MLB Thread

[King of Birds]

If this were any other year, I'd be watching the Sox- Yanks series this week.  Smak-talkin' mojoween and all the Skankee fans. This year? I just hope some more Yankee infielders hit the DL, if that's at all possible, and that rookie Henry Owens looks good tonight. (crossing fingers / reverse jinx in play)

[mojoween]

Owens held his own up to the sixth when he was pulled. Not bad for a first outing.*

*I cannot say the same for the rest of the pitching staff.

Edited August 5, 2015 by mojoween

[Lantern7]

I don't think I can pull off the Jesse Orosco bobblehead night at Citi Field. Tickets look to be scarce on the Mets' website, and it's limited to the first 15,000 fans. Meanwhile, George R.R. Martin will be coming to a Staten Island Yankees game this Saturday, and I'm not interested because I'm not into Game Of Thrones. Here's the info on the event:

Meet George R.R. Martin Night

Author and creator of the hit HBO series "Game of Thrones" George R.R. Martin will be in attendance to sign autographs as the Baby Bombers become the Staten Island Direwolves for the night, complete with a live wolf mascot at the ballpark. The team will wear special jerseys to be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary.

[rippleintime17]

Matt Duffy is making a nice case for Rookie of the Year. I'd love to see it happen. 4-for-4 last night! 

[mojoween]

I love watching guys celebrate their first home runs, but this one might be my favorite.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Damn work firewall.  Is the clip of the kid from the Rays?  If so I loved it too.

[mojoween]

Yep, it's the Rays. He was so funny, I loved when he hugged himself.

[Rick Kitchen]

Matt Duffy is making a nice case for Rookie of the Year. I'd love to see it happen. 4-for-4 last night! 

 

Chris Heston might give him a run for his money.

[caracas1914]

Well the Giants Buster Posey is so far making the case for another MVP.

[attica]

Thanks to the magic of DVR,

 

Shhh, Lantern7! Don't say that out loud! Aim might have you arrested for witchcraft!

[MyAimIsTrue]

::: cackling :::

[mojoween]

Ha - latest at bat update that popped up on my phone: Zach Greinke hits fifth career homer, delivers epic bat flip.

Guess I'll have to search for some highlights!

[Rick Kitchen]

Mets' pitcher Jerry Blevins, who has been on the DL with a fractured arm from a line drive, fell off a curb and re-broke his arm.  Out for the season.

[Moose135]

Why does that not surprise me, Rick?

[attica]

Wow, who does Blevins think he is, Carl Pavano?

[Lantern7]

I don't think the average Mets fan can feel the pain of Blevins re-breaking his arm. Between the six-game winning streak and the dodged bullet of almost blowing an eight-run lead, I'd say the adrenaline is surging at this point.

[ebk57]

We're off to Seattle today to see some baseball!  Yes, that's why I take vacations - to see baseball :-)

 

Tomorrow is Jamie Moyer bobblehead day, and Monday the O's come in.  So it worked out nicely.  

 

We have 4 or 5 more of the "new" stadiums to hit before we've seen them all - original and new.  It's helpful to have vacation goals. 

[MyAimIsTrue]

We're off to Seattle today to see some baseball!  Yes, that's why I take vacations - to see baseball :-)

 

I've planned vacations around when the host city has home games so yes, I get that!

[jennifer6973]

Thank you Rays, for today anyway.

[mojoween]

Well that sucked. Not the experience, that was great. We even had dinner at NYY Steak which was pricey but my son loved his 28 oz porterhouse.

This probably won't make any sense, but everything was bigger and smaller than on TV. Like the distance between foul poles was much wider than it looked, but the inner part of the stadium looked smaller. Foul balls really do scream at you very quickly which you just can't see on TV.

Price was great, Nova was for a while.

There were also FAR too many noisy Blue Jays fans there for my liking. The solo home run that was hit by I think Tulo was thrown back and I like to think my section had a lot to do with that, heh. I recorded the game so it will be fun to see if that made the broadcast.

[xaxat]

I watched last night's game and I think I saw you!

 

You were the family wearing the cowboy hats, right?

[mojoween]

We weren't, we didn't get to the stadium in time so the hats were gone when we got there. We were on the third base side on field level where the foul pole is (which someone carved the words Red Sox in a circle with a line through it, which made me laugh and also surprised that it's still there).

I was also pleasantly surprised that when God Bless America was over they played Take Me Out to the Ballgame, it's just not shown on TV.

Edited August 9, 2015 by mojoween

[MyAimIsTrue]

I came to a realization last night that despite my dislike of the DH I'd rather watch the Rays game than the Braves.  (since the Braves are playing the Marlins the game was broadcast in my area on the Marlins network.)  I'd been a Braves fan since the early 1980's but no longer living in that area coupled with only being able to watch their games if it's a national broadcast or they're playing one of the Florida teams means I've pretty much lost interest in them.

 

Still hate the DH and still prefer the NL, though.

[mojoween]

If there were no DH I wouldn't have been able to watch A-Rod yesterday!

I'm torturing myself by watching yesterday's game and in David Cone's scouting report of Price Coney said that Price is slow to the plate. Good god yes.

[shoregirl]

Woohoo!!! The Phillies are currently no longer in last place. Go team!! Sure they still won't contend but they have been fun to watch and this season I'll take what I can get. Thanks Ryne Sandberg for quitting because Pete Makanin has doing a great job with the team.

