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2012 Major League Baseball season

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This article is about the 2012 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2012 in baseball.

The 2012 Major League Baseball season will begin on March 28 with the first of a two game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.[1] On November 22, 2011, a new contract between Major League Baseball and its players union was ratified, and as a result, an expanded playoff format adding two clubs will be adopted no later than 2013 according to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.[2] The new format was finalized for the 2012 season on March 2, 2012, and will use the 2–3 format for the Division Series for the 2012 season only.[3] The stateside portion of the regular season will start April 4 in Miami, Florida, with the opening of the new Marlins Park, as the newly renamed Miami Marlins host the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The season is scheduled to end on Wednesday, October 3.[4] The entire master schedule was released on September 14, 2011.

2012 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 28–October 3
Regular season
Season MVPAL:
NL:
League postseason
World Series
MLB seasons

The Major League Baseball postseason was expanded to include a second wild card team in each league beginning in the 2012 season.[5] The season will mark the last for the Houston Astros as a member of the National League. Following the sale to new owner Jim Crane, the Astros agreed to move to the American League effective in the 2013 season, and will be assigned to the American League West, joining their in-state rivals, the Texas Rangers.[6]

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game's 83rd edition will be held on July 10 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The winning league will earn home field advantage for the 2012 World Series, which begins on October 24 and is scheduled to end no later than November 1. The Civil Rights Game will be held on August 19 at Turner Field in Atlanta.[7]

Managerial changes

General managers

Off-season

Team Former GM New GM Former job
Boston Red Sox Theo Epstein Ben Cherington Cherington previously served as the Assistant General Manager of the Red Sox.
Chicago Cubs Randy Bush Jed Hoyer[8] Hoyer previously served as the General Manager of San Diego Padres.
San Diego Padres Jed Hoyer Josh Byrnes[8] Byrnes previously served in the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Padres.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Tony Reagins Jerry DiPoto DiPoto previously served in several scouting departments, most recently with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Minnesota Twins Bill Smith Terry Ryan (interim)[9] Ryan previously served as General Manager of the Twins from 1994-2007.
Baltimore Orioles Andy MacPhail Dan Duquette [10] Duquette previously served as General Manager of the Montreal Expos from 1991–1995 and Boston Red Sox from 1995-2002.
Houston Astros Ed Wade Jeff Luhnow Lunhow had previously been employed by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Field managers

Off-season

The following managers were hired for the 2012 season after the former manager retired from baseball.

Team Former manager New manager Story
Miami Marlins Jack McKeon Ozzie Guillén On September 28, 2011, the Marlins announced that Ozzie Guillén has signed a four year contract to manage the team beginning in the 2012 season. He replaces Jack McKeon, who served as interim manager since June 2011. Two minor league prospects were sent to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Guillén's rights.
St. Louis Cardinals Tony La Russa Mike Matheny On October 31, just three days after winning the 2011 World Series, Tony La Russa announced his retirement.[11] The Cardinals announced the hiring of former catcher Mike Matheny as its new manager on November 13. Matheny, who had no previous managerial experience, played in 13 Major League seasons from 1994–2006, and was a four-time Gold Glove Award winner.[12]

At the end of the 2011 season, the following teams made replacements to their managers.

