Back to Baseball’s Future – How No Collusion Leads to part of BttF’s 2015 – a TLIAD

More baseball?


Sure, thanks to a post about getting to 2015 in Back to the Future II and a comment I made about there being no wild card, etc..


Only the baseball part for you and not the hoverboards and such, of course.


Yes, ZhengHe1421’s one about a rejuvenated National Pastime is dormant, but I figured there should be one. But, the rest is too complex, and all those faxes in BttF II are too weird even if it’s just one person with them – and that is plausible, since I know a guy who is such an obsessive taper he tapes about 9 shows at once with Dish but never watches any.



He tapes… oh boy. Wait, I don’t see how the Yankees signing Carlton Fisk *helps* - it’s rich teams getting richer.


Only for the moment; it’s got elements of the early contraction what-if I mentioned that I abandoned, so we’ll see a better MLB in the long run.


Except for White Sox faithful.


A query on baseball-fever.com said fans were all ready to just go to Milwaukee for A.L. games then, anyway – only 90 miles away. 1983 will be akin to the 1948 Braves.


Sad, but I guess they only miss a couple years at Old Comiskey. This could be very interesting. At least you’re not just doing some homage to the origins of this with a crazy pun.


No, but I could mention the origins of baseball being the English game of rounders. Let’s just start the feature.
 
Part 1 – A Third Missed Call


It’s said missed calls were the story of 1985. A missed call from an owner changed a lot.


The most famous missed call was Don Denkinger’s missing of an out cal in Game 56 of the 1985 World Series. The royals might have wont hat anyway if Jack Clark still has his miss of a pop-up, but they surely would have if the correct call had been made earlier in the game, when a Royal runner was called out tried to steal a base when he was safe. The single by the next hitter would have brought him in, meaning the score should have been tied at 1 when Denkinger missed that call, and then they could have squeezed a run across later.


However, the call from the owner was that of the White Sox’ owner to George Steinbrenner. The Boss of the Yankees was ready to sign Carlton Fisk, but an agreement was in place by the owners not to sign any free agents, thus keeping salaries down. Jerry Reinsdorf tried to call The Boss and talk him out of it, but a trip to the bathroom prevented it, and Fisk came quickly enough that by the time Reinsdorf called, the deal was signed.


“You’ll pay for this,” he promised Steinbrenner. He knew Steinbrenner would likely go after Tommy John, who had had a very poor 1985 but who had thrived in Yankee Stadium. A former White Sox player, John could easily be re-signed. He also broke off the trade talks he’d had regarding sending Britt Burns to the Yankees for young Joe Cowley. Ron Hassey would now have to be Chicago’s everyday starting catcher; of course, that was when he thought he’d keep Fisk because of the collusion agreement.


Instead, the ball started rolling on other moves. The Dodgers quickly opened negotiations with Kirk Gibson – he would sign and play right field for them, with Mike Marshall moving to first base. The Dodgers were proclaimed to be favorites to win the N.L. in ’86 because of this.


The White Sox, seeking to bolster their pitching even more, also signed Phil Niekro away from the Yankees. With Britt Burns getting hurt and never pitching again(1), this would be especially necessary; they had chased the aged Niekro hoping that the pitching staff of Burns, Bannister, Dotson, Seaver, and John would be joined by Niekro and that John and Niekro would fight for the 5th starter spot, with the other working out of the bullpen. Now, they found themselves upping their rice for Niekro and inserting him into the rotation, and also forced to trade Bobby Bonilla before the season began to Pittsburgh for Jose DeLeon.


In the end, Chicago sent Seaver and Niekro to the Red Sox for the stretch run, where they helped to hold off the Yankees, Boston winning 97 to New York’s 94. The Red Sox ended up pitching Niekro in relief a couple times, including in that crucial Game 5, and starting him in Game 3 with Seaver unable; Niekro would do well but lose 4-1 with Oil Can boyd losing Game 4 7-3. Bruce Hurst did so well in his first 2 games in the World Series, he was used to pich Game 7 and the Red Sox lost, with Niekro coming in too late to pitch an inning before Darryl Strawberry homers off another reliever to give the Mets a 7-5 win.(3)


The White Sox had finished in 6th, too close to last for comfort. Their dreams of a great pitching stuff were quickly vanishing; only Bannister had had a decent ERA, and a 69-93 season after such promise was awful. Fans had really stopped coming. Ron hassey hadn’t been the star Fisk had been though he’d had a better year. And, there were rumblings that the White Sox might look to move if they didn’t get a new stadium. With it being a Cubs town, some felt that the time had come for there to be only one two-team town – unless one counted Anaheim, where the Angels played, in with Los Angeles.


In New York, meanwhile, Dave Winfield had only hit in the .260s in September, down from over .300 in July and the .280s in August. Steinbrenner led a chorus of boos against him, and the rancor grew even worse than the previous year, so much so that – with the Yankees being so close yet again – it was easy for Steinbrenner to point to him as a “choker.”


Winfield decided it would be better if he were traded, if they were going to be like this. The woner had even made some disparaging comments about Winfield’s charity, along with a tirade about Winfield’s bat being absent during a 10-day stretch when they lose 4 times to the Tigers in 7 games, each of them being very low scoring.


Trade talks began throughout the offseason, while discussions by owners broke down concerning free agents. Tim Raines would go to the Dodgers, where he wanted to play, Andre Dawson would be highly sought after, and the Yankees even feared losing Ron Guidry for a time before re-signing him. Rich Gedman went to Oakland, and the team that didn’t land Dawon had to be ready to cough up some players for Dave Winfield.


Fittingly, a great feel-good story would emerge when Winfield won the World Series in ’87, having an excellent year for the team that acquired him.


However, that would be outweighed by the rumblings in Chicago, which finished well into last place despite a a very good first go-around by the rookie they drafted – Jack McDowell – whom they brought up almost immediately to try to get fans to come. They started 22-49(4) and traded arguably their best pitcher around that time – Tommy John, who was getting into his late 40s! They were clearly building for the future, a future which would be in another city.


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(1) Happened OTL with Yankees.


(2) OTL done in July, DeLeon pitched much worse in relief for Pirates, would do bitter with new start after 2-19 1985 but still somewhat more poorly than Cowley.


