PHOTO
HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
Theanswer isno, at leastnotamong
U.S.professional leagues.
There isnoclearexplanation for the
existenceof therule,whichdatesback
to1910.HallofFamerLouGehrig, for
example, spentmostof 1923and1924
in theminors longbeforeheeventu-
ally“Wally-Pipped”WallyPipp.More
recently,DavidPricewasaSeptember
call-upbyTampaBayasareliever in2008
andplayedakeyrole in theRays’ run to
theWorldSeriesbeforebecomingoneof
thebest left-handedpitchers in thegame.
Therearesome theoreticalbenefits
to thepractice.Out-of-contentionclubs,
preparingalready for thenextyear, get
achance to lookatsome topprospects
againstmajor leaguecompetition.Minor
leagueseasons typicallyendrightaround
Sept. 1.Until 1969,only two teamswent
to thepostseason,meaningnearlyall the
teamsusedSeptemberasaversionofa
spring trainingpreview.
Fora long time, thatmadea lotof
sense.Now it’smorecomplicated.
As thepoolofplayoff teamshasgone
from two to10 in thepast50years,
sohas thepoolofcontenders.For the
contenders, expandedrostersarenow
oftenusedasaway tospecializerosters
togivemanagersanextra left-handed
reliever, aspeedypinch-runningoptionor
anelitefielder. Ifaclubbringsupahalf-
dozenplayers, theextraexpense isakin to
addinga26thplayerat themajor-league
SPORTS
86
SEPTEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
minimumof$507,500 fora fullyear.
Somesmaller-marketclubssimplydon’t
have thepayrollflexibilityatyear’send
tomake thatkindof investment.
And for thenoncontenders,well,
beyond thesupposedvalueof lookingat
nextyear’sprospects,flooding theroster
withminor leaguersandplaying them
seems tobeaneasyway forabad team to
“tank.”Finishingwith theworstrecord in
themajors thesedaysearnsaclub the top
waiverclaimallwinter, the largestpoolof
draftbonusmoney for theensuingyear
and the largestbonuspool for interna-
tional free-agentsignings (think: teens
inLatinAmerica).
What itcreatesarecompetitive
imbalances in twodirections.
But inasportwhere traditionoften
outweighs truth, changing therules
late in thegame is justawayof life.
Insteadofagrand tradition, it looks
arcaneandoutof touch.
EVANGRANT
haswrittenaboutsports for
TheDallasMorningNews
for 18years.He is
currently thepaper’s leadbaseballwriter.
“IT’STHEMOST
LUDICROUS
THINGISEEIN
SPORTS.”
—LONGTIMEMILWAUKEEBREWERS
EXECUTIVEDOUGMELVIN
Baseball greatLouGehrigdidn’t startoff
in themajor leagues. Far from it, in fact.
THETRADEDEADLINE:
TheMLB
tradingdeadline is known as July 31, but
players can still bemoved after that date.
As ofAug. 1, players canbe traded if they
go through thewaiver process unclaimed
by anyother club. But that doesn’tmean
all playerswho are traded after July 31 are
eligible for theplayoffs.Aplayer who is
acquired fromSept. 1 until season’s end is
not eligible toplay in thepostseason.
WHEN40DOESN’TEQUAL40:
MLB
active rosters are limited to 25players,
but every clubhas an additional storeof
15players on its 40-man roster.Actually,
somehavemore. Playerswhogoon the 15-
daydisabled list will still count against the
40-man roster whilenot active, but if
the40-man roster complement is full, a
player with amore traumatic injury can
bemoved to the60-dayDL.And those
players don’t count against the40-man
roster. The catch:When aplayer returns
from the60-dayDL, another playermust
bemovedoff the40-man roster tomake
room for him.
—E.G.
THINK THE EXPANSIONOF ROSTERS INMAJOR
LEAGUEBASEBALL ISABITSTRANGE?
Well, it’shardly theonlyobscureway inwhichclubscanmanipulate their rosters.