Team Former manager New manager Story
Boston Red Sox Terry Francona Bobby Valentine On September 30, 2011, the Red Sox decided not to exercise their 2012 option on Terry Francona's contract and both parties decided to part ways. Francona led the team to two World Series championships in 2004, which ended the Curse of the Bambino, and 2007. However, in 2011, the Red Sox went 7–20 in the month of September, blowing a 9-game wild card lead as they were eliminated from playoff contention.[13] It should be noted that Francona wasn't actually fired. Valentine, whose previous managerial jobs were with the Texas Rangers from 1985–92 and the New York Mets from 1996–2002, was an analyst for Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN at the time of his hiring. Ironically, on December 6, Francona would take over for Valentine on SNB in 2012, after working as a color commentator for the first two games of the 2011 ALCS on Fox.
Chicago Cubs Mike Quade Dale Sveum The Cubs hired Dale Sveum as their new manager on November 17, replacing Mike Quade. Sveum had been a coach for the Milwaukee Brewers at various capacities (bench, third base, hitting) since 2006, and was also a former third base coach of the Boston Red Sox from 2004-05. His previous managerial experience was as an interim manager for the Brewers late in 2008, guiding the Brewers to a wild card berth that year. Quade served as manager of the Cubs from August 2010 until September 2011, succeeding Lou Piniella; however his only full season saw the Cubs finish 71-91 and in fifth place in the NL Central.[14]
Chicago White Sox Ozzie Guillén/Don Cooper Robin Ventura On October 6, 2011, the White Sox named Robin Ventura as their new manager. Ventura, a former two-time All-Star third baseman, played for the White Sox from 1989 till 1998.[15] Cooper served as the White Sox' interim manager for the last two days of the season.

Milestones

Forthcoming

Template:Multicol

Hitters

650 Home Runs

450 Home Runs

400 Home Runs

350 Home Runs

300 Home Runs

250 Home Runs

200 Home Runs

2000 Runs Batted In

1500 Runs Batted In

1000 Runs Batted In

550 Doubles

500 Doubles

450 Doubles

400 Doubles

100 Triples

1000 Runs Scored

450 Stolen Bases

400 Stolen Bases

350 Stolen Bases

300 Stolen Bases

250 Stolen Bases

4500 Total Bases

4000 Total Bases

1500 Base on Balls

1000 Base on Balls

Template:Multicol-break

Pitchers

200 Wins

150 Wins

100 Wins

300 Saves

200 Saves

150 Saves

100 Saves

2000 Strikeouts

1500 Strikeouts

1000 Strikeouts

Template:Multicol-end

Uniforms

New uniforms

Wholesale Changes

Five teams have made wholesale changes to their uniforms in 2012, while a sixth will have new road uniforms. Two other teams will add alternate uniforms to their existing set.

The San Diego Padres were the first team to announce changes to their logos and uniform set on November 9. The new primary features the "SD" cap logo inside a navy circle with the words "San Diego Padres Baseball Club" encircling it. The "swinging friar" logo was also revived, albeit in the current colors. Another secondary logo features the Padres script from last season below the depiction of Petco Park in sand and above the year of establishment; a blue and white version is used on the away and alternate uniforms. The front of the home uniform remains the same, except that the sand trim in "Padres" is now in trim instead of a drop shadow and the addition of navy piping. Originally they'll use the sand Petco patch on the left sleeve, but upon unveiling the uniforms, the "swinging friar" patch was placed instead. The road uniforms now feature "San Diego" in an arched position with navy piping. The alternate blue uniforms feature the "SD" cap logo on the left chest with white piping. All three uniforms now feature the block lettering on the reverse side. The digital camouflage uniforms were retained, save for the change to block lettering. The caps with the sand "SD" were retired.[16]

The Marlins unveiled their changes on November 11, 2011, as the team is being rebranded as the Miami Marlins,[17] complete with a new logo featuring a stylized Marlin jumping over a art deco colored "M" in coral, yellow and blue. "MIAMI" will grace the primary white uniform, and there will be an orange home alternate which feature the team name, while the black alt is being reduced to road alternate jersey. The black cap will be used for the regular home, away and black alternates, while the orange cap will be paired with the orange alternates. The Marlins become the second team to use the city (or state) name on the home uniforms, after the Texas Rangers.

