2015 Major League Baseball season
| 2015 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 5 – October 4, 2015 |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | AL: NL: |
| League Postseason | |
| World Series | |
The 2015 Major League Baseball season will begin on Sunday, April 5, 2015 with the St. Louis Cardinals visiting the Chicago Cubs at the newly refurbished Wrigley Field, and will end on Sunday, October 4, 2015.
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game's 86th edition will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of the Cincinnati Reds.
This will also be the first season for Rob Manfred as Commissioner of Baseball.
Schedule
As was the case in 2014, teams will play 19 games against each division opponent for a total of 76 games, and six or seven games against each team from the other two divisions in its league for a total of 66 games.
All teams will play 20 interleague games. For 2015, the interleague matchups will be AL East vs. NL East, AL Central vs. NL Central, and AL West vs. NL West. Since "natural rivalry" matchups will be part of the three-year divisional rotation (for the first time), the schedule format of interleague games are different than in other years. The 20 interleague games each team will play consists of two three-game series (one home, one away) against its natural rival (total of six games), two two-game series (one home, one away) against each team for two other opponents (total of eight games; one of the matchups take place back-to-back within the same week), and a single three-game series against each team for the last two (one home, one away; total of six games).
Managerial changes
General managers
In-season
Offseason
| Team | Former GM | New GM | Reason for leaving | Story/Accomplishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Rockies | Dan O'Dowd | Jeff Bridich | Resigned | O'Dowd resigned as general manager on October 8, 2014, after 15 seasons at the position, and Bridich was immediately named his replacement. Bridich spent 10 seasons in the Rockies' front office before becoming the general manager.[1] |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Andrew Friedman | Matt Silverman | Resigned | On October 14, 2014, it was announced that Friedman would leave the Rays to become the President of Baseball Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Ned Colletti | Farhan Zaidi | Promoted | On October 14, 2014, Colletti was removed from his position as General Manager of the Dodgers but would remain with them in a new position of Senior Advisor to the President. Former Rays GM Andrew Friedman was named President of Baseball Operations the same day.[2] He hired Farhan Zaidi to be the new GM. |
Field managers
In-season
Offseason
At the end of the 2014 season, the following teams made replacements to their managers.
| Team | Former Manager | Interim Manager | Reason for leaving | New Manager | Story/Accomplishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Astros | Bo Porter | Tom Lawless | Fired | A.J. Hinch | Porter was fired on September 1, 2014 along with bench coach Dave Trembley. Lawless was named the interim manager. Porter finished with a record of 110–190 in under two seasons. A.J. Hinch was announced as the new manager on September 29, 2014.[3] |
| Texas Rangers | Ron Washington | Tim Bogar | Resigned | Jeff Banister | Washington resigned on September 5, 2014 for personal reasons, later revealed to be an affair, after eight seasons with the Rangers. He finished with a 664–611 record and is the franchise's all-time leader in regular seasons wins and games managed. Washington lead the Rangers to four straight 90 win seasons, three playoff appearances, and back to back American League championships during his tenure. Banister was named the manager on October 16, 2014.[4] |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Kirk Gibson | Alan Trammell | Fired | Chip Hale | Gibson was fired on September 26, 2014 after four years as manager of the Diamondbacks. He finished with a 353–375 record and led the Diamondbacks to the division title during the 2011 season while capturing the National League Manager of the Year award. Former Athletics and Mets coach Chip Hale was named manager on October 13, 2014.[5] |
| Minnesota Twins | Ron Gardenhire | N/A | Fired | Paul Molitor | Gardenhire was fired on September 29, 2014 after 13 years as manager of the Twins. He finished with a 1,068–1,039 record and led the Twins to six division titles and was American League Manager of the Year after the 2010 season.[6] Paul Molitor was announced as the new manager of the Twins on November 4, 2014.[7] |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Joe Maddon | N/A | Resigned | Kevin Cash | Maddon exercised an opt-out clause on October 24, 2014 and resigned from the Rays. He managed them for nine years and finished with a 754–704 record with two division titles and led them to four post-season berths and the 2008 World Series. Maddon was American League Manager of the Year after the 2008 and 2011 seasons.[8]On December 5, 2014 Kevin Cash was named the new manager of the Rays. |
| Chicago Cubs | Rick Renteria | N/A | Fired | Joe Maddon | On October 31, 2014, Renteria was fired after only one year with the team and he finished with just a 73–89 record and former Tampa Bay Rays skipper Joe Maddon was hired as the Chicago Cubs new manager.[9] |
Milestones
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (September 2014) |
Uniforms
Wholesale changes
The New York Mets changed their home jersey from a cream shade to white and took away the home white alternate jersey.[10]
The Minnesota Twins took away the pinstripes from their home jersey and added a gold trim to the "Twins" wordmark.[11]
The Pittsburgh Pirates introduced a new camouflage alternate jersey in honor of the U.S. Military which will be worn during all Thursday home games.[12]
The Seattle Mariners have added an alternate cream color jersey with blue and yellow, the original colors of the team from 1977-1992.
