Sports What Ifs.

Masked Grizzly

More of a Motorsport What-If though in OTL the British Saloon Car Championship / BSCC (later the BTCC) imposed a 3000cc engine limit in the 1976 Season to stop the large American V8 cars (like the Chevrolet Camaro Z28) from competing, however What-If instead the BSCC for the 1976 Season imposed an engine limit of either 4000cc or 5000cc?
 

DTF955Baseballfan

Let's say the White Sox move to Tampa in 1989, as almost happened. Frank Thomas comes up in '90 as per OTL, Jerry Reinsdorf keeps the team a couple years and the GM stays on...

Thomas would be a free agent after 1996, presumign he doesn't sign a long term deal. Would he want to stay there in Tampa? Remember that Andre Dawson left Montreal due to the turf doing a number on his knees, though Thomas played first so maybe that's not as vital.

More important is that the White Sox, while they don't draw as badly as OTL's Rays as first, probably do drop 100,000 to 200,000 in attendance from OTL's Chicago, and also, Vince Naimoli might not hve the money to keep as many big name players.

On the other hand, they probably don't make the Albert Belle signing in '97. Perhaps that money is used to sign Thomas. Belle went to Chicago in part, he claimed, becuase it was Cleveland's rival - so maybe he goes to the Yankees or somethign instead.

Where would Thomas go as a free agent? My first guess is the Angels - J.T. Snow was leaving after '96 OTL, and they did poorly at DH in '97 so even with Erstad at first they could put Thomas at DH. It seems like a good fit. Or, would Tampa trade him after a disastrous '95, not knowing if they could re-sign him?

Having Thomas in the N.L.would be interesting, too. He couldn't be a DH - but he might survive at 1B a few seasons. Perhaps an N.L. teams signs him to a 2-3 year deal, and he figures he can still milk his power and a free agent contract again, for more money, after 1998 or 1999. After all, he's still be fairly young.
 

DTF955Baseballfan

The Mariners probably would have moved to Tampa-St. Pete in 1992 had they not been bought, yes. The Giants also almost moved there in 1993.

Actually, the White sox weren't the first team to nearly move there - the Twins threatened to move to tampa if they didn't draw a million in 1984, but they did. It wasn't nearly as close as Chicago, though, or San Francisco - probably as close as Seattle came.
 

Nivek

DTF955Baseballfan said:
The Mariners probably would have moved to Tampa-St. Pete in 1992 had they not been bought, yes. The Giants also almost moved there in 1993.
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So tampa was the threat city for MLB as LA was for NFL, if anything show the Rays got bad luck. So yeah we could Thank Yamauchi and fans who saved those team respectly.

Wonder if Giants Moved...Maybe the Athletics moved to SF?
 

DTF955Baseballfan

Nivek said:
Wonder if Giants Moved...Maybe the Athletics moved to SF?
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I don't doubt it. While the Bay Area has been shown to be able to support 2 teams, it's hard - it's more like 1.5 teams at times, except for the early 2000s. Candlestick was always a poor spot for baseball, and the last 10-15 years Oakland has been looking to move out of the Coliseum; if they got a ballpark like the one in the Bay now (PacBell/AT&T I think - I can't keep track of names anmore since so many have brands attached), I suspect they would move and be known as the Bay Area Athletics. (I've done a cople timelines where this has happened with one team moving there and moving from San Francisco to Oakland and back again.)
 

AltSptHst

DTF955Baseballfan said:
I don't doubt it. While the Bay Area has been shown to be able to support 2 teams, it's hard - it's more like 1.5 teams at times, except for the early 2000s. Candlestick was always a poor spot for baseball, and the last 10-15 years Oakland has been looking to move out of the Coliseum; if they got a ballpark like the one in the Bay now (PacBell/AT&T I think - I can't keep track of names anmore since so many have brands attached), I suspect they would move and be known as the Bay Area Athletics. (I've done a cople timelines where this has happened with one team moving there and moving from San Francisco to Oakland and back again.)
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Or, maybe the Golden State Athletics.

If the A's are the ones who go to Pac Bell in 2000 instead of the Giants, I wonder if the Raiders would have an easier path to eventually get a new stadium and still be in Oakland.
 

Nivek

AltSptHst said:
If the A's are the ones who go to Pac Bell in 2000 instead of the Giants, I wonder if the Raiders would have an easier path to eventually get a new stadium and still be in Oakland
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All my gut say is...MAYBE. Oakland-Alameda was always a financial challenged county so might not...for me would be the best if they did build a new stadium before raiders moved back but the TL is not that helpful, unless the A's move hella fast and the Coliseum is demolished and a new one is build quickly
 

DTF955Baseballfan

Nivek said:
the TL is not that helpful, unless the A's move hella fast and the Coliseum is demolished and a new one is build quickly
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Is that the best site to build one or is there a better site in Alameda County? Though if it's simply a case of the Colosseum needing torn down and then a new one built, I'm sure there are a few good college stadiums that could be used for a couple years. Checking the Cal Bears' Stadium, 60 mm plus is the capacity right now, which the Raiders could have stood for a couple years I'm sure.
 

