MLB Thread

[jennifer6973]

They've been playing it all month, that and The Babe and the Bad News Bears 1 & 2.  I wonder if that will continue into February.

[Bort]

I saw a promo for The Sandlot, they're playing that too. 

[Lantern7]

"Hey, Mets fans! Have you been feeling good about your team lately? Wanna go into Spring Training on a positive note?!? TOO BAD!!!"

I know the Mets of the early/mid-Nineties are usually best left forgotten, but I feel bad for Anthony Young. Unlike some of his teammates, he wasn't a huge asshole.

[mojoween]

I was watching a Yankeeography about Jeter hitting 3000 (incidentally I will always remember watching at home that day because a. during the game there was a lightning storm and a house a few streets over caught fire and b. the next day we left for a trip into enemy territory, Cape Cod) and even though I am super sad that football is coming to a close I bet some of you will be happy to know that I saw a commercial and the first spring game will be February 25.

Also just out of curiosity for any Sawks fans hanging around, was breaking the Curse of the Bambino that much sweeter because it went through New York?  

[ebk57]

6 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Also just out of curiosity for any Sawks fans hanging around, was breaking the Curse of the Bambino that much sweeter because it went through New York?

I'm not a Saux fan, but I am a fan of another AL East team.  And the answer is 

 

YES

 

Especially the way is went through NY...

[scriggle]

Quote

Also just out of curiosity for any Sawks fans hanging around, was breaking the Curse of the Bambino that much sweeter because it went through New York?

As a Sox fan, the answer is yes, absolutely. ?

[King of Birds]

58 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Also just out of curiosity for any Sawks fans hanging around, was breaking the Curse of the Bambino that much sweeter because it went through New York?  

Of course it was you big goof.  Also, watching the Jetes3k Yankeeography in January? You depressed there slugger?

You need to enjoy beautiful Cape Cod for what it is. You think I can't enjoy New York City for the good and bad parts?

[mojoween]

Cape Cod itself was beautiful.  However I am an unapologetic gift shop junkie and the choices there were ... not so much fun.

[MyAimIsTrue]

10 hours ago, mojoween said:

I bet some of you will be happy to know that I saw a commercial and the first spring game will be February 25.

I am thrilled!

[DXD526]

Sad to hear about Anthony Young. I remember his streak well. He was snake bit, no matter what was tried; he was moved out of the starting rotation into the bullpen to try to change his luck, and he lost there, too. The numbers are interesting: a 15-48 record, which is really bad, but a career 3.89 ERA, which is pretty decent. One would expect an ERA in the fives or sixes (or higher) with a record like that. Hoping his condition is benign.

[bosawks]

On 1/31/2017 at 9:50 PM, mojoween said:

 

Also just out of curiosity for any Sawks fans hanging around, was breaking the Curse of the Bambino that much sweeter because it went through New York?  

Good god, yes!!!!!

Beating the Cards twice was also kind of nice.

But Bucky "effin" Dent still makes me apoplectic and I was only 7.....

[mojoween]

And Aaron Boone...?

[King of Birds]

Well, I think Aaron Boone is just "Aaron Who the fuck was he? Boone" because that gut-punch was obliterated in less than a year with 2004 and all it's goodness. Plus, by that point, we knew Tim Wakefield should never have been in that spot in the 11th inning of a game 7, and it's why Grady Little should never have managed again. (Yeah I know he did but old white guy "baseball lifers" get more second chances than anyone.)

DXD526 mentioned this, but I hadn't heard this news about Anthony Young. Sorry to hear.

[Lantern7]

I'm tickled that the Red Sox have three times as many titles as the Yankees from 2004 to today. I know, huge overall gap, but I'm betting lots of Red Sox fans would've been happy with the 2004 title. If Fenway Park doesn't have statues, I'm thinking one might be made off David Ortiz. Boston was his fucking city, after all.

[MyAimIsTrue]

2 hours ago, bosawks said:

But Bucky "effin" Dent still makes me apoplectic and I was only 7.....

I had a poster of Bucky in my school locker circa eighth grade.   Sorry, I thought he was cute.

[bosawks]

51 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

I had a poster of Bucky in my school locker circa eighth grade.   Sorry, I thought he was cute.

Sure, I guess for Satan he was kind of cute...

[MyAimIsTrue]

Oh, but that hair...

[Lantern7]

Right guy, right place, right time.

Apparently, Noah Syndergaard wants to spend quality time with Mr. Met. Ten-to-one says he'll be the first player intentionally injured by a mascot.

[King of Birds]

3 hours ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Oh, but that hair...

