MLB Thread

[xaxat]

I'm not sure he's too worried about that. 

He definitely gets the last laugh. 

[AimingforYoko]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

He was a dorky-looking kid.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, puberty sucks.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Might be a funny lighthearted thing to do when the Mets play the Giants. The Hunter Pence signs backfired on the Mets fans who tried trolling us with those. :)

[King of Birds]

Quote

Billionaire businessman Mike Ilitch, who founded the Little Caesars pizza empire before buying the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers, and won praise for keeping the professional sports teams in the city as others relocated to new suburban stadiums, has died. He was 87.

I didn't know he once played in the minors for the Tigers.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Here's to a great baseball season; I hope Jose Bautista and Devon Travis can make it through a baseball season with great health.  Cleveland, please take care of Edwin, I miss him so terribly.

[mojoween]

The next Yankees HOF shortstop will be ready in 18 years!

Edited February 13, 2017 by mojoween

[MyAimIsTrue]

Tim McCarver must be so jealous that someone else is carrying Jeter's baby.

[King of Birds]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

The next Yankees HOF shortstop will be ready in 18 years!

Yeah, not so sure about that ... Jetes pregnancy update

ETA:  It just dawned on me that I clicked and read a story about Jeter. Not even baseball related. I need to go lie down, clear the cache and get my head examined.

Edited February 13, 2017 by King of Birds

[mojoween]

Perhaps the MLB will be all-inclusive in two decades...?

I suppose that is why I heard a less-tasteful joke than mine in that A-Rod will be dating her in 21 years.  

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Happy pitchers and catchers report day (for some of our teams)! I'm so excited to go to spring training this year. 

[ebk57]

We're heading to St Pete on St Patrick's Day - can't wait!!

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I'm going to the last 3 games in AZ. Giants vs. white sox, reds and cubs. Hopefully our somewhat rebuilt bullpen demolishes the cubbies at least this time around to only minimally make up for their total breakdown last year... and hopefully Bochy got his brain back because I think it got abducted last year.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Dammit, I need to remember to look at the spring training schedule.  I'll be out of town the first weekend in March but my birthday is the second Saturday and it's tradition that I spend it at a spring game.

[Silver Raven]

14 minutes ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I'm going to the last 3 games in AZ. Giants vs. white sox, reds and cubs. Hopefully our somewhat rebuilt bullpen demolishes the cubbies at least this time around to only minimally make up for their total breakdown last year... and hopefully Bochy got his brain back because I think it got abducted last year.

They might at least have a decent closer this year. Watch him get injured in spring training.

[jennifer6973]

Let's not jinx Melancon, except when they play the Nationals this year.

Quote

e

[xaxat]

"Sound guy's got a good curve ball, what is this?"

[Princess Sparkle]

"Do you still want my bat?"
"No"

Me: *DEAD*

[Constantinople]

I'm not able to link to the story, but apparently Nick Franklin from the Rays spends some of his offseason time driving for Uber in Orlando out of boredom.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I saw a blurb about the Nick Franklin story but didn't realize he drove in Orlando, which is where I live.  Friends of mine use Uber all the time (I'm too chicken shit to try it) so maybe he's been their driver.

[jennifer6973]

Nationals signed Matt Wieters pending physical.

 

And I think Rob Manfred threw a shot across the bow of the Player's Union re speeding up the game during a Cactus League Media day Press Conference.

[MyAimIsTrue]

My MLB.com app updated for spring training, woo hoo!  It's the little things that make me oh so happy.

[morriss]

All the rule changes implemented in past few years are going to ruin baseball.   I know one rule that would 100% cut down the time of games- get rid of commercial breaks every 1/2 inning.

[theatremouse]

I think it's just so disingenuous for the commissioner to do things in the name of speeding up the game that actually change action on a play, when if they really want to cut things down they need to just give an actual hard limit to number of timeouts and enforce the existing limits re: how long to pitch. I mean, it's worse than tennis not calling time violations for servers who take 35 seconds to serve when the limit is 20 (or 25 depending on the tournament). Stop pitchers meandering around the mound between pitches. And if each player can call time three times per game, instead of three times per at bat to infinity, voila, faster games and they don't even have to consider giving up any ad time (money).