Anniversaries and special events
The following teams will wear commemorative patches for special occasions:
| Team | Special occasion |
|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | In memory of Ernie Banks |
| Cincinnati Reds | 25th anniversary World Series champions reunion |
| 2015 All Star Game | |
| Houston Astros | 50th anniversary of the nickname Astros |
| St. Louis Cardinals | In memory of Oscar Taveras |
| Washington Nationals | 10th season in Washington |
Television
National
United States
2015 marks the second year of MLB's eight-year deal with FOX, ESPN, & TBS. FOX will televise Saturday night games for eight consecutive weeks, leading up to the All Star Game, which will also air on FOX. FOX will then televise Saturday afternoon games for the last four weeks of the regular season. FOX Sports 1, in its second year, will televise games on Tuesday nights and Saturdays, both during the afternoon and at night. ESPN will televise games on its flagship telecast, Sunday Night Baseball, as well as Monday and Wednesday nights. TBS will televise Sunday afternoon games for the last thirteen weeks of the regular season. FOX and ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts will be exclusive; all other national telecasts will be subject to local blackout.
TBS will televise the National League Wild Card Game, Division Series, and Championship Series. ESPN will televise the American League Wild Card Game, FOX Sports 1 and MLB Network will televise American League Division Series, and FOX and FOX Sports 1 will televise the American League Championship Series. The World Series will air exclusively on FOX for the sixteenth consecutive year. All postseason games will air on ESPN Radio.
Local
Starting in 2015, 25 Chicago Cubs games will be telecasted on WLS-TV (ABC Channel 7). The team opted out of their contract with Tribune Media after the 2014 season after 66 years of being on the Tribune Media-owned WGN-TV.[13] However, a renegotiation will have 45 additional games on WGN-TV
The national network WGN America will no longer carry Chicago White Sox or Chicago Cubs games as of this season as they draw down their Chicago-focused programming and become a general-interest cable network. This brings an end to the "superstation" era of cable broadcast, started in 1976 when WTCG (later to become WTBS) broadcast Atlanta Braves games, followed by WGN and other stations such as WOR-TV (New York Mets), WSBK (Boston Red Sox) and KTLA (California Angels) airing simulcasts via satellite or cable.
After a absence of over a decade, New York Yankees telecasts will return to WPIX, sharing time with the Mets after WWOR declined a contract extention.
Radio
ESPN Radio will air its 18th season of national coverage, including Sunday Night Games, Saturday games, Opening Day and holiday games, the All-Star Game, and Home Run Derby, and the entire postseason.
Local
WBBM will be the new radio home of the Chicago Cubs starting in April 2015 after long time home WGN gave up the broadcasting rights after 90 years.
Retirements
- Tim Hudson announced that 2015 will be his last season.[14]
- LaTroy Hawkins announced that 2015 would be his last season.[15]
- A.J. Burnett announced that he would retire after the 2015 season.[16]
Retired numbers
- Paul Konerko will have his #14 retired on May 23 before a game against the Minnesota Twins. He will become the tenth player to have his number retired by the Chicago White Sox.[17]
- Former commissioner and Milwaukee Brewers founder/owner Bud Selig will have #1 retired by the team at an unknown date in 2015. He will become the fifth person to have a number retired by the Brewers.[18]
- Randy Johnson will have his #51 retired during the 2015 season by the Arizona Diamondbacks. It will be the third number retired by the organization.[19]
References
- ^ Nightengale, Bob. "Jeff Bridich replacing Dan O'Dowd as Rockies general manager". usatoday.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ^ Shelburne, Ramona. "Andrew Friedman to join Dodgers". ESPN. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- ^ McTaggert, Brian (September 29, 2014). "Astros set to hand managerial reins to A.J. Hinch". MLB.com. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ Sullivan, T. R. "Banister named manager of Rangers". MLB.com. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
- ^ Gilbert, Steve. "Hale is D-backs' choice for skipper". MLB.com. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- ^ Bollinger, Rhett. "Gardenhire dismissed by Twins after 13 seasons". MLB.com. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^ Bollinger, Rhett; Laymance, Austin. "Twins set to introduce Molitor as manager". MLB.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ Chastain, Bill. "Maddon opts out of contract, leaves Rays". MLB.com. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- ^ Muskat, Carrie. "Cubs hiring Maddon to replace Renteria as manager". MLB.com. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- ^ Creamer, Chris (November 5, 2014). "New York Mets Release Uniform Changes for 2015". SportsLogos.net.
- ^ Miller, Phil (November 10, 2014). "Uniform update: Twins get rid of pinstripes, add gold trim". startribune.com.
- ^ Singer, Tom (December 13, 2014). "Pirates unveil alternate jersey honoring Armed Forces". Pirates.com.
- ^ Channick, Robert. "It's official: WLS-Ch. 7 to air 25 Cubs games". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing Company. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ "Tim Hudson of San Franciso Giants 'pretty sure' 2015 will be his last season - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ^ "West Notes: Hawkins, Ellis, Gregerson, Melky". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ^ Brink, Bill (November 11, 2014). "Pitcher A.J. Burnett returning to Pirates on one-year deal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
- ^ Merkin, Scott (January 15, 2015). "White Sox will retire Konerko's number on May 23". Whitesox.MLB.com. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11595827/milwaukee-brewers-retire-no-1-honor-commissioner-bud-selig
- ^ http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/06/diamondbacks-to-retire-randy-johnsons-no-51/