
NL Expansion teams: Phillies, Giants
Added in the AA merger: Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Cardinals

From the AA merger through 1899, the NL actually had 12 teams. The Baltimore, Cleveland, Lousiville and Washington franchises got contracted.

2007-11-05 16:32:44

5. Izzy

I prefer John Russel IIVV er XXXVIII somehthing like that. Wait. Triple XXX managers that's bad. Oh never mind.

2007-11-05 17:52:01

6. gpellamjr

5 What is "IIVV"?

Bob has become so opinionated of late, so angry, so edgy. When you only know someone through the internet, a slight change in demeanor carries with it the sense that one is talking to an entirely different person.

2007-11-06 00:57:12

7. Bill Crain

6
http://tinyurl.com/323ezy

2007-11-06 04:54:48

8. Daniel Zappala

Bob, as part of the unwashed masses, what book would be the best one to read about the American Association and other early baseball history?

2007-11-06 08:39:50

9. Bob Timmermann

7
Raging about the lack of respect for the AA is not included, so I'm OK.

8
I would suggest this book:
http://tinyurl.com/373pnc

2007-11-06 09:41:15

10. wireroom

Bob you work at the library right? I got a pretty good book there the other day called "The Only Game in Town," by Fay Vincent. He has some pretty great interviews with ball players from the 30s and 40s in there. Not exactly pre-19th century stuff, but those guys have some great stories and insights on today's game.

2007-11-06 10:24:09

11. ToyCannon

Bob, just an FYI
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071106/music_nm/cash_dc_1

2007-11-06 11:10:22

12. For The Turnstiles

"He seemed like such an easygoing guy ... but then someone said something about the 'Ham Fighters' and he just snapped ... he was never the same after that ..."

2007-11-06 11:31:42

13. Bob Timmermann

11
I never want to have even a benign condition in my brain. I don't want people poking around in it. Hope everything goes well for her.