(3) Niekro being there gives the Red Sox a slightly better starter over the 2nd half than Al Nipper, and he could pitch better coming out of the bullpen. Hence, they win a couple more than OTl and he’d have some role in the playoffs, pitching better in Game 3 but with Bob Ojeda pitching even better. They’d still want the hotter Hurst pitching Game 7, but would feel Niikro could be trusted more than Boyd out of the bullpen, but not before trying out their relievers. So, he gives up no runs, but the big Strawberry homer comes against a different reliever with the Mets up 6-5, not 7-5. As for the Yankees, Cowley lets them win a few more, but no John limits that tnad Fisk had an awful 1986; only his great handling of young pitchers Cowley and Doug Drabek lets them win a few more than OTL.


(4) Only 3 games worse than the pace of OTL before massive improvement, including a September OTL that wouldn’t be quite as good TTL.
 
Part 2 – A Last Gasp Big Trade?


There wasn’t much the Yankees could do about Andre Dawson. He wanted to go to the Cubs.(1) The Expos had traded Gary Carter away, knowing they’d get good prospects in return, before the 1985 season, but now they simply hoped against hope to be able to keep Raines and Dawson.


They ran into problems, though. Dawson and Raines each were one-year fixes for whomever got them, and the top teams really either didn’t need either (Houston and New York pretty much ran away with their divisions, and the Red Sox had a good lead and plenty of veteran outfield help) or weren’t as confident of signing either.(Texas, California) The Expos wanted too much for each – especially with the stories out from the 1985 drug trials about Raines and cocaine.


The Expos had been spreading these to their advantage with Raines, showing that they were “the ones who stood behind you.” They did the same thing with Dawson’s bad knees and the pounding he took at home on the Olympic Stadium artificial turf. They also tried to talk up the idea that had been floated the year before of collusion to not sign free agents. However, Dawson wouldn’t stay no matter what, and the players’ union was starting to get a little too curious. There had been over a week till Steinbrenner finally couldn’t resist Fisk where people wondered if something was fishy, but eventually everyone got signed, so they were like, “No harm, no foul.” But, the Expos’ attempts to bring up the drug trials, which were by now in the past to most, made some wonder if something else was up.


In the end, Raines left for Los Angeles, anyway. A call by the White Sox’ owner to Peter O’Malley only led to his leaking that if costs weren’t kept down, he’d be forced to move his club and so would several others. This wound up getting out to the press(intentionally) and caused rumors in several areas. Indeed, Charles Bronfman, owner of the Expos, lamented that he was growing tired of the escalating prices and was starting to look at getting out of baseball.


It made sense for them to at least claim this – even though the Players’ Association claimed they were just crying “wolf” like in the early ‘70s and again in 1976. 1985’s offseason hadn’t been that big except for Gibson, Fisk, and Donnie Moore. Moore had jumped from the Angels back to the National League, where he was more familiar with the teams, and inked a slightly larger deal with the Dodgers than the Angels offered him.(2)


Now, however, after ’86, not only were Dawson and Raines free agents, but so were Rich Gedman and pitchers Ron Guidry, Doyle Alexander, and Jack Morris, among numerous others. And, bob Horner would be another big name who had finally had a semi-healthy year; he wanted to play first, but realized he might be forced to sign with someone as their DH and aprt-time first baseman in the American League if he wanted to be with a winner.


With Dave Winfield made available on the market, Steinbrenner knew he needed a good outfielder in return. He really wanted a third baseman, shortstop, or both, too. He contacted several teams about Winfield to see what would be offered.


Carl Pohlad, who had bought the Twins and saved them from moving to Tampa, was very rich, but also stingy. Still, the elderly man really wanted a World Series title. His team had made some good trades, but overall, they had a poor minor league system and looked like they would have little chance of contention unless a major trade happened and he signed a free agent or two. And this after a very promising 1984 which had led a number of major publications to pick them to win the division – maybe even the pennant - in 1985.


His number one pursuit was of Minnesota native Jack Morris. With Kirk Gibson having left the team, along with Lance Parrish, Sparky Anderson had brought his team into 4th place, but he was lamenting that teams just “couldn’t stay together anymore.” Pohlad convinced Morris that it would be better to lead a winner – and with Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven available, he had a good pitching staff going. California was aging and Texas was probably going to fall back some, he argued, so the 5th place Twins had a chance in the next few years to contend. And, he pledged to go hard after Dave Winfield – that was what convinced Morris Pohlad meant business.


Winfield and Morris were Minnesota natives. The Twins had some good pieces in their minor league system, just not a lot. In a bidding frenzy with the Cardinals, Royals, and Astros for Winfield, Pohlad’s team was willing to offer their top reserve infielder, either outfielder Randy Bush or Tom Brunansky – or perhaps both – top prospects Allan Anderson and Mark Portugal from their pitching staff along with veteran hurler Mike Smithson and closer Keith Atherson for Winfield and another player or two; they’d already been discussing a trade for Jeff Reardon of the Expos.(3)


Steinbrenner liked the idea. He could use the young pitchers to get other players, though he’d keep Anderson. Smithson or Portugal were definitely good bait to try to get Tommy John from the White Sox; plus, if Guidry faltered more, they would need a good young hurler. He’d already planned to send Doug Drabek to the Pirates for Rick Rhoden, and would do so.


The Twins sold the moves as being proof that small markets could compete, but they and others pressured Commissioner Ueberroth to do something to gain more revenue. Clearly, collusion hadn’t worked, because Steinbrenner had been too hasty. Ueberroth told them they had to drive salaries down, and suggested that something else be used to drive them down; perhaps the stories of steroids that he’d been hearing about. It wouldn’t happen right away, but would eventually.


For now, the 1987 Twins won 94 games with a rotation of Morris, Viola, Blyleven, and Les Straker, and with Joe Niekro and Steve Carlton as fifth starters. They beat the Blue Jays in 6 games; a team which had won the division by 3 over the Yankees.


Then, in the World Series, Jack Morris won Game 1 and Viola Game 2 in Minnesota. Bert Blyleven lost a rather highs coring Game 3 in which Straker some in relief; Straker then pitched 1.1 innings in relief of Morris in Game 4 in a loss. After that, Viola got the win in a high scoring Game 5. Finally, back in Minnesota, Winfield nailed down his Series MVP trophy with a couple more home runs as Blyleven got the win and Straker went 2.1 before Reardon came in to close it in the 9th for a 10-6 win. Straker had given up 3 runs in the game, but it didn’t matter; the Twins were Series champs as they’d hoped.


