Fixing MLB Series: Expansion and Relocation
Although there are logs on the hot stove, due to another labor stoppage, nothing is happening in Major league Baseball. Now is an excellent time to continue our “Fixing MLB” series with a look at expansion and relocation.
Let’s pretend for a second that Major League Baseball was in my hands. If it were, there would be several things that I would change. This series reverses, introduces, and expands on changes happening to major league baseball and allows us to examine the impacts of those changes.
Today’s edition discusses improving offense by watering down pitching through expansion. Let’s start by establishing why this needs to happen.
Mariners and Blue Jays join MLB in 1977
After MLB expanded to 24 teams in 1969, the game league had a nice balance of 12 teams in each league. However, in 1976, the runs per game in the majors was 3.99. It was the conclusion of a run on seasons over the previous decade where a majority of them resulted in sub-4 runs per game. In 1977, runs were scored at a 4.47 per game clip which was the highest in 15 years.
This increase was a direct result of adding the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays, which expanded the league to 26 teams. In fact, Major League Baseball hasn’t been below four runs per game since 1976.
Rockies and Marlins join MLB in 1993
From 1988 through 1992, Major League Baseball suffered another runs-per-game shortage averaging just under 4.2 runs per game, which was the lowest since the mid-70s. After the Colorado/Miami expansion in 1993, runs scored rose to a 4.60 clip, the highest since 1952. This feat was accomplished without increasing home runs, and the league’s overall batting average of .265 was the highest since 1980.
While the runs increased after the strike-shortened seasons of 1994 and 1995 can also be attributed to the prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs, it’s hard to argue against expansion also playing a role.
Diamondbacks and Rays join MLB in 1998
Doubling down on expansion, then-commissioner Bud Selig put the plan in place to expand the league. While it’s hard to attribute any increase in run production to this particular expansion, there wasn’t a downturn in productivity, either. However, it did allow for sustained run-producing success for the better part of the next decade.
The offensive output was so impressive that in 1999, major league baseball batted .271, the highest since 1939. MLB maintained at least a .260 average from 1993 through 2009.