2012 Major League Baseball season

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2012 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	March 28, 2012 – October 3, 2012
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: NL:
League postseason
World Series
MLB seasons
← 2011	2013 →

The 2012 Major League Baseball season began 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 started April 4 in Miami, Florida with the opening of the new Marlins Park, as the newly renamed Miami Marlins hosted the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The regular season is scheduled to end on Wednesday, October 3.^[4] The entire master schedule was released on September 14, 2011.

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

Contents 1 Standings 1.1 American League 1.2 National League 2 Managerial changes 2.1 General managers 2.1.1 Off-season 2.2 Field managers 2.2.1 Off-season 3 League leaders 3.1 American League 3.1.1 Hitting leaders 3.1.2 Pitching leaders 3.2 National League 3.2.1 Hitting leaders 3.2.2 Pitching leaders 4 Milestones 4.1 Reached 4.1.1 Batters 4.1.2 Pitchers 4.1.2.1 Perfect game 4.1.2.2 No-hitters 4.1.2.3 Other accomplishments 4.2 Miscellaneous 5 Awards and honors 5.1 Regular season 5.1.1 Player of the Month 5.1.2 Pitcher of the Month 5.1.3 Rookie of the Month 6 Uniforms 6.1 New uniforms 6.1.1 Wholesale changes 6.1.2 Dodgers logo 6.1.3 Caps and jerseys 6.2 Throwbacks 7 Other uniforms 7.1 Patches 7.1.1 Anniversaries and special events 7.1.2 Memorials 8 New stadium 9 Anniversaries 9.1 Mets, Astros golden anniversaries 10 Television 10.1 National 10.2 Local 11 Team purchases 12 Retirements 13 Retired numbers 14 References 15 External links

Standings

American League

v t e AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Tampa Bay Rays	30	22	.577	—	18–10	12–12
Baltimore Orioles	29	23	.558	1	14–13	15–10
New York Yankees	28	23	.549	1½	14–11	14–12
Boston Red Sox	27	25	.519	3	13–14	14–11
Toronto Blue Jays	27	25	.519	3	15–11	12–14

v t e AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	30	22	.577	—	13–13	17–9
Cleveland Indians	28	23	.549	1½	16–14	12–9
Detroit Tigers	24	28	.462	6	11–13	13–15
Kansas City Royals	22	28	.440	7	6–17	16–11
Minnesota Twins	18	33	.353	11½	9–17	9–16

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	31	21	.596	—	15–11	16–10
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	27	26	.509	4½	14–11	13–15
Seattle Mariners	23	31	.426	9	9–13	14–18
Oakland Athletics	22	30	.423	9	10–15	12–15

National League

v t e NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Washington Nationals	29	21	.580	—	15–8	14–13
Miami Marlins	29	23	.558	1	16–10	13–13
New York Mets	29	23	.558	1	17–11	12–12
Atlanta Braves	28	24	.538	2	12–11	16–13
Philadelphia Phillies	28	25	.528	2½	12–13	16–12

v t e NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	29	22	.569	—	15–9	14–13
St. Louis Cardinals	27	25	.519	2½	13–11	14–14
Pittsburgh Pirates	26	25	.510	3	16–11	10–14
Milwaukee Brewers	23	29	.442	6½	11–14	12–15
Houston Astros	22	30	.423	7½	16–11	6–19
Chicago Cubs	18	33	.353	11	12–15	6–18

v t e NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	32	20	.615	—	21–9	11–11
San Francisco Giants	28	24	.538	4	15–11	13–13
Arizona Diamondbacks	23	29	.442	9	10–15	13–14
Colorado Rockies	22	29	.431	9½	14–14	8–15
San Diego Padres	18	35	.340	14½	13–16	5–19

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[9]	Hoyer previously served as the General Manager of San Diego Padres.
San Diego Padres	Jed Hoyer	Josh Byrnes[9]	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)[10]	Ryan previously served as General Manager of the Twins from 1994–2007.
Baltimore Orioles	Andy MacPhail	Dan Duquette [11]	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.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15]
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.[16] Cooper served as the White Sox' interim manager for the last two days of the season.