“TWINS PROVE DOUBTERS WRONG” was the Sport Illustrated headline. The “doubters,” in this case, had been many – those who doubted that they could beat the Blue Jays, those who doubted small market teams could win, and of course Steinbrenner for doubting Winfield.


Things weren’t so happy in Montreal, though. They finished just over .500, tied for 3rd with the Pirates, and drew only an average of 14,200 fans per game.(4) They had some good young players, and Dennis Martinez had done well, but would it be enough?


Meanwhile, the White Sox had traded Tommy John for Joe Cowley, the pitchers they’d coveted, Mike Smithson, and another player. It didn’t work out – Cowley was 0-4 in what would be his last game, Smithson wasn’t very good, and they finished in last with a 72-90 mark. Worse, they were 30 games under .500 on August 22 and only a very good rest of the season got them where they wound up. They had a decent group of youngsters, but they didn’t have the core needed to get a new stadium built, not when the Cubs were installing lights and would play 18 night games a year starting in 1989.


The 1988 White Sox would be in last again at 67-95 the following year, and only draw as many as they did because the club announced in may they would move to Tampa for the 1989 season. The Expos, meanwhile, began to look at moving, too, as they dipped to an average of 12,700 fans a game and a 74-88 mark, in 5th place, despite Dennis Martinez’ remaining(5) to help a young team which had Otis Nixon as a good fielding, fast, but poor hitting replacement for Raines. Little did fans know there was a group in Miami which would consider buying them.(6)


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(1) OTL he gave them a blank check, so it’s pretty clear that he wanted the Cubs. The Expos had done the same thing OTL with his bad knees, so they must have felt like they could lose him even with collusion and yet didn’t try to trade him.


(2) Moore might have re-signed with the angels, he had a career year in ’85. However, it was his only year in the A.L. to that point, and the Dodgers began signing more free agents in a few years OTL. Not only that, but Tom Niekdenfeuer had never beena top reliever, so after a poor NLCS, it makes sense the Dodgers would chase him. Gibson, going to the Dodgers in ’99 OTL, is more likely to have sought them out, though.


(3) He did sign Morris in ’91 even after salaries were going higher after collusion, and made Kirby Puckett the highest paid player at that time. So, he was willing to deal to get the team he wanted, but then let go once he’d won. More likely, in this scenario, he still makes these deals when available, but is more in the mold of a 2003 Marlins of OTL,; not selling the team off right away but not going all out to keep everyone, either.


(4) OTL they went from 14,000 or so in ’86 to over 18,000 in ’87, when they contended for a time and Raines’ return sparked a surge. They were below .500 before he returned, and while they won close games OTL they wouldn’t win quite as many here. Raines would score a lot of runs for the Dodgers instead, and given very close games in which he did well versus the Dodgers and Pirates, 83 or maybe even 82 wins sounds about right for the ’87 Expos, and the Bucs only have to win a couple more to also be above .500.


(5) One of the most impacted free agents – along with Paul Molitor – in the 1987 collusion, it’s possible he’d stay, wanting a team with a good pitchers’ park. He could find that elsewhere and not have to deal with the elements. The lack of a good team in ’87 would make him feel the team didn’t have a chance to win fast enough, given his advancing age. However, having beaten his alcohol issues, he might easily choose to stay and just sign a shorter term deal. After all, he had just a bounce back year after some serious problems, and would likely feel best staying with the Expos for a while.


(6) Arizona was also a big possibility, and actually where I’d read earlier that they might have moved. However, Miami also came up big with the group that eventually got the expansion bid OTL; which wouldn’t be made here since part of expansion was to pay for the collusion damages.
 
Part 3 – 1987-88: A Frenzied Offseason, A Wild Finish


Several teams jumped right into the free agency frenzy almost before the Twins were done celebrating the franchise’s first title since 1924 and Minnesota’s first of any kind since the Lakers had been there; and even they’d had lots of disappointments in the ‘50s. Carl Pohlad, already 72 years old, was the man of the hour, and Calvin Griffith remarked that he’d done what Griffith could never had done with the money he’d poured into the team.


In Jack Clark, the Yankees found a DH whom they felt could really put them over the hump. He would also play right field quite a bit, first base to spell Mattingly, and even some left. They were incredibly excited about him and what he could bring to the team. They’d come very close in years past, but now they were sure they had a winner. When asked about Winfield being Series MVP for the Twins, Steinbrenner said, “Not everyone can star in New York; it takes a special type of player. Jack Clark is that type.”


The Twins would fall to second, as the man they’d traded, Allan Anderson, would have a breakout year for the Yankees, quickly becoming one of the staff leaders. Anderson in 1988 drew comparisons to Ron Gruidry – which was fortunate, because the Gator was clearly getting old fast; ’88 would be his last year. Anderson would be part of a 93-win Yankee team, however, that won the division by 5 games.


Paul Molitor was highly sought after following a .353 batting mark. The Yankees had lost out on Bob Horner to the Royals the year before, since he had more chance to play first there and be on a winner; they finished 1987 in the upper 80s in wins, a few shy of the Twins.(1) Teams had shared information on who was seeking whom in ’87, but Molitor was highly sought after by the Yankees as well – they still hadn’t solved their third base issues, and Steinbrenner wanted to go all in. He also sought Dennis Martinez heavily.


Martinez would enjoy being back in the American League, but he also thought the Yankees were rather old. Truth be told, the A.L. West seemed to be where the best pitchers were. Or the N.L. West. Brett Butler was going to the Giants, and they looked mighty good. Then, the Pirates looked like an up and coming team; they’d finished just above .500 and tied with his Expos. He’d be back in the U.S., too.


The Twins had a third baseman in Gary Gaetti and had just spent a lot of money before, so Molitor looked at the Tigers most heavily in addition to the Brewers. The loss of Kirk Gibson in ’86 and Jack Morris in ’87 had deeply hurt the Tigers, and Tom Brookens and Lance Parrish were gone as well. However, with a few different players, the aging Tigers could make one more push for a World Series. Besides, Dennis Martinez was in their crosshairs as a pitcher they wanted to sign, after having signed Doyle Alexander to replace Jack Morris the previous year.(2)


Molitor heavily considered the Tigers, even with Martinez returning to the Expos. He reasoned that the Tigers had good prospects such as Smoltz, and they were by no means finished as a team. He would be close to the area he knew best, and the Tigers could use him in a few positions, at first, third, or DH; maybe even a bit in the outfield. Yes, Milwaukee was good and he knew he might regret it, but the Tigers had lots more money without having Morris or Gibson last year; and Gibson the year before. They and the Brewers had tied for third in ’87.