[mojoween]

Joey Bats hit a home run today and a fan threw it back onto the field...and hit Brett Gardner in the back at the base of the neck. Idiot.

[Rick Kitchen]

Joey Bats hit a home run today and a fan threw it back onto the field...and hit Brett Gardner in the back at the base of the neck. Idiot.

 

Let's go to the video.

[AndreaK1041]

That is precisely how it would go if I threw a ball.

[King of Birds]

You mean you have excellent aim? And would be going after Yankee outfielders? 

[AndreaK1041]

No I am a terrible athlete :) Add to that my unwanted tendency to make mistakes extremely publicly and there you go.

[bosawks]

Woohoo!!! The Phillies are currently no longer in last place. Go team!! Sure they still won't contend but they have been fun to watch and this season I'll take what I can get. Thanks Ryne Sandberg for quitting because Pete Makanin has doing a great job with the team.

 

And they're entertaining to watch!  That first inning on Saturday made it seem like old times.

[Moose135]

Joey Bats hit a home run today and a fan threw it back onto the field...and hit Brett Gardner in the back at the base of the neck. Idiot.

 

I always wonder about fans throwing a ball back - almost every stadium has rules about throwing objects on the field, do they eject people who throw back home run balls?

[mojoween]

I was at Yankee Stadium on Saturday when a fan threw Tulo's HR back and the fan was not thrown out.

[rippleintime17]

I would like to thank the Pirates, who are easy to root for as it is, for making sure that the Dodgers did not take advantage of the Giants' terrible road trip, allowing them to lose only 2.5 games in the division after going 3-7. Yay Dodgers bullpen too! 

[MyAimIsTrue]

Did I hear correctly that the Cubs are leading the NL wild card race?  Why oh why did Tampa let Joe Maddon go.

[rippleintime17]

Did I hear correctly that the Cubs are leading the NL wild card race?  Why oh why did Tampa let Joe Maddon go.

The Pirates are leading the WC but the Cubs currently have the 2nd WC after sweeping the Giants, who had it going into the series.

[King of Birds]

I was at Yankee Stadium on Saturday when ...

Jeeeez. Guess we should keep a tally now on this phrase recurring.  Our own "This one time? At band camp?..."

[mojoween]

Oh I wish this could be a recurring sentence! But alas, we will most likely not be attending another game this year.

It amuses me how the pundits all basically admit Toronto bought players to get to the WS...but no one cares. This kind of operation is no longer taboo, I take it?

[smittykins]

Methinks it's OK as long as the Yankees don't do it.

[attica]

Mojo, I was watching the Cowboy hat game and feeling terribly sorry for you, partly because the game didn't go your way, but mostly because those hats were screamingly fugly. I'm happy to hear you missed your chance!

[mojoween]

The only reason I was sad about missing out was the brim would have been nice to combat the sun overhead. But that tan color? Yuck!

[Crs97]

In Cleveland you are ejected if you return the home run ball.

[rallymantis]

Johnny B. Cueto!

Packed house, Sluggerr in dreads, Salvy bath...

 

Welcome to KC.

[MyAimIsTrue]

That was a fun game to watch.  Generally I avoid anything broadcast on ESPN but I have to admit I was impressed with Dallas Braden in the booth, and I liked his hat as well.

[33kaitykaity]

Congratulations to Hisashi Iwakuma for the no-no, his first complete game in the MLB.  Thing of beauty.  

 

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/142694238/hisashi-iwakuma-tosses-mariners-5th-no-hitter

[Lantern7]

Sign That A Casual Fan Might Be Getting Cocky: Looking at the Mets' record, looking at the record of the team holding the two seed (Dodgers), and thinking that maybe the Mets would have home field in the NLDS. I know, I know . . . there are less than two months of season left to play out, the Mets would be trailing in the wild card race, and they have been known to choke, but damn, it's a good feeling.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I know, I know . . . there are less than two months of season left to play out, the Mets would be trailing in the wild card race, and they have been known to choke, but damn, it's a good feeling.

STOP STOP STOP. STOP TALKING STOP POSTING.  Why do think I haven't been here gloating??!!   DON'T JINX THINGS.  jeez!

[ebk57]

Back  from Seattle.  A really lovely stadium with great food and fabulous beer!  And I got to see the one game the O's won.  Yay...

[Lantern7]

I swear, I'm not gloating. I don't think it counts as gloating if I can see horrific outcomes over the horizon. It's just . . . how often do Mets fans feel this kind of euphoria? They've had to deal with mediocrity for the better part of a decade. I'm even contemplating getting a nosebleed ticket just so I can (try to) get the Jesse Orosco bobblehead.

 

ETA for ebk57. You mean Safeco Field? Tell us about it. What makes it lovely? Seattle is a city I'd like to go to someday, and I wouldn't pass up a Mariners game. Whenever I go to comic conventions, I try to squeeze in a game, regardless of who's playing. Wound up seeing Yankees fans swarm Baltimore a few times, and I got to see A-Rod hit his 300th homer as a Yank. I was hoping to get a picture of him striking out, and I wound up with this.

[ebk57]

I swear, I'm not gloating. I don't think it counts as gloating if I can see horrific outcomes over the horizon. It's just . . . how often do Mets fans feel this kind of euphoria? They've had to deal with mediocrity for the better part of a decade. I'm even contemplating getting a nosebleed ticket just so I can (try to) get the Jesse Orosco bobblehead.

 

Do it!  Totally worth it!! :-)