# How do Houston fans feel about coming shift to American League? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 25, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332 "2012-07-25T13:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/1 "2012-07-25T13:28:03Z")
I guess the Milwaukee situation has set a precedent, but to me a team switching between the American and National leagues is a very weird concept to be comfortable with. I guess younger people, not having lived through the pre-interleague era, might not really have much of a feeling of what used to be a wall between the two leagues. But I’m just curious how Houston fans feel about the upcoming switch. Does it feel like a big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/2 "2012-07-25T13:36:51Z")
Definitely sucks. There’s a lot of history in the NL, teams to hate, teams to despise, teams to really, really dislike. The fact that the team is so absolutely terrible right now, and will be starting from close to a blank slate, is a bit of a mitigating factor, though. It’s a lot like rooting for an expansion team right now; the league change just accentuates that. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/3 "2012-07-25T13:57:43Z")
I wonder why Houston ownership is agreeing to it. What’s the financial benefit? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/4 "2012-07-25T13:59:18Z")
I assume they are heartbroken. Unless they make it to the series, they won’t get to play real baseball again. And even then it will only be around half the games. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/5 "2012-07-25T14:49:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I wonder why Houston ownership is agreeing to it. What’s the financial benefit? I believe it was a condition of MLB approving the sale. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/6 "2012-07-25T14:56:22Z")
Ah. So it was coerced, basically. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/7 "2012-07-25T14:59:52Z")
Arguably, the increased schedule and common divisional objective with the Rangers makes for good marketing and attendance. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/8 "2012-07-25T15:12:13Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Definitely sucks. There’s a lot of history in the NL, teams to hate, teams to despise, teams to really, really dislike. To elaborate: Fuck the Reds for taking advantage of a congenital idiot and stealing Joe Morgan. Fuck the Dodgers. Orel Hershiser. Tommy Lasorda. Pure evil. Fuck the Giants. Will Clark left such an aura of douchiness that the whole city would have to be burned down and sown with salt, and even so it would linger in the atmosphere for the next 12,341 years. Fuck the Cardinals. Tony Larussa. Also, Will Clark. Fuck the Pirates for low-balling Barry Bonds and giving a big contract to Andy Van Slyke and then whining for two decades about how that turned out for them. Fuck the Phillies for stealing Curt Schilling. For that matter, fuck Curt Schilling. Also, for turning the Astros into a farm team this decade. Fuck the Diamondbacks for taking Luis Gonzalez and having him miraculously develop massive home-run power just after he arrived. Somehow. Fuck the Marlins for being the worst possible example of how to build a team and then winning 2 world series anyway. Fuck the Padres for Steve Finley and Ken Caminiti, see Luis Gonzalez/Arizona supra. Also, Kevin Brown in '98. Fuck the Braves. '97 and '99. Fuck the Mets. Fucking Lenny Dykstra. Fuck the Rockies for playing baseball at low gravity. Fuck the Cubs for barely trying. Okay, it’s actually hard to find anything to despise about the Montreal Expos. _Allez Les Expos!_ And that covers all of the legitimate major-league teams in the National League. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/9 "2012-07-25T15:29:35Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I wonder why Houston ownership is agreeing to it. What’s the financial benefit? $70 million. Half of that is being paid by MLB. > [@"\[link](#): > > ([http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111117&content\_id=25992120&vkey=news\_hou&c\_id=hou](http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111117&content_id=25992120&vkey=news_hou&c_id=hou))"]Selig was careful to say that McLane, not Crane, was the person who accepted the pre-sale stipulation that the Astros move to the AL. Last May, when McLane and Crane came to agreement, the sale price was announced at $680 million. But when Crane was told the sale was contingent on the Astros changing leagues, he was granted a $70 million credit. That discount reportedly is being split evenly by MLB and McLane. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/10 "2012-07-25T15:32:19Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Okay, it’s actually hard to find anything to despise about the Montreal Expos. _Allez Les Expos!_ Well, there was that whole “moving to Washington DC” thing. That was kind of a crappy thing to do to the several dozen Québécois that followed the team… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/11 "2012-07-25T15:33:14Z")
So does the NL Central just have four teams in it forever now, or is there a plan to have an expansion team take its place at some point? ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/12 "2012-07-25T15:37:54Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > So does the NL Central just have four teams in it forever now, or is there a plan to have an expansion team take its place at some point? It currently has 6 teams. It will go down to 5 teams once Houston leaves. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/13 "2012-07-25T15:38:22Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > So does the NL Central just have four teams in it forever now, or is there a plan to have an expansion team take its place at some point? Currently the N.L. Central has _six_ teams – Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. Losing Houston will bring it to five, evening out all six divisions. That’s kind of part of the point. If the division had not been bigger than all the others, I doubt they would have gone through this. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/14 "2012-07-25T15:38:55Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > So does the NL Central just have four teams in it forever now, or is there a plan to have an expansion team take its place at some point? I thought they had six teams now and that there will be six five team divisions next year. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/15 "2012-07-25T15:59:05Z")
Yeah, and the AL Central currently has four, to become five next year. I absolutely think that’s better for the game, although we’ll have to see how the consequence – a much expanded interleague schedule so that you can have every team play on a given day – plays out. (I’m not against interleague play in general.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/16 "2012-07-25T16:06:08Z")
Interleague every day (that all 30 teams are in action) does _not_ require more total interleague games than have been played in recent years–in fact it can be accomplished with fewer. I haven’t seen 2013 schedules though to make the actual comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/17 "2012-07-25T16:13:08Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Yeah, and the AL Central currently has four, to become five next year. I absolutely think that’s better for the game, although we’ll have to see how the consequence – a much expanded interleague schedule so that you can have every team play on a given day – plays out. (I’m not against interleague play in general.) > > –Cliffy The AL West has four. AL Central has five. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/18 "2012-07-25T16:16:24Z")
I see some people are buying the propaganda line that there is a National League franchise in Milwaukee. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/19 "2012-07-25T16:48:48Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > I see some people are buying the propaganda line that there is a National League franchise in Milwaukee. Well, there _was_ one from 1953 to 1965. Though I’m not from Milwaukee, the Brewers’ switch seemed very weird at the time, but I think most fans have gotten used to it. To me it actually seems fairly natural to think of them as NL’ers now. In fact, I like the rivalry that’s grown between them and the Cubs. I expect that folks will similarly adjust to the 'Stros changing leagues eventually. It beats leaving town, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332/20 "2012-07-25T16:55:14Z")
Each league will now have an odd number of teams, right? Doesn’t that make scheduling harder? For instance, at least one team in each league will be idle every day (except for interleague). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-houston-fans-feel-about-coming-shift-to-american-league/629332.md?page=2)