In retrospect, it didn’t matter. The team that he had signed with, whether Detroit or Milwaukee, would have likely finished in a tie for second with Boston, 5 behind the Yankees, and then slipped after that till the end of his three-year deal. The Yankees were clearly the class of the division in 1988, and nobody seemed to care the Yankees were mostly really old.


The Expos were glad to have re-signed Martinez, but they soon found themselves listening to trade offers. They were 30-45 at one point. Nixon returned back in early June, though, and his return, once he started hitting, did help ignite them somewhat, as they went 45-43 the rest of the way. Montreal’s owners considered that if they played him a little less often in ’89, and added more punch, they could begin to make moves like the Twins had, hoping to show fans they really wanted to win. Going for bargain basement players, while it had netted them players like Martinez and Nixon and others, was clearly not a long-term fix.


The Dodgers were loved and hated. They had signed Kirk Gibson and Donnie Moore in ’86 and Raines in ’87 but hadn’t been very close to the top in ’86 before finishing 84-78, 5 games back, but with a clearly aging Donnie Moore in ‘87.


One look at Orel Hershiser’s record showed Gibson and Raines were among the only players who had given the team much offense. After a 19-3 1985 he had a poor ERA (3.71) but a 16-11 record in ’86, then in 1987 he went 21-10 with a 3.02 ERA before his magical 25-7 in 1988. Pedro Guerrero had been injured a fair amount in ’86 and ’87 - he’d be traded for John Tudor early in ’88. But, they were loved because they hadn’t signed others, and had worked trades to improve the team instead in ’88. In fact, as they raced toward the top, some said that this proved they’d “learned a valuable lesson,” that building with a lot of free agents wasn’t the way to go, but instead signing 1-2 important ones was, a la the Tigers in ’84 and twins in ’87.


. An outfield of Gibson, Raines, and Mike Davis, with Mike Marshall at first base and utility players such as Ken Landreux and Mickey Hatcher (Hatcher was released by the Yankees in May of ’87) led an offense that made a Cy Young winner out of Hershiser but with Hershiser not really needing them to do so. The youthful-looking Hershiser sang hymns in the dugout and represented the “real Dodgers” who had built through the farm system.


Yes, these Dodgers scratched and clawed their way to an NLCS win versus the Mets, where Hershiser relieved and won a game and then won the next day on no rest. Donnie Moore was frustrated that he hadn’t been asked to do more in the NLCS, but he’d been replaced as the closer by Jay Howell in spring training and moved to set-up, and was simply a role player by the end of the ’88 season. Still, he did make a World Series, pitching 2/3 of an inning.


Ironically, it was not the Yankees but the Athletics they faced – the team with whom they’d traded Bob Welch for Davis and Alfredo Griffin. The Athletics had won the pennant in 6 games and had demonstrated that, in the words of one writer, “Like 1979 after a couple years of Yankee dominance, free agency won’t ruin things. Small market teams can do very well if they build the right way today,” he concluded.


When Kirk Gibson homered off Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the Series, and the Dodgers won in 5, it was a high point for baseball. Hershiser’s 63+ straight scoreless innings streak was another.(3) He would lose it at the start of next season but still go 20-9 in 1989. However, there were private rumblings as the 1988 offseason unfolded.


As Bart Giamiatti came into office as Commissioner, there was a desire by owners too get salaries under control. The White Sox were about to move to Tampa, with the Brewers having to choose whether to remain in the East, where they were now comfortable with the rivalries, or move back to the West, where the Twins could be the rivals and where fans would be more familiar with their divisional foes; many Chicago A.L. fans had already made plans to start going to Brewer games 90 miles away, despite it being Packer country for football. They eventually chose to move to the West, partly because Molitor had been given a substantial raise to sign with Detroit and hence they didn’t feel they could contend in the East in ’89, partly because with a balanced schedule, they played every team close to the same number of games, anyway. So, fans would still see the same clubs.


Owners pushed Giamatti to take action to somehow prevent the spiraling salaries before more teams had to move, and some even said that contraction could occur. Dave Winfield’s bad back would keep him out of the 1989 season(4), so even the Twins were antsy about the rising salaries. They signed Jack Morris through 1991, but were concerned that they might not be able to keep Viola after his 1988 Cy Young season. And, the Expos were getting worse with fans seeming growing uninterested at times; especially when hockey season started.


Two other cities merited watching, too.


The Mariners, without collusion, had seen their shoestring that the team ran on get worse. They chose not to sign a few minor free agents in 1985 and 1986, and then in 1987, George Argyros sold the club, only to purchase the San Diego Padres later.(5) Joan Kroc, widow of the late McDonalds founder, had wished to get out of baseball for some time, and the deal did increase Argyros’ holdings. However, he ran the Mariners on such a shoestring that it was feared the Padres would be worse.


Not only that, but the Mariners, while improving a bit, still didn’t really want to keep their free agents; they had let Mike Moore go before 1989 and during the season, with the Expos a couple games under .500 in early June but still having a bit of life, the Mets finally relented and gave up Kevin tapani along with a couple others to get Langston.(6) The Expos would end up in last, 71-91, despite being only a few games back at the end of July, and while Randy Johnson (and Brian Holman) looked good at times for them, many began to lament that they hadn’t tried to win, though that August and September showed that it wouldn’t have helped. As for New York, they finished two games behind the Cubs, 92 wins to 90.(7)


Meanwhile, Commissioner Giamiatti had been distracted from possibly investigated pete Rose and gambling by a more serious problem. Owners had decided to investigate steroids instead, sensing that this would be one way to keep costs down; prevent players from getting huge numbers like they might be able to bulking up. The American league MVP, Jose Canseco, for 1988 was at the top of the watch list. While rumors swirled around Rose in inner circles, the owners pushed the steroid and other drug angle enough Giamatti simply quietly pushed for Rose to be fired, which he would be with the Reds’ slump, to be replaced by Lou Piniella as Cincinnati manager for 1990.(8)


Giamatti might have continued and investigated Rose the next year, but he died of a heart attack late in the ’89 season, and his successor, Fay Vincent, had more pressing issues. After the Athletics beat the Giants in the Earthquake Series, rumors came out faster and faster about Canseco and steroids, and in return for forcing open the training camps which owners had locked players out of, Vincent vowed to work with the Players’ Union to implement testing.