League leaders

Updated through May 30, 2012

American League

National League

Milestones

Reached

Batters

• Adam Dunn (CWS):
  • Tied the Major League record for most opening-day home runs by hitting his eighth against the Texas Rangers on April 6. He tied the record held by Frank Robinson and Ken Griffey Jr..^[17]
  • Set the Major League record to strikeout at least once in each of his team's first 15 games of a season, by striking out in the first inning against the Seattle Mariners on April 22.^[18] He broke the record that was held by Howie Goss, who struck out in each of Houston's first 14 games in 1963. Dunn continued to 32 games before not striking out May 11 against the Kansas City Royals.^[19]

• José Reyes (MIA):
  • Recorded his 100th career triple in the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds on April 8.^[20] He became the 162nd player to reach this mark.

• Alex Rodriguez (NYY):
  • Tied Ken Griffey Jr. for fifth place on the career home run list with his 630th home run on April 13.^[21] Then one week later on April 20, Rodriguez hit his 631st home run to pass Griffey for fifth place on the career home run list.^[22]

• Adrian Beltre (TEX):
  • Scored his 1000th career run in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins on April 14.^[23] He became the 314th player to reach this mark.

• Todd Helton (COL):
  • Recorded his 350th career home run in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 21.^[24] He became the 85th player to reach this mark.

• Rafael Furcal (STL):
  • Scored his 1000th career run in the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs on April 24.^[25] He became the 315th player to reach this mark.

• Paul Konerko (CWS):
  • Hit his 400th career home run against Oakland on April 25, becoming the 48th player to reach this mark. ^[26]

• Torii Hunter (LAA):
  • Scored his 1000th career run in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins on May 2.^[27] He became the 316th player to reach this mark.

• Josh Hamilton (TEX):
  • Hit four home runs in a game against the Baltimore Orioles on May 8.^[28] He became the 16th player in Major League history to accomplish this feat.
  • Became the first player in Rangers' franchise history to exceed 20 home runs by the end of May.^[29]

• Jamie Moyer (COL):
  • With his two-run single against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 16, Moyer became the oldest player in Major League history to record an RBI.^[30]

• Albert Pujols (LAA):
  • Hit his 450th career home run against the Seattle Mariners on May 24, becoming the 35th player and fourth-youngest to reach this mark.^[31]

• Melky Cabrera (SF):
  • Set the Giants' franchise record for most hits in May with his 50th hit on May 29 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[32] He broke the record that was set by Willie Mays. On May 30, Cabrera singled in the eighth inning and tied the franchise record for most hits in any month with 51 that was set by Randy Winn in September 2005.^[33]

Pitchers

Perfect game

• Philip Humber (CWS):
  • Threw the 21st perfect game in Major League history, defeating the Seattle Mariners 4–0 on April 21, 2012. This was the third perfect game in the White Sox's history, the last being Mark Buehrle's perfect game on July 23, 2009.^[34]

No-hitters

• Jered Weaver (LAA):
  • Threw the 10th no-hitter in Angels history by defeating the Minnesota Twins 9–0 on May 2. This was Weaver's first career no-hitter. Weaver allowed a passed ball on Chris Parmelee and a walk on Josh Willingham while striking out nine.^[35]

• Johan Santana (NYM):
  • Threw the first no-hitter in Mets history by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8–0 on June 1. This was Santana's first career no-hitter. He walked five batters while striking out eight. With the Mets' first no-no, the San Diego Padres are the only remaining team without a no-hitter. ^[36]

Other accomplishments

• Edwin Jackson (WAS):
  • Became the first pitcher since 1900 to record a win as a starter for seven different teams before turning 29 years old by defeating the Cincinnati Reds on April 14.^[37]

• Jamie Moyer (COL):
  • With his victory against the San Diego Padres on April 17, Moyer became the oldest pitcher (&1000000000000004900000049 years, &10000000000000151000000151 days) in Major League history to win a game.^[38] He broke the record that was held by Jack Quinn (49 years, 70 days) who set the record on September 13, 1932 for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Miscellaneous

• Toronto Blue Jays/Cleveland Indians:
  • Played the longest opening-day game ever in the major leagues on April 5. The game lasted 16 innings^[39] and the Blue Jays won 7–4. The game eclipsed the previous longest openers between Cleveland and Detroit on April 19, 1960 (15 innings), and between Philadelphia and Washington on April 13, 1926 (15 innings).