November 15 saw the Baltimore Orioles redesign their road and home uniform sets and returned to a version of the cartoon logo used from the mid 1960's to 1988.[18] The home caps are white in front and black on the back with an orange bill, while the away caps will be all black with an orange bill, both featuring the cartoon bird. They also unveiled a modernized version of the orange alternate uniforms last worn in 1992, and will be worn on select home games, but retained the black alternate uniforms paired with the black and orange cap with the "O's" script.[19]

As part of their golden anniversary season, the New York Mets have modified their home and road uniforms to resemble the style worn in 1962, having their unveiling November 16.[20] The black drop-shadow trim has been removed from the team/city script logos, player numerals and name lettering on the off-white pinstriped home uniforms (now the primary home uniform), the white alternate home uniforms, and the grey road uniforms, all of which will be worn only with the team's traditional blue cap with orange "NY" crest and blue undersleeves, belts and socks. In addition, the black alternate jersey (which will be worn occasionally on the road in 2012) is being phased out, to be replaced by a blue alternate starting in 2013. The solid black cap with the blue/white/orange crest will also be retained for one more season, to be worn only with the black alternate jersey. The black cap with blue bill and blue/orange crest has been eliminated. In addition, the Mets have removed the color black from their batting-practice jerseys and caps; both will be blue with orange lettering/logos outlined in white. After the death of Gary Carter, the Mets decided to patch "kid" 8 to pay tribute to the hall of famer.

The Toronto Blue Jays unveiled new uniforms on November 18, returning to a variation of their vintage logo used from 1977 through 1996.[21] The new logo is similar to the original used from 1977–96, with a few exceptions: a more prominent maple leaf, a sleeker-looking blue jay, serifed modern lettering on the team name, and a split-line blue circle enclosing the logo. The new uniforms were similarly based on the set used from 1992–96; a white home uniform with "Blue Jays", a grey road uniform with "Toronto", and a blue alternate uniform with "Blue Jays". The team/city name is arched above the secondary logo of the blue jay with the maple leaf, sans the baseball, situated on the left side. The secondary logo is also placed in the blue cap. The uniforms will use the breathable double-knit polyester fabric, claiming the lighter Climate Base fabric become too heavy once player sweat.[22]

The Colorado Rockies will replace their purple road pinstripes with a more traditional solid gray uniform which was unveiled at RockiesFest in Denver on January 2012.

The San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves added alternate uniforms to their set. The Giants will wear a grey alternate based on the road uniforms they wore during their 1989 World Series run, with the interlocking 'SF' logo on the left chest. The Braves will wear a cream (heritage white) home alternates based on the uniforms worn in their first season in Atlanta. The uniform has the 'Braves' wordmark without the tomahawk with the uniform number below on the left chest and navy piping. The sleeves will have a logo commemorating the Braves franchise's first season in 1876.

A new, slightly altered Los Angeles Dodgers logo made its way to the Dodgers dugout wall at Dodger Stadium and for their "Social September" promotion in September 2011.[23] The trail lines behind the ball are more accurate, and they and the ball have thicker outlines. The "o" in the word "Dodgers" no longer has a line on the bottom left.

Caps and jerseys

After reviving the popular Northwest Green jerseys at home, the Seattle Mariners are bringing back their teal with navy bill caps that were introduced in 2000 when the team moved into Safeco Field for Monday and Friday home contests. Also, their navy road alternate will now have "SEATTLE" on the jersey front.[24]

The Royals unveiled minor tweaks to their light blue home alternate jersey, with all numbers and lettering now white with royal trim, and a revamped away uniform (changed to a darker blue-gray color and a revamped "Kansas City" script). In addition, the team has dropped their light blue caps.[25]

The Cleveland Indians made minor tweaks to the home and alternate uniforms. The white home uniform features navy collar piping and the 'Indians' script in red and navy trim, removing the white inner trim as well as the navy piping on the button lines. The navy alternate features gray collar piping and the 'Indians' script in red and white trim, removing the navy inner trim as well as the grey piping on the button lines.[26]

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim revert back to the silver halo after changing it to gold the previous year. They also added a sleeve patch that says 'Angels Baseball' with the foundation year (1961) separated by the current logo in between. The logo is wrapped in a red, navy and silver circle. This patch will be placed on all uniforms.