I'm very sorry to do this Aim, but ... I'm gonna have to shun you.

[ebk57]

On 2/2/2017 at 0:42 PM, mojoween said:

And Aaron Boone...?

I believe his real name is Aaron Bleepin' Boone...  

 

On 2/2/2017 at 2:54 PM, MyAimIsTrue said:

I had a poster of Bucky in my school locker circa eighth grade.   Sorry, I thought he was cute.

So this was the year I absolutely knew that fans voting for the All Star Team was wrong.  My sister voted for Bucky because he... had a cute butt.  Oy...............

[MyAimIsTrue]

I remember an ASG vote when even my pinstripe bleeding Yankees fan father knew it should have been Robin Yount.

[UYI]

Coming here to say that this is the day I miss baseball the most. At least April will be soon. Sigh. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

The best thing about the super bowl is that it means the end of football and just a few days until pitchers and catchers report! :)

[Crs97]

Our local paper asks a question of the week and people get their answer and picture in the paper.  This week was about the Super Bowl, and the photographer asked the people in the row in front of us.  Mr. Crs asked how I would have answered it.  I told him "Hope Atlanta is peaking at the right time, but our family's focus is the following week when the Tribe's pitchers and catchers report."  He fell in love with me all over again.  :-)

[jennifer6973]

Jason Hammell to the Royals for 2 years pending physical.

 

Sergio Romo may be signing with the Dodgers.

 

and

 

The Washington Nationals may be going after David Robertson and giving up the rest of their farm system. (jmo on last part)

Edited February 6, 2017 by jennifer6973

[King of Birds]

Ya know I saw the NFL SuperBowl chat thread and our good friend @mojoween was having a tough day yesterday. I hope she's recovering, feeling better. After all - it's TRUCK DAY!  (I was gonna link the twitter feed for Truck day, but those pesty Bostonians are mentioning the SB a bunch in the tweets and - I'm trying on keeping the baseball thread a safe zone for all.)

 

PS- The Nat's had their truck day on January 30? And I thought the Sox truck was early...

Edited February 6, 2017 by King of Birds

[mojoween]

No ball caps?

It WAS a tough day and normally I'm not all "woohoo baseball season is here!" just because football and college hoops are my first loves, but my hoops team doesn't play again until Thursday so today, I am going to say good riddance to football.  Come back when you've learned your lesson.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Romo is pretty much guaranteed going to the Smurfs, pending physical. I wish him well personally, but I hope they lose in spite of him. I adore him, but after last year, I have no attachment to anyone in our BP. My friend who's in love with him is devastated though. My other friend who is obsessed with Pagan is feeling not so good either. I told them, well, now you know how I feel after Duffy got traded :(

At least Romo most likely won't become a big baby like Brian Wilson. Ugh.

[Silver Raven]

4 minutes ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

At least Romo most likely won't become a big baby like Brian Wilson. Ugh.

Or Jeff Kent.  Ugh.

[mojoween]

I forgot what thread I was in and could not for the life of me figure out which NFL team would be called the Smurfs who would be picking up Tony Romo.

No one asked, but I have never liked pitcher Romo.  I think it's the goatee.

Aww, what happened to MattDuffy'sCat?

[MVFrostsMyPie]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

I forgot what thread I was in and could not for the life of me figure out which NFL team would be called the Smurfs who would be picking up Tony Romo.

No one asked, but I have never liked pitcher Romo.  I think it's the goatee.

Aww, what happened to MattDuffy'sCat?

HAHA!! If there was an NFL team named the Smurfs, I might actually get into football. 

MattDuffysCat might come back again, but at least temporarily I've gone 15 years back in time and picked up my fan-girling over Michael Vartan. This is what happens when baseball isn't on, Walking Dead isn't on (until next week, woot), can't find anything else to DVR that can continue to hold my attention, and want to avoid seeing anything orange-turd or his minions-related on live TV, so I just rewatch all 5 seasons of Alias, more than once. Ah, the "good" ol' days of 2001-2006.

I heard Duffy's getting his own Rays-edition bobblehead this year (when they play against the A's on home turf), so I might have to buy it off of eBay and paint his uniform orange and black and have him join his other 2 bobbleheads in my collection.

I will say Duffy and his cat both look better in orange and black. Well, his cat already is orange :)

[Lantern7]

No more intentional walks? Just a hand wave? Not sure how to process that. I think there's only been one moment in history where an IBB was huge . . . when Rollie Fingers convinced Johnny Bench that he was going to walk him on a 3-2 pitch in the 1972 World Series, then proceeded to strike him out.