• Cincinnati Reds:
  • Became the sixth franchise to reach 10,000 wins in Major League history with a 9–4 win against the Chicago Cubs on April 20.^[40] The Reds amassed a record of 10,000–9,710.

• Kansas City Royals:
  • With their loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on April 23, the Royals lost all ten games on their homestand. Only two other teams in Major League history went 0-10 or worse on a homestand: the Seattle Pilots went 0-10 on a homestand in August 1969, and the Arizona Diamondbacks went 0-11 on a homestand in July 2004.^[41]

• Baltimore Orioles:
  • Became the first American League team in Major League history to start a game with three consecutive home runs by doing this against the Texas Rangers on May 10 in the first game of the doubleheader.^[42] Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis hit the record setting home runs against Colby Lewis.

Awards and honors

Regular season

Player of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Josh Hamilton	Matt Kemp
May
June
July
August
September

Pitcher of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Jake Peavy	Stephen Strasburg
May
June
July
August
September

Rookie of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Yu Darvish	Wade Miley
May
June
July
August
September

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.^[43]

The Marlins unveiled their changes on November 11, 2011, as the team is being rebranded as the Miami Marlins,^[44] 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.^[45] 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.^[46]

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.^[47] 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.

The Toronto Blue Jays unveiled new uniforms on November 18, returning to a variation of their vintage logo used from 1977 through 1996.^[48] 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 are similarly based on the set used from 1989–96; 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 previously lighter Climate Base fabric became too heavy, once players began to sweat.^[49]

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.

Dodgers logo

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.^[50] The baseball and flight lines have been thickened, while the "o" in the script "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 navy with teal bill caps, last worn in 2002, for Monday and Friday home contests. Also, their navy road alternate will now have "SEATTLE" on the jersey front.^[51]

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.^[52]

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.^[53]

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim revert 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.

As part of their 50th anniversary, the Astros will wear throwbacks throughout the season, including a game with Colt .45s uniforms.

The Red Sox and the Yankees will wear 1912 throwbacks on April 20 to mark the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park. It marks only the second time the Yankees have worn throwbacks; the first was in 1996, when they wore New York Black Yankees uniforms at a Negro League tribute game in Detroit.

The Red Sox and Athletics will wear 1936 uniforms on May 2 at Fenway Park.

The Twins will wear Minneapolis Millers uniforms on June 30.

The Athletics will wear Oakland Oaks uniforms on July 8.

The Brewers will wear Milwaukee Bears Negro League uniforms on July 28.

The Diamondbacks will wear a throwback uniform on September 15. Fans will decide which uniform will be worn.

The White Sox will wear 1972 uniforms on Sundays at home this season.

The Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates wore throwback uniforms paying tribute to the Negro league baseball teams Detroit Stars and Pittsburgh Crawfords on May 19.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Seattle Mariners wore throwback uniforms of defunct Pacific Coast League teams Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Rainiers on May 26.

The Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants will wear 1912 throwback uniforms on June 2.

Other uniforms

The Cardinals wore special uniforms to commemorate their 2011 World Series win on April 13–14. The 'STL' on the caps will be gold with navy trim, while the word 'Cardinals' and the block numbers on the uniforms will be gold with navy trim. The Cardinals wore them during the unfurling of their championship flag on April 13, and the presentation of the championship trophy and rings on April 14.

MLB players wore No. 42 on April 15, the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's MLB debut.

The Pirates and Orioles will wear camouflage uniforms during Memorial Day weekend.

The Brewers will wear an Italian-language uniform with the word "Birrai" on July 1, and their Cerveceros uniforms on July 2.

Players will wear special caps on Memorial Day and Independence Day; the Blue Jays will also wear special caps on Canada Day.

As part of Cinco de Mayo the San Francisco Giants ("Gigantes") and Houston Astros ("Los Astros") wore Spanish-language home uniforms for the game.