Throwbacks

As part of their 40th anniversary in Arlington, the Texas Rangers will wear replicas of the four different uniforms they've worn throughout the team's history, the most notable of which are the two uniforms worn during the ownership of then-future President of the United States George W. Bush.

Patches

Anniversaries and special events

The following teams will wear commemorative patches for special occasions:

Team Special Occasion
Boston Red Sox 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park
Los Angeles Dodgers 50th Anniversary of Dodger Stadium
Baltimore Orioles 20th Anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Houston Astros 50th Anniversary of the franchise
New York Mets 50th Anniversary of the franchise
Seattle Mariners 35th Anniversary of the franchise
Texas Rangers 40th Anniversary in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
Kansas City Royals host city of the 2012 MLB All-Star Game
St. Louis Cardinals to commemorate their 2011 World Series championship
Miami Marlins inaugural season of Marlins Park

Memorials

  • The Seattle Mariners will honor outfielder Greg Halman with a patch, following his murder in Netherlands on November 21, 2011.
  • The New York Mets will wear a patch honoring Gary Carter, who died of brain cancer on February 16, 2012. The patch features a black inverted home plate with Carter's number 8 and "KID" inscribed on it.[27]

Stadiums

Marlins Park

The Florida Marlins vacated Sun Life Stadium at the end of the 2011 season and will move into their new ballpark, built on the site of the old Orange Bowl stadium and tentatively known as Marlins Park. The team officially adopted its new name of Miami Marlins on November 11, 2011.

Anniversaries

The 2012 season will be the 100th anniversary of the opening of Boston's Fenway Park. In addition, Dodger Stadium - home of the Los Angeles Dodgers - will celebrate its 50th Anniversary, and the Baltimore Orioles' home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, will be commemorating its 20th anniversary.

Mets, Astros golden anniversaries

The 2012 season will also mark the 50th anniversary for the New York Mets and the Houston Astros, but the 51st season for both teams.

The Mets began play four years after the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants moved west in 1958, leaving New York City with only one MLB team in the Yankees. In 1959, New York City attorney William Shea, with support from baseball figures including former Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, proposed a third major league called the Continental League. Houston and New York City were both among the announced CL cities. MLB responded to the threat by placing new franchises in several of these cities, and offered a National League franchise to the owners of the proposed New York CL team, who accepted. With Shea's goal of bringing a second major-league team to New York successful, he abandoned the new league, which officially folded in 1960 without ever playing a game. The Mets began play in 1962 at the Giants' former home of the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, moved in 1964 to Shea Stadium (named after the aforementioned William Shea) in Queens, and opened their current home of Citi Field, adjacent to the former Shea Stadium site, in 2009.

The Astros were also enfranchised as a direct response to the plans to launch the CL. They began play in 1962 as the Houston Colt .45s; following a dispute with Colt Firearms over revenues from souvenir sales and licensing fees, the team moved to the Astrodome in 1965 and renamed itself the Astros. In 2000, they opened their current home, now known as Minute Maid Park. In honor of the Astros' 50th anniversary, they will don different throwback uniforms at home on Friday night themed to each decade.

Television

Major League Baseball enters the 6th year of seven year contracts it signed with its broadcast partners prior to the 2007 season. This year, Fox will televise the Saturday Game of the Week (which will be shown in prime time each week from May 19 to July 7), the All-Star Game, the National League Championship Series, and the World Series. TBS will show a Sunday Game of the Week, the All-Star Selection Show, all Division Series games, and the American League Championship Series. ESPN will show games on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday nights (with Monday Night Baseball moving to form a Wednesday night doubleheader when the NFL season starts, to accommodate Monday Night Football), and the All-Star Home Run Derby. ESPN will televise no postseason games.

It has not yet been determined which network will televise the new wild card elimination games.