Nivek

DTF955Baseballfan said:
Is that the best site to build one or is there a better site in Alameda County? Though if it's simply a case of the Colosseum needing torn down and then a new one built, I'm sure there are a few good college stadiums that could be used for a couple years. Checking the Cal Bears' Stadium, 60 mm plus is the capacity right now, which the Raiders could have stood for a couple years I'm sure.
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The Thing was keeping the Colosseum for so long doomed the raiders, you need a new stadium far early.
 

DTF955Baseballfan

Nivek said:
The Thing was keeping the Colosseum for so long doomed the raiders, you need a new stadium far early.
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So more like 2002 or so, rather than after the Bears' statdium remodel? Perhaps the best time would be in the afterglow of their Super Bowl appearance. (Being in 2 straight would have helped a lot, I'm sure.)
 

Nivek

DTF955Baseballfan said:
So more like 2002 or so, rather than after the Bears' statdium remodel? Perhaps the best time would be in the afterglow of their Super Bowl appearance. (Being in 2 straight would have helped a lot, I'm sure.)
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yeah, the bears is another example fucked it up with the Soldier Field, but yeah, maybe rather some changes, Oakland get it done in time for 2002 season(before the bubble crash) and could work very well
 

Seafort

Here's a few:

2001: Miami Dolphins select Drew Brees with the 26th pick in the 1st round

2003: Despite seeing the Longhorns blown out, Adrian Peterson elects to sign with the University of Texas. Mack Brown gets to pair Peterson with Vince Young

2009: Colt McCoy does not suffer the fluke neck injury in the first quarter of the national championship game against Alabama
 

Nivek

Seafort said:
2001: Miami Dolphins select Drew Brees with the 26th pick in the 1st round
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If anything i see Bress walking up to NO or equivalent got Sean Payton, dolphins suck post shula and Marino..that is if not the voodoo doctors of dolphins ruins his career first

Seafort said:
2003: Despite seeing the Longhorns blown out, Adrian Peterson elects to sign with the University of Texas. Mack Brown gets to pair Peterson with Vince Young
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Maybe an early game vs USC?

Seafort said:
2009: Colt McCoy does not suffer the fluke neck injury in the first quarter of the national championship game against Alabama
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He will still suck as pro
 

Seafort

Nivek said:
If anything i see Bress walking up to NO or equivalent got Sean Payton, dolphins suck post shula and Marino..that is if not the voodoo doctors of dolphins ruins his career first


Maybe an early game vs USC?


He will still suck as pro
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My own thoughts:

Drew Brees to Miami in 2001:
Brees would be backing up Fiedler in 2001 and probably 2002. The question is whether Miami would try to hand him the reigns in 2003. In the OTL, Brees had Fiedler like stats in his first three seasons and did not take off until 2004. I'm not certain if a similar ascension takes place in Miami in 2004 after they lose Ricky Williams and David Boston. If it works, Miami has their QB of the future and Nick Saban never goes to the Dolphins.

Peterson to the Longhorns in 2004:
Adrian had an outstanding freshman year with the Sooners, and if he's with Texas in 2004 they beat Oklahoma. That Sooners game (with Peterson in the OTL) was their only lose that season, and they could end up beating USC to win the national championship. The 2005 squad that did win the national championship would be even stronger, and then the pressure might be on Vince Young to come back for his senior season and play with a junior Adrian Peterson to go for an unprecedented three peat in 2006.

Colt McCoy isn't injured in the national championship game:
Texas beats Alabama to win the 2009 national championship. Saban still goes on to establish his dynasty, but Mack Brown retires. It's long been said in Austin that Brown would have retired had they won that game, so in that case we have Will Muschamp take over as head coach. The Longhorns would still have experienced their post-2009 season doldrums in all likelyhood, and rather than wait as long as they did with Mack Brown the school might have pulled the trigger after the 2012 season. They'll likely go heavily after Nick Saban, as they did in the OTL.
 

AltSptHst

What about Brees going to Denver in 2001? John Elway's dad advised the Broncos to take him, but he died a week before the draft. A good timeline would have Brady going to SD in 2000 (Charger HC Mike Riley wanted Brady, but GM Bobby Beathard didn't), and Brees going to Denver the next year.
 

Nivek

AltSptHst said:
A good timeline would have Brady going to SD in 2000 (Charger HC Mike Riley wanted Brady, but GM Bobby Beathard didn't)
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If anything Brady would walk off to SF in 04 or 05,SD was a mess and they won thanks Marty and in spite of the front office.

But Brees on Denver have potential....
 
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