Otis Nixon had improved as a hitter, but he wasn’t as good as he would be later in Atlanta as a starter, because of the cold weather versus Atlanta’s Launching Pad stadium. The Expos began to seriously investigate other cities, especially Miami, whose bidders had offered a huge amount of money for the team soon before the 1990 season.(9)


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(1) Horner might have signed with New York but the most likely is Kansas City, which did try hard to sign Rick Sutcliffe in 1985. The reasoning is this – the offense had fallen off quite a bit in 1986, and rookie star Kevin Seitzer wasn’t sure to claim third in 1987, allowing George Brett to move to first. Even if he did, Brett would likely be hurt for a time as he was often injured for several weeks a year. So, Horner could spell Brett at first or play first more often with Brett at third. He would also DH for them.


(2) He wouldn’t replace Gibson and Morris; and, of course, OTL he was there anyway for the last couple months. The Tigers would win about 90. However, they dealt a highly touted prospect for him, so they likely wanted him. And, with Morris costing so much more money, having just won 20 in ’83 and again in ’86, it makes sense they’d go for the lower priced Alexander to replace him.


(3) Certainly a lot, and more than the 59 of OTL, because with Raines with the Dodgers rather than the Expos, they likely are scoreless in the game before he started his scoreless innigns streal (his hit was in the middle of the 2 runs scored in one inning of a 4-2 Dodger win over montreal where the streak began). He may not need that 10th inning to get to 59 as he did OTL in a game against the Padres – he likely wins instead of getting a no-decision, as he does one other time instead of losing. It depends when he started the string versus the Mets the game before, then. Since he lost 2-1 OTL, though, figure it’s a no decision and maybe even a loss OTL – perhaps Moore lets in the deciding run – and then he just starts the string at the start of the next game. So, 7 straight shutouts with 63 scoreless innings pitched. The better records before and after indicate better offensive support because of Raines and Gibson in ’86 and ’87 and raines in ’89 plus some minor pieces being different and perhaps even a relief sppearance or two more.


(4) Likely a bit worse because of the Metrodome’s turf, though he may DH for part of the time he likely misses 10-15 games that he didn’t OTL then, too, but it evens out as the Metrodome is a better hitters’ park in 1987 for him.


(5) He attempted this OTL but failed to consummate a deal.


(6) The Mets had been trying, according to one source, “for six months” to make a deal. It’s close to the same deal for Viola – who is not traded OTL – but they try to keep Aguillera and move him back to the rotatin for a while.


(7) Langston did okay, but not great, the second half of the season. He helps them to a few more wins, but they also have a struggling Aguillera there, because they wouldn’t give up too much since they don’t know if they can re-sign him. They had a glut of starters.


(8) They likely do poorly even without a major Rose distraction.


(9) No rumors of expansion would have begun to surface TTL, whereas they had by that time OTL, though no clear choice may have been made to expand yet. These investors, who would soon pour their efforts into landing an expansion club, would instead put more effort into landing the Expos – or some team – without expansion becoming a focus.
 
Part 4 – Two Big Scandals, and Does Anyone Want the Mariners?


The Tampa White Sox won the 1990 A.L. East before losing the ALCS in 5 to the Athletics. Oakland was clearly the superior America League team to the young White Sox, and neither Jose Canseco nor Mark McGwire had a particularly good series. Canseco had missed quite a bit of time in 1989 and not been a major factor when they won the World Series. However, he was still expected to command big money as a free agent soon.


That’s why baseball breathed a sigh of relief when the Reds swept the Athletics. The World Series hadn’t been tainted, and only the 1988 pennant could really be questioned. After all, the Royals had seen Bob Horner crash in 1988 and do even more poorly in 1989 before retiring, so they’d finished with 89 wins and hadn’t had a great chance to catch the Athletics. The experience would cause them to shy away from free agents after the ’89 season.(1)


Rumors of steroid use had been appearing even after 1989, but with the lockout owners really thought they’d have a chance to force things that way. Instead, they let the new hit in November of 1990; they’d planned to do so later, but Len Dykstra and a couple others were clearly using, and Dykstra was a free agent. Baseball’s war on performance enhancing drugs had begun – though right away the players argued that it was really a war on escalating salaries.


Dykstra suddenly wasn’t getting any offers over $1 million a year.(2) Jose Canseco also received a lot of criticism, and it was revealed that – during the testing that wasn’t supposed to be leaked – Mark McGwire had also tested positive.


McGwire quickly denied taking any banned substances, and immediately showed wht he’d been taking in an effort to deflect any criticism, sharing that he’d begun taking only after the 1989 season, because his power numbers had shrunk each year and he’d thought it would help him recover from back problems.(3) He was careful not to blow the whistle on a teammate so he didn’t name Canseco – besides, the owners were doing enough of that. For his part, Canseco began to mention a couple other Athletics’ teammates who had done steroids, most notably Terry Stenbach but also a couple role players.


The Players’ Association quickly cried foul, charging that owners were tainting all their players, and that numerous power hitters had been clean. Owners challenged them then to accept mandatory testing and penalties. The confusion was so big, it drowned out more problems in Montreal, and a move that they’d hoped to avoid.


There were rumors that the revelation of steroids was meant to keep the Expos in Montreal, as a last ditch effort to keep salaries down. However, Bud Selig, the Brewers’ owner, had been one of several who hadn’t thought baseball was viable in Montreal the way things were going.(4) The owners of the Expos had been looking for a buyer, and Expos fans hadn’t come even with a team that eked above .500 and looked like they had a good, young nucleus in 1987. The disappointments of the last few years meant they only drew 1.1 million in 1989 fans at a time when baseball was booming, and they really bottomed out once the Expos fell way out of the race in August and September.


In 1990, they struggled to get to a million, despite a team that would finish 77-85 and might have made it above .500 were it not for a late July trade of Dennis Martinez to the Pirates.(5), and many of those had been in the final months when rumors swirled that the team might be sold and moved to Miami. Ironically, the movie Major League had come out the year before with the Indians threatening to do just that – and now in real life Cleveland seemed to be pointing in the right direction and might even get a new stadium – which they would in 1994, Jacobs’ Field.