[mojoween]

Jayson Stark pointed out that Gary Sanchez drove in a run on an intentional walk, which was a delightful memory, but that's like a one in a zillion occurrence.

I still don't like it though. You never know what could happen in those four pitches.

[jennifer6973]

I think it's weird, it helps the pitcher keep their pitch count down.

 

@King of Birds  The Orioles truck was even earlier then the Nats Truck, and I think the Reds were even earlier then that.

Astros had their truck day today also.

[theatremouse]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

No more intentional walks? Just a hand wave? Not sure how to process that. I think there's only been one moment in history where an IBB was huge . . . when Rollie Fingers convinced Johnny Bench that he was going to walk him on a 3-2 pitch in the 1972 World Series, then proceeded to strike him out.

I don't like it. Takes away the need to actually execute the pitch. it's rare but still matters that occasionally a guy chucks it to the backstop on what should've been an intentional walk and then runs happen. On the one hand....now it means my team can't fuck that up, but on the other hand, it also means they can't benefit from someone else doing it. Not to mention the occasional hittable IBB or surprise strikeout.

I also don't believe the argument being pace of play. There are other things that drag the game much more frequently than IBB. It isn't even guaranteed there will be an IBB in a game. It's a weak argument.

[Silver Raven]

The A's have announced that they are naming the field at the Oakland Colosseum as Rickey Henderson Field.  There will be an official dedication on Opening Day.

[Lantern7]

It has to be asked: how does Rickey Henderson feel about Rickey Henderson Field?

Something I did not know . . . Robert Gsellman -- Long-Haired Mets Pitcher v.3.0 -- was incapable of properly swinging a bat. And he got a hit. If he ever puts the ball into the outfield, it might be as big a deal as Bartolo going deep.

[King of Birds]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

The A's have announced that they are naming the field at the Oakland Colosseum as Rickey Henderson Field. 

The Colosseum is one of the worst places in the world to see a game, and the dugouts flood regularly. It'd be faaaantastic if Rickey rejected the naming.

ETA Yeah... no ball caps accounted for.  What's the dealio?

Also, so many teams, so many truck days.  Hm, I wonder what's longest... Minny to Ft Myers?  Seattle to Phoenix?

ETA again... I started looking it up.  Toronto to Dunedin is over 2100 miles, and Minneapolis to Ft Myers is 1700+.

Then, the other drive... Cleveland to Phoenix is approx 2015 miles.

Cincinnati - Milwaukee - Chicago to AZ is all over a 1700-1800 plus mile drive.

Edited February 7, 2017 by King of Birds

[mojoween]

Texy is joining ESPN as an analyst!  Soooo excited about that.  I hope they do not stifle his humor.

[theatremouse]

9 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

The A's have announced that they are naming the field at the Oakland Colosseum as Rickey Henderson Field.  There will be an official dedication on Opening Day.

One has to question the authenticity of the gesture of announcing a new naming after a beloved player, in a stadium everyone know you've been trying to get rid of for years.

[attica]

11 hours ago, mojoween said:

Texy is joining ESPN as an analyst!  Soooo excited about that.  I hope they do not stifle his humor.

I did not know he had humor. Well I'll be!

As for truck days, I don't know why they just don't keep stuff at the ST facilities. Do sportsgear vendors only deliver to one address per account?

[smittykins]

Yankees reportedly sign Chris Carter to a 1-year deal.

[xaxat]

56 minutes ago, attica said:

I did not know he had humor. Well I'll be!

[mojoween]

The Yogi Berra Museum tweeted a birthday wish to Joe Maddon today and I am going to need to see a birth certificate because there is NO WAY he can be 63 years old.

[Lantern7]

I've been there. I think it's in Montclair, NJ. Bit of a hassle to find. Small but quaint. The one thing I really remember is a jersey from the episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine where the crew played against Vulcans.

[Bort]

They're announcing the roster for the World Baseball Classic on MLB right now. 

[UYI]

Anthony Rizzo is the BEST.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2017/2/8/14549198/anthony-rizzo-henry-school-assault-chicago-mlb-cubs

[King of Birds]

51 minutes ago, UYI said:

Anthony Rizzo is the BEST.

I concur. (I saw him when he was in AA with Portland, playing the [then] New Britain Rockcats.)

[xaxat]

Loria's run as owner of the Expos and Marlins is one of the greatest grifts ever.

[Lantern7]

There's a nice article on Noah Syndergaard in the latest Sports Illustrated. My big fear is that fans of other teams will blow up his high school picture and wave it when he pitches. He was a dorky-looking kid.