Hot stove league
Encyclopedia
The "Hot Stove League" is a baseball
-related term, referring to the sport's off-season. The phrase does not denote an actual league "league", but instead calls up images of baseball fans, anxious for the start of the new season, gathering around a hot stove
during the cold winter
months discussing their favorite baseball teams. The term has also come to refer to the wave of off-season player transactions (trades, re-signings, free agency
, etc.) that occur between seasons, especially during the winter meetings
. Since most free agent signings and trades occur during the off-season, this time of significant player transactions (including rumor
s and speculation about possible trades), is often referred to as the "Hot Stove League" or sometimes more simply "Hot Stove". Essentially, teams continue competing, except it is the team owners and general manager
s who are doing the playing, with the score being in terms of human resource losses and gains.
The term is essentially an extension of the question, "What's cookin'?", since the off-season is the time-period when teams concoct their plans and rosters for the next season. The "Hot Stove" is where those plans are cooked up. Or, it could just refer to the sort of stove used to heat rooms, which is the sort of stove that people would gather around during winter months.
MLB Network
's daily offseason show of record is Hot Stove
.
The term Hot Stove can also be found in reference to the NHL's season on CBC Television
's Hockey Night in Canada
.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
-related term, referring to the sport's off-season. The phrase does not denote an actual league "league", but instead calls up images of baseball fans, anxious for the start of the new season, gathering around a hot stove
Stove
A stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...
during the cold winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
months discussing their favorite baseball teams. The term has also come to refer to the wave of off-season player transactions (trades, re-signings, free agency
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
, etc.) that occur between seasons, especially during the winter meetings
Winter meetings
The Baseball Winter Meetings are an annual event, held each December, attended by representatives from all 30 Major League Baseball organizations, more than 160 minor league baseball teams, various league offices, companies associated with baseball and guests from international baseball-playing...
. Since most free agent signings and trades occur during the off-season, this time of significant player transactions (including rumor
Rumor
A rumor or rumour is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern" However, a review of the research on rumor conducted by Pendleton in 1998 found that research across sociology,...
s and speculation about possible trades), is often referred to as the "Hot Stove League" or sometimes more simply "Hot Stove". Essentially, teams continue competing, except it is the team owners and general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
s who are doing the playing, with the score being in terms of human resource losses and gains.
The term is essentially an extension of the question, "What's cookin'?", since the off-season is the time-period when teams concoct their plans and rosters for the next season. The "Hot Stove" is where those plans are cooked up. Or, it could just refer to the sort of stove used to heat rooms, which is the sort of stove that people would gather around during winter months.
MLB Network
MLB Network
MLB Network is an American television specialty channel dedicated to professional baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball. Comcast, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications have minority ownership of the new network, with MLB retaining a controlling two-thirds share...
's daily offseason show of record is Hot Stove
Hot Stove
Hot Stove is the signature offseason program that airs on MLB Network and is simulcast on MLB Network Radio. The show offers the coverage of offseason activities including trades, free agent signings, and rumors. It is taped live in Studio 3 of the MLB Network facility in Secaucus, New Jersey, but...
.
The term Hot Stove can also be found in reference to the NHL's season on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
's Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
.