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 the 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.^[54]
• The Chicago White Sox will sport two black diamond patches on the right sleeve in honor of Bill Skowron (BMS) and Kevin Hickey (HIC MAN). Skowron died on April 27 of heart failure following a long battle with lung cancer, while Hickey died on May 16 of undisclosed causes.
• The Major League umpires will wear black patches honoring former umpires Marty Springstead (MS), who died January 17, 2012, and Harry Wendelstedt (HW), who died March 9, 2012.

New stadium

The Florida Marlins vacated Sun Life Stadium at the end of the 2011 season and moved 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 is the 100th anniversary of the opening of Boston's Fenway Park. In addition, Dodger Stadium—home of the Los Angeles Dodgers—celebrates its 50th Anniversary, and the Baltimore Orioles home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, will also commemorate its 20th anniversary.

Mets, Astros golden anniversaries

The 2012 season also marks 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

National

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 but two Division Series games, the American League Championship Series, and the new wild card elimination games. 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. They will also air 10 spring training games, as well as five nationally televised games on Opening Week from April 4–6. The MLB Network will air a national Game of the Week broadcast every Thursday and the two Division Series games not shown on TBS. Major League Baseball International will air in syndication the All-Star Game, the ALCS, and the World Series to global markets.

Local

The Padres have switched from Cox Cable-owned 4SD to a new channel called Fox Sports San Diego, which the Padres also have a minority stake in.^[55]

This is the last season of Houston Astros games on Fox Sports Houston and KTXH. Starting next season, all games will be on Comcast SportsNet Houston, a new channel the Astros will co-own with the Houston Rockets.^[56]

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which broadcasts Orioles and Nationals games, became the latest network to adjust its score box to the 16:9 aspect ratio for high-definition television broadcasts. The adjustment, which began with Fox Sports' MLB coverage in 2010, was later adopted to other networks, notably ESPN, TBS, Fox Sports Net (except Fox Sports South and some terrestrial television broadcasts produced by Fox Sports), and Root Sports during the 2011 season. As of this season, only the YES Network, New England Sports Network, Comcast SportsNet, SportsNet New York and SportsTime Ohio have yet to move to the newly adjusted high definition broadcast.

Team purchases

On March 27, 2012, the Dodgers were sold to Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC, a group that included NBA legend Magic Johnson^[57] for $2.1 billion. The new management team, to include baseball executive Stan Kasten, still had to await approval by two different courts—one handling the Dodgers' bankruptcy, and the other overseeing the divorce of former owners Frank and Jamie McCourt.^[58] The sale was finalized on May 1, at which time the new management team officially took over.^[59]

Retirements

• Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones announced on March 22, 2012 that he will retire after 19 seasons at the conclusion of the 2012 season.^[60]
• Catcher Iván Rodríguez officially announced his retirement on April 23, 2012. Playing for six different teams in a 21-year career, most notably with the Texas Rangers, Rodríguez set a record for most Gold Glove Awards at catcher with 13, while earning AL MVP honors in 1999 and a 2003 World Series title with the Florida Marlins. He also appeared in 14 All-Star Games and won seven Silver Slugger Awards at catcher, while appearing in 2,543 games behind the plate, a Major League record.^[61]
• Pitcher Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs announced his retirement on May 18, 2012.^[62]
• Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordóñez will announce his retirement from baseball on June 3, 2012.^[63]

Retired numbers

• The St. Louis Cardinals retired former manager Tony La Russa's No. 10 prior to the May 11 game against the Atlanta Braves. La Russa served as manager from 1996–2011 and appeared in three World Series, winning in 2006 and 2011.^[64]

• The Atlanta Braves will retire John Smoltz's No. 29 and induct him into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame prior to the June 8 game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Smoltz retired with a career record of 213–155 with a 3.33 ERA and 3,084 strikeouts. He also added 154 saves and was 15–4 in the post-season.^[65]

• 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.^[66]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 2012 in Major League Baseball

• 2012 Major League Baseball season Official Site
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• 2012 Major League Baseball season at Baseball Reference

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