Still, Fay Vincent thought that Montreal was viable if they just got the right players and owners. Indeed, he reportedly told owners in June of 1990, “I can’t help but think that this is the 1952 Brves all over again; the fans need to trust that good nucleus they’ve got.” Yes, they were in trouble, but so was Cleveland, and he’d even said so about them. And, Cleveland seemed ready to respond.


They had Dick Jacobs, though. The Expos only had someone who was trying to put a group together, but the coalition of business owners was getting wary because with fans upset by the spring lockout of 1990 and also the circus around the steroid issue, they weren’t really sure if they could provide all that was needed; let alone the product on the field and the many empty seats since they’d lost Dawson and Raines and even the year before.(6)


The legislature was finally asked if they could promise a new stadium, and people were quite opposed to that – they’d just put a roof on the Big Owe, as it was called, so many years after the actually 1976 Olympics and the roof that was promised to come soon after that.


Miami’s offer was eventually too good to pass up, and owners reluctantly approved the sale to the Miami group in February, 1991 – with Vincent remarking that, “I will not let a team move if the city wants to keep it, but apparently they are not interested.”


An agreement was reached requiring them to remain in Montreal one year. Sadly, the team was lousy, and by June of 1991, it was apparent that they would move to Miami after the season. Even then, attendance was underwhelming till the final week; they only cracked a million because of the pending move and farewell. A new ballpark would be built in Miami; like Camden Yards, which would open in ’92, it would be harkening back to the old-time parks, though with a retractable roof that caused it to not be ready till 1993. The new Marlins would prove Vincent prophetic in 1992 when they wound up above .50, albeit only slightly and well behind the first place team, just like the ’53 Braves.


As for the situation with steroids, it had caused a lowering of salaries of some of the players involved. However, other problems surfaced, such as the Mariners.


Seattle had been having problems for a while. Ken Griffey Jr.’s appearance in a Seattle uniform helped, but the team was still quite bad, and the Kingdome wasn’t drwing fans. 1991 helped as Kevin Tapani led the club to 88 wins in an excellent pennant race, but they fell all the way back to 65-97 the following year, tied for the worst record with the Dodgers in the first year in major league history where nobody finished below .400 or above .600.(7) Then, they finished 72-90 in a year in which they could have contended, and a bit below .400 again in ’94.


Meanwhile, parking favors to the Supersonics and not the Marienrs and other things hurt, part of the Kingdome roof collapsed forcing the club to play on the road, and with little hope in sight, rumors of the team’s move hit a fever pitch in 1995 just as they had in 1991.


However, in ’91 Fay Vincent had lamented the loss of the Expos and said he had tried everything to stop them. He’d forbade an Astros move to the Washington are because he felt Houston was such an important large market and also kept pushing hard for local ownership in Cleveland (where they hoped to have a new stadium, and would soon) and Seattle. (Where fans were finally flocking to the ballpark.


In 1995, things were different – but, with Ken Griffey, Jr. looking to leave as a free agent, who wanted them? Tampa had the White Sox, Miami the Marlins, Denver had gotten he giants in 1993 and didn’t show much interest in the mariners in ’92, Buffalo didn’t seem to have the population base, D.C. was vaguely possible, and Arizona was being pushed to get a different team, thanks to the work of Acting Commissioner Bud Selig.


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(1) OTL, they signed Storm Davis and mark Davis for the 1990 season, and both were major disasters. Here, Horner and 1-2 other minor ones would be the ones who crashed to earth; plus they’d still be paying some of Horner’s salary, as he was a big-name free agent after 1986. Finally, his presence would have kept Kevin Seitzer from emerging quite as fast, though George Brett would probably quickly move to first and Horner to DH during the ’87 season.


(2) His salary was over $2 million OTL staring in 1991.


(3) Which is what he eventually admitted later; the item would probably be what was visible in his locker OTL in 1998. Always knowing how to work with the emdia, it’s likely he’d do something like this, much like Andy Pettite’s admission of only taking it to recover from injury. The extent to which either’s is true, of course, is up to you to decide.


(4) Remember, TTL there isn’t the flattening out and even slight decline in salaries in the lte 1980s of OTL, meaning new buyers would be just a bit more hesitant.


(5) No Zane Smith trade in late ’89, so instead of Smith it’s Martinez who is traded in 1990, though with a bit more in return, and ends up with the Pirates for a few years before going to Cleveland in ’94.


(6) Even OTL Clause Brochu wound up putting up much of the funding, plus TTL the bid from Miami could be higher with no expansion fee.


(7) very close OTl, only the Dodgers a couple games below and Mariners one below prevented it; here, the Mariners win one more with Tapani since Johnson’s hadn’t quite turned the corner, and butterflies give the Dodgers a couple more. It happened in 2000 OTL.
 
Part 5 – One More For the Road, or, By the Time They Get To Phoneix


The signing of Morris had come partly because of the availability of Winfield, and had ended up costing the Twins a fair amount of their best farm products, along with mickey Hatcher, a fan favorite who – after being released by the Yankees – wound up with the Dodgers in 1988. It led to Steve Lombardozzi, Greg Gagne, and even Roy Smalley being used at leadoff, with Lombardozi most common – though untility player Newman did a number of times, too.


The Twins drew well over 2.5 million during their mid-90s win season in ’87, and while they slipped a bit in 1988 they still drew over 3.2 million. In 1987 they had 4 – almost 5 – players with 30 or more home runs, and had 221 total; it would have been 5, some said, had Kirby Puckett not hit leadoff a dozen or so times, mimicking the way Rickey Henderson was used despite being such a slugger. Puckett hit 28 as it was.


Winfield had hit .301 in 1987 and .335 in 1988, but his power was down some in 1988 because his back was starting to bother him. He ended up missing all of 1989 with back problems, and with Jack Morris also having a bad year, and getting traded to San Diego midseason for Shane Mack and a couple other minor players, Pohlad dumped quite a bit of his budget. He traded Winfield to the Angels in the hopes he could get something for him while sending morris away and also getting rid of a few other pieces.


Attendance dipped in 1990, but while Winfield was signing a one-year extension with California before going to the blue Jays in ’92, Jack Morris had done poorly in the 2nd half of 1989 and somewhat badly in ’90, and was looking for a one-year deal to reassert himself. Pohlad gave the okay to sign him and have him try to team with Frank Viola, in the last year of his contract, on a pitching staff that, with young Scott Erickson, would try to keep up with the offense generated by having Chili Davis try to play left and a new DH who could play left at tiems and also spell the infielders occasionally.