[Lantern7]

This makes me laugh.

ETA: "Rasmus" wouldn't be a name from the Pennsylvania Dutch, would it? I'm thinking Lancaster, if you know what I mean.

[Silver Raven]

What is this thing on Colby Rasmus's face that he is pretending is a beard?

http://deadspin.com/wow-look-upon-colby-rasmuss-beard-and-puke-1792634900?

[MyAimIsTrue]

I am NOT a fan of the new intentional walk rule, first of all because it removes strategy from the game (didn't someone last year actually get a hit or a homerun during an intentional walk by swinging at a pitch that was a bit inside?) and, second, the move seems childish and unprofessional.  Back when I played in a co-ed softball league there was a "hit and sit" rule meaning for any homerun hit the batter wouldn't round the bases but go back to the dugout instead under the guise of saving time.  Of course the guys would stand an posture at home plate for a while before doing that.   In all the years I played in that league I never once saw a female hit a homerun so I made my favorite umpire promise me that if by some magic reason I ever did he'd let me run the bases.

[smittykins]

Gary Sanchez got a sacrifice fly on an attempted intentional walk.

[Bort]

I remember an Astros game where they did a fakeout intentional walk and got the last strike on a guy. So yeah, also not a fan of this rule. You want to speed up the game? Limit those batter time outs and catcher trips to the mound.

7 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

What is this thing on Colby Rasmus's face that he is pretending is a beard?

http://deadspin.com/wow-look-upon-colby-rasmuss-beard-and-puke-1792634900?

Ah, the chin curtain. He sported the beginnings of that last season but then shaved it off. Looks like he went full bore with it.

[mojoween]

I've only been to one Yankees game in my life, and they lost to Toronto 6-0 with a GS HR in there and two other runs scored some way, but actually sitting in the park didn't feel like a very long time at all. 

The pace of the game issues I have are watching at home, because you can't have a pitching change without going to break every time.  I would rather watch the new pitcher warm up on the mound than more ads.

It's no surprise I love Derek Jeter but you want to speed up the game? Don't let the batter adjust every single piece of equipment on his body between every single pitch.

[King of Birds]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

You want to speed up the game? Don't let the batter adjust every single piece of equipment on his body between every single pitch.

Before Jeter and his "oh I'm holding my hand out ump, gimme a sec" I remember when Mike Hargrove, mostly known for his time on the Indians, would take for-ev-er in the batters box. And then some- some people- also claimed Carlton Fisk called "slow games" from the plate as he got older.

But most of all I blame the TV money for the problems, since as noted above, they constantly try to shove as many ads in as possible and MLB loves its money, so they allowed all these delays to happen in the first place.

It's the same thing I say with football- if you want to see the purer side of the football, catch a D3 game. If you want to see baseball as designed, watch the minor league games.

[Lantern7]

I know Hargrove's nickname back then without looking it up: "The Human Rain Delay."

[Moose135]

11 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I remember an Astros game where they did a fakeout intentional walk and got the last strike on a guy.

Maybe the most famous one, Johnny Bench in the 1972 World Series:

[King of Birds]

BASEBALL FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!  Mets vs Red Sox--- the Mets are going DOWN, Lantern, ya hear me?

[Lantern7]

I don't stress Spring Training unless somebody gets hurt. Or if a certain player decides to roll up in flashy vehicles. Again.

[mojoween]

ESPN is promoting Manfred's appearance this morning by saying something like "Manfred wants to make all of these changes but the players union is fighting him" (that's not exact, I cannot remember exactly how they put it but that's the jist) and it's so irritating.

If the players union hates your changes, don't you think you should listen instead of getting pissed off and making a barnstorming tour complaining about it?  Since the players union represents, you know, the PLAYERS, who are the ones this affects the most?

[jennifer6973]

@Lantern7

He's doing that, it's just not being shown as much on MLB Network.

[Lantern7]

I know. Cespedes made the back page of the Daily News a few days ago. I think that was the day after he was shown as all "No gimmicks this season." I'll have to check.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 2/23/2017 at 0:48 PM, Lantern7 said:

 

I know Hargrove's nickname back then without looking it up: "The Human Rain Delay."

