MLB '24 Regular Season Thread

If Montreal had a decent temporary stadium (no, Olympic stadium is not decent) and concrete plans to build a new one, the A's should consider moving there. I have read hundreds of books about baseball during the time the Expos franchise existed, and never heard one bad word about actually playing in Montreal.

Bad words about ownership, some of the managers, etc., but never about living and playing there. Put the A's in the AL East, move the Diamondbacks to the AL West and go with a temporary 16-14 split until expansion, then move them back to the NL and make Portland the 16th AL franchise and put them in the AL West.

Montreal and Portland want teams. Las Vegas doesn't seem to.

 

There’s a revisionist history about baseball in Montreal.

Players may have enjoyed it, temporarily, but players did not want to be there. They weren’t well supported by fans or the business community.

Nostalgia has an odd way of twisting history.

 

Good read on how the White Sox pissed away a good rebuild.

The White Sox Fumbled Away Their Future in Historic Fashion

 

Well I don't/didn't live in Montreal and don't want to start a pissing match but even if it was a terrible venue the Expos drew very well for most of their Olympic Stadium history and didn't drop off until management starting selling off the team in 1997. Below the NL "average, but that "average" was skewed in part because the Rockies drew astronomical numbers in their early years.

Montreal Expos attendance per year - ExposNation

 

The Angels have a weird schedule this season. They don’t play an AL West game until May 17. Meanwhile, they have played Boston and Tampa home and home, will soon complete home and home with Baltimore and will have played four NL teams before they play a division opponent.

They don’t face Oakland until June 24, then have four series with the A’s by late July. They finish with 14 games against Texas and Houston in September.

 

I saw that they're in Cincinnati tonight and it feels like they've had more games in the Eastern time zone than at home so far.

 

A bit stat heavy, but overall that’s sadly on the money. Robert was the one player worth watching this year and now he’s out for a while.

 

Tonight’s starting lineup against the Phillies had more guys hitting in the .100s (four) than the .200s (three). Two guys were hitting under .100.

 

Guardians are good?

 

With, of course, the Royals in hot pursuit.

 

The Rangers got Travis d'Arnaud out. After he hit three homers, including a grand slam.