Paul molitor, another Minnesota native, was acquired from the Tigers, who had been awful in 1989 and far back in 1990.(1) The Twins would use Molitor, Mack, and others to great effect, even though they sometimes struggled on defense and their pitching beyond Morris was nothing to write home about.(2)


By year’s end, Davis was being removed often for late inning defense, but Molitor’s hot hitting – he hit .338, barely losing the batting title to Julio Franco – and 142 runs scored, almost 50 more than the next highest on his team, were the difference in a close pennant race that earned him a top 5 finish in MVP voting.


However, Morris left for Toronto after that season, and Molitor followed him after the ’92 season. The World Series winners from 1991 wound up playing molitor more at third in 1992, though he struggled quite a bit, with Davis at DH more. Their defense suffered, and the club finished at 87-75, tied with the Brewers for 2nd, 9 games behind Oakland.


The connection between Selig and Pohlad had gone unnoticed in other ways,b ut it was there. The friendship between the two small-market owners was a solid one, and while Selig liked the fact that former White Sox fans regularly made the trek up to Milwaukee, he ws still concerned about competition from Minnesota, too. With both clubs winning, it was one thing, but both teams would slip badly next year, and do even worse in 1994. While there wasn’t quite the animosity between owners and players that there might have been had collusion occurred, there was still a strike that had wiped out the rest of the regular season, allowing the postseason to be played; it was just one round at this point Fan frustration at the lack of a pennant race was still felt, though at least the playoffs would occur. And, in 1995, the teams didn’t improve – if anything, the Twins were one of the worst teams, in fact, over the first months.(3)


Jerry Colangelo had become interested in baseball after attending a game and considering that the Phoneix area was ripe for a team, just as Florida had been. He was too late to enter the sweepstakes for the giants, who had announced plans to move to Denver late in 1992. However, the Mariners, Astros, and Twins looked very tantalizing, and the Padres might, too.


Selig, s acting Commissioner, wanted to get two expansion clubs, because that would put more money into the hands of major league owners, who could split them. It would help them realign, too. They needed something, especially after the money they felt they’d “lost” because of the strike.


However, Selig knew that Pohlad was leaking money and wanted out. If he was allowed to sell the Twins to Colangelo, then Pohlad could get more money than he ever could dividing expansion revenue. Not only that, but a team which didn’t have a great stadium situation would be gone. It was a win-win situation.


Therefore, Selig pushed the Twins, deapte the fact the Mariners were in by far the worst shape and looked like they were sure to be moving with fans not wanting to pass a new stadium measure.(4) This began even in 1994, and by mid-’95, the Twins announced plans to sell the team, moving to Arizona for the 1996 season.(5)


Selig had now presided over two franchise moves of the four in the last 8 years. He remarked that this was “proof of baseball’s economic woes,” and suggested that perhaps more could move; in fact, he remarked that the Seattle Mariners, ironically, could go to Chicago if the city would build a new stadium. Otherwise, it wasn’t certain where they would go.


Washington, DC was now the main focus. However, the Mariners weren’t the only team considering that location. Even the Florida clubs were struggling in attendance, though they had had incredible success the last few years.


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(1) With the Tampa White Sox doing so well, they would never feel like they were in contention like they would in OTL’s 1990.


(2) In a way, you could say the 1987 and 1991 Twins switch places, as the 1987 team is the more dominant one, like OTL’s 1991 squad, and the 1991 squad has the shaky pitching of OTL’s 1987. The Twins made a series of trades to get a closer and a few other pieces for their bullpet, including Bill Swift, who would be their lefty closer, with Bryan Hickerson a spot starter after a brief callup in ‘90, Steve Bedrosian, and others such as Larry Andersen.


(3) True OTL as well.


(4) OTl the measure barely passed and it’s said that the great pennant race of 1995 saved them. With Griffey Junior sure to be gone, it seems, and with no Randy Johnson to give more wins the last few years, it would fail TTL.


(5) OTL they almost moved to North Carolina in 1997 but a stadium measure failed. Selig would later try to buy him out through contraction, but here, both happen in a way, providing him with a win-win situation, though the “buyout” is by Colangelo buying the more profitable team.
 
Part 6 – Back to Small Markets Contending


As mentioned, Miami had won their division in 1993. Tampa had fought hard against Toronto. The Blue Jays, behind another great World Series by Dave Winfield, had downed the Pirates in 1992, thanks to Joe Carter’s home run to bring the team from 4-3 down to win 5-4 in the last of the 9th in Game 5.


That Pirates club had seen Dennis Martinez win Game 2, then – after Danny Jackson did poorly in a loss in Game 3 and Doug Drabek get outpitched in Game 4 – follow Bob Walks win with a win in Game 6. Tim Wakefield had done better and better in relief and eventually came in to help nail down the save in Game 7 for the Pirates, leaving their pitching staff exhausted but giving them sweet revenge after he pitched in a couple very low-scoring games in the ’91 NLCS.


Acting Commissioner Selig echoed the worries of some small market owners like the Pirats’, who had sent Barry bonds to Atlanta in the spring of ’92 in exchange for Alejandro Pena, Keith Mitchell, David Justice, and a couple minor leaguers – only getting more at Jim Leyland’s insistence and after Bonds promised he would resign with the Braves, since the Giants looked committed to Denver.


Indeed, there were worries that the Mariners would move to D.C. by 1996 or 1997 at the latest, especially once the stadium issue went down and the 77-85 Mariners lost Griffey. Orioles owner Peter Angelos wasn't happy, but there was a plan to move the team to the National League along with the Brewers or Rangers or maybe even White Sox and thus to prevent a team really far east from having to move to the American League West, though the Tigers would consider the West to avoid the richer East Coast teams.



Still, possibly they could stay in the Kingdom, even if it wasn't used by other teams. The Cleveland Indians were en route to a 109-53 record and a World Series lost to the Braves, and they would win the World Series the next year, when they finally sold Tom Glavine to win Game 3, then won the next three as well, two in Cleveland and one back in Atlanta when Mark Clark, the Game 4 winter, came in to help Orel Hershiser keep the lead and secured the win. It had been a wash, in a way, when the Braves traded for Barry Bonds knowing that signing him would mean they couldn't get Greg Maddux, winner of four straight Scions with the Cubs and the man who single-handedly propelled them to second well behind Miami in 1994 and then to a division title in 1995 where he won the only two games against the Braves in the NLCS.