 

I think everyone can remember that one without looking it up.   How come we don't have as many great nicknames like that one in baseball today?  Nicknames  that are actually used (unlike say, The Melkman for Melky Cabrera, which only John Sterling ever said) are all things like A-Rod - which is incredibly generic and not descriptive of Alex Rodriguez's play or of his personality. 

ETA that I also remember Ricky Henderson being called the HRD, but it's Hargrove that kind of held the copyright on it.

Edited February 24, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[Lantern7]

Some nicknames come from childhood and have mysterious origins. Like Mookie Wilson . . . or, as I like to think of him, "Mookie Prime." I don't know where "Big Unit" came from for Randy Johnson. At least we got "Thor" from Noah Syndergaard, even though the pre-Marvel thunder god wasn't supposed to have blonde hair.

Here are the "power ranking" from Sports Illustrated.  The Mets are at 11, which is nine slots below the 2016 preseason. At least they're higher there than the Yankees.

[Moose135]

21 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

At least they're higher there than the Yankees.

Which is always the important part!

[xaxat]

I am listening to baseball right now.

That makes me happy.

[attica]

For those who have HBO (or have access to an HBO Go password), Bryant Gumbel does a fun profile/interview of Joe Maddon in the latest Real Sports ep. You won't want to miss the orange shag-carpeted van -- it's groovy.

On 2/23/2017 at 0:41 PM, King of Birds said:

Before Jeter and his "oh I'm holding my hand out ump, gimme a sec"

Oh, please, let's not conveeeniently forget the precedent-setting Nomar Garciaparra, aka OCD in the Batters Box....

[ebk57]

3 hours ago, attica said:

Oh, please, let's not conveeeniently forget the precedent-setting Nomar Garciaparra, aka OCD in the Batters Box....

I can't believe it took someone this long to mention Nomah!  (I've been busy, or I would have.  And that's my story...)

[Lantern7]

Thinking about it, have the Mets ever had something huge happen during spring training? Here's what pops into my mind:

1. Sidd Finch

2. Chico Escuela (Garrrett Morris) coming out of retirement for one more shot.

3. The time the team was practicing rundowns, and Mookie Wilson took a ball to the face that shattered his sunglasses and wrecked at least one eye.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I don't care if it's just spring training, today's win against the Cubs still felt just a tad bit satisfying. I'm enjoying some of the new guys on the roster, and feeling positive. Odd is the new even.

[prican58]

Looking forward to this Yankees season. I don't expect more than what they've given in the last 4 years or so.  I do expect to see  a more competitive team and not one that has another disasterous April. If they had played .500 ball last April the rest of that season may not have been such a catch up situation. 

[King of Birds]

9 hours ago, attica said:

Oh, please, let's not conveeeniently forget the precedent-setting Nomar Garciaparra, aka OCD in the Batters Box....

In the last dozen years, I've seen Little League, HS & minor league games. Nomar and Jeter started just a year apart. Nomar's "tighten gloves" OCD-ness was his, few copycats. Jeter's "raised hand" was annoyingly copied by huge amounts of kids and young players. I heard a Little League ump take one of those mini-LL timeouts to tell kids they had to stop putting their hands up at him and to stay in the batter's box. That's why I pointed out Jeter; his twerks unfortunately left more of a impression. Blergh.

BTW that's something else that annoyed me, I caught part of the NYY- Phillies opening game (dammit MLB channel!) and even in spring training I saw way too many players step out between pitches. I think the auto-IBB is not a big deal and doesn't really cut down hardly any time, but I wish MLB would hold batters to the "rules" they supposedly were going to enforce.  (Also, I was kinda shocked to see Daniel Nava on the Phillies, I didn't catch that transaction.)

[rallymantis]

So now it's started, and I must face reality.  Here's a poem I wrote rewrote tweaked a bit in a drunken teary wistful longing rage:

Dear Cubs & Mariners fans --

My tears are fallin' cause you've taken them away
And through it really hurts me so
There's something that I gotta say...
Take good care of my baby(s)
Please don't ever make 'em blue
Just tell 'em that you love 'em
Make sure you're thinking of 'em
In