The Padres will switch from Cox Cable-owned 4SD to a new channel called Fox Sports San Diego.[28]

Retired numbers

The Minnesota Twins will retire former manager Tom Kelly's No. 10 prior to the September 8 game against the Cleveland Indians at Target Field. Kelly served as manager from 1986–2001, and led the Twins to their only World Series victories in 1987 and 1991.[29]

References

  1. ^ Associated Press (September 29, 2011). "Mariners, A's to open at Tokyo Dome". ESPN.com.
  2. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (November 22, 2011). "MLB, Union Announce Five-year Deal". MLB.com. Major League Baseball.
  3. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (March 2, 2012). "Addition of Wild Card berths finalized for 2012". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
  4. ^ Capozzi, Joe (August 2, 2009). "Florida Marlins to open new ballpark with exhibition games against New York Yankees". The Palm Beach Post.
  5. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (March 2, 2012). "Addition of Wild Card berths finalized for 2012". MLB.com. MLB.com.
  6. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (November 17, 2011). "Astros sale to Crane, move to AL approved". MLB.com. Astros.MLB.com.
  7. ^ "Atlanta Braves 2012 Single Game Tickets". atlantabraves.com. 21 February 2012.
  8. ^ a b Levine, Bruce (October 21, 2011). "Source: Cubs set to hire Theo Epstein". ESPNChicago.com. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  9. ^ Bollinger, Rhett (November 7, 2011). "Ryan back in GM role as Twins replace Smith". MLB.com. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  10. ^ Ghiroli, Brittany (November 7, 2011). "Dan Duquette agrees to lead O's baseball ops". MLB.com. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); Unknown parameter |http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Leach, Matthew (October 31, 2011). "La Russa announces his retirement as skipper". MLB.com. Major League Baseball.
  12. ^ Leach, Matthew (November 13, 2011). "Cardinals hand managerial reins to Matheny". MLB.com. Major League Baseball.
  13. ^ McDonald, Joe (October 1, 2011). "Terry Francona, Red Sox split". ESPNBoston.com. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  14. ^ Muskat, Carrie (November 17, 2011). "Cubs make Sveum their choice for manager". MLB.com. Major League Baseball.
  15. ^ Gonzales, Mark (October 6, 2011). "Ventura succeeds Guillen as Sox manager". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  16. ^ Brock, Corey (9 November 2011). "Padres' new uniforms a nod to tradition". MLB.com. Padres.MLB.com.
  17. ^ Frisaro, Joe (21 September 2011). "Unveiling of Miami Marlins set for Nov. 11". MLB.com. Marlins.MLB.com.
  18. ^ Zach Wilt (29 October 2011). Orioles Will Return to Fan Favorite Cartoon Bird in 2012, Baltimore Sports Report
  19. ^ Ghiroli, Brittany (15 November 2011). "Cartoon bird returns as O's unveil new uniforms". MLB.com. Orioles.MLB.com.
  20. ^ Rubin, Adam (16 August 2011). "In Depth: New Jersey, Blue Horizon". ESPNNewYork.com.
  21. ^ Zwolinski, Mark (9 August 2011). "Jays making a uniform change". The Toronto Star.
  22. ^ Chisholm, Gregor (18 November 2011). "Blue Jays unveil new logo for 2012 season". MLB.com. BlueJays.MLB.com.
  23. ^ Creamer, Chris (4 October 2011). "Dodgers change logo, nobody notices". Sportslogos.net. sportslogos.net.
  24. ^ "Mariners Commermorate 35th Anniversary in 2012". Mariners.MLB.com. Major League Baseball. November 16, 2011.
  25. ^ "Royals unveil uniform updates for the 2012 season". Royals.MLB.com. Major League Baseball. November 22, 2011.
  26. ^ "Indians make minor changes to uniforms". Indians.MLB.com. Major League Baseball. November 25, 2011.
  27. ^ Rubin, Adam (February 25, 2012). "Mets will wear Gary Carter patch". ESPNNewYork.com.
  28. ^ PADRES: Fox Sports San Diego ready to launch North Country Times, March 7, 2012
  29. ^ Associated Press (January 27, 2012). "Twins to retire ex-manager Tom Kelly's No. 10". Yahoo! Sports.
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