Once Curt Schilling – whom the Braves had traded for in 1993 – went to Arizona as a free agent after 1996, the Braves would trade for Maddux, but he wouldn’t get his World Series ring till he was back in Chicago for 2003, the club he’d gone 26-3 for in 1995 and won 4 straight C Youngs with. 1997 would be the start of 3 straight Yankee Series wins.



The Cincinnati Reds got a home town discount to sign Griffey Jr, and they had won the National League West in 1994, too, ironically by the same small margins they had lost the halves by in 1981 while coming in first in total record. Losing to Miami had simply made them think, well, maybe we'd have lost to Montreal in 1981 anyway. And, when Griffey Jr. led them to a surprise pennant in 1999, all that would be forgotten – so what if they lost in 5 to the Yankees?



Small market teams would rebound. The Athletics would celebrate a move into AT&T Park on the Bay ( become the Bay Area Athletics and claiming to have the gold from the Golden Gate and green from Oakland as their colors) by winning a pennant after 3 years of Yankee dominance of the league in 2000, as Bonds – dissatisfied with the Yankees, with whom he signed in 1998 – would demand a trade and finish his career in the Bay Area with 627 home runs as one of the greatest players of his generation. He was back in the place he’d always wanted to be.



And, who knows, if the Giants hadn’t been so heavily sought by Denver – so much so they were sure to be moving after the season – perhaps bonds wouldn’t have indicated that he’d sign with the Braves long-term, letting them send David Justice and a couple others to the Pirates for him in spring of 1992. He’d lasted long enough to see four Braves pennants in five years, despite the battles between management and Bonds over his jewelry and such.



That 2000 pennant by the Athletics, and a World Series win, along with another pennant in 2003 before they lost to the Cubs, showed smaller markets could do well. Indeed, sometimes Boston – which won over the Cardinals in 2004 for their first title in 86 years – and Arizona – which beat the Astros in 2001 – seemed like smaller markets. When the Denver Giants finally broke their World Series drought from back in New York with a win in 2010, it would show that baseball had weathered the storm which had prevailed over it and caused so many moves.



The Florida teams still struggled with attendance, but they also had the great memory of the 1994 World Series, known to many as the Sunshine State Series.
 
Part 7 of 7 – The Sunshine State Series


By 1993, the Miami Marlins were ready to shoot up from just over .500 to a 97-65 record. The Phillies, their closest challengers, finished at 90-72 in the NL East.


While Johnson was clearly the key, they had a great core group of players. The Braves, who hd won 106 games over in the West, were just a bit better, and Curt Schilling – who would team with Randy Johnson to win the SEries with the 2001 Diamondbacks - outdueled Johnson as the Braves captured the pennant.


Meanwhile, in Tampa, the White Sox had overcome their growing pains with some amazing play, and especially with some great pitching.


An incredible pennant race occurred between Tampa and Toronto, while in the A.L. West, it looked like the Rangers and royals might struggle to win 85 and try to avoid being first, the way they played. And, of course, there was the great N.L. West race.


Florida baseball was doing so well that Acting Commissioner Selig, putting off concerns for the moment about Seattle’s future, suggested a radical realignment in which a few teams would move and two new teams would be put in – a new American League club, perhaps in Chicago, perhaps elsewhere, and a team in Washington in the National League.


This alisgnment would see the Marlins shifted to the American League with the Rangers and Brewers going to the N.L.. The new realignment he proposed would see three divisions and a wild card team in each league. However, if the owners didn’t approve of that, they would simply give each league two divisions of 7 with the Florida teams having a rivalry in the A.L. East and the Texas ones having one in the N.L. West, where the Cubs and Cardinals would play.(1)


The shock provided by the idea was evident, because the clubs had just played a fantastic World series in 1994, known as the Sunshine State Series.


It was bittersweet, in some respects. Wade Boggs, who grew up in Tampa, had signed before the 1993 season to play for the Marlins, since the White Sox had Robin Ventura. Andre Dawson had signed with Boston for 1993, with with George Bell struggling so much, and Ellis Burks leaving for Denver, and Boston needing an infusion of of youth, Tampa traded for him in 1994. He culdn’t play in the crowded young Miami outfield, but sorely wished he could, considering that this was the former Expos who he’d played for for so long. Although, at least he was reunited with another former Expo, Tim Raines.


Miami drew first blood at Randy Johnson defeated Alex Fernandez, 3-2, on larry Walker’s 2-run home run in the 8th. Tampa responded with a 7-run onslaught over 5 innings against Ken Hill, en route to a 10-3 win. The White Sox won Game 3, also, as Jack McDowell, who had done poorly during the season compared to last year, summoned some inner strength that saw him win 4-2, with lots of help from the bullpen, which was rested since Wilson Alvarez hadn’t had to be relieved. Miami came back with 3 wins in the next 4 games, however, helped by walking Frank Thomas a ton.


One of the iconic images of that Series is Raines and Dwson looking longingly acros the dugout at the winners, with a caption that reads, “The face of two White Sox players, and tens of thousands of Montreal natives.”


Frank Thomas would get a World Series ring in 2005 with th4 White Sox, but Raines and Dawson would be retired, on their way to the Hall of Fame for each, just like Thomas.


The Ranges, ironically, became remembered like the early 1980s Pirates, but for steroids, with 1993 being like Pittsburgh’s 1979, with the “one clean superstar” (Nolan ryan/Willie Stargell), a “kingpin” (Jose Canseco/a couple Pirates players), and so on, thanks to Canseco’s revelations after he wasn’t signed by anyone after the 1994 season. It’s said that this was further proof that baseball owners were using steroids as a way to try to keep costs down the same way they might have used collusion. It wouldn’t have mattered, though. Salaries still soared. Still, fans in places like Miami and Tampa could feel some joy, even if those in Montreal and the South Side of Chicago felt such heartache.


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(1) This latter, of course, is the Back to the Future universe where the World Series ends at the time it would before the extra round was added. All it takes then is for the Mets to lose their division or for something else to happen so the Cubs beat the Mets in 2015, and a variety of butterflies allowing Miami to win in 2015.

It is not, however, certain that this would happen – perhaps the Mariners move and 2 other cities are chosen, perhaps the leagues are split into 3 divisions with a wild card, eventually 2, as in OTl. However, the realignment in the above scenario is rather plausible, too, even if it’s more likely there would be expansion with the leagues each having 14 teams and 3 divisions after 1997 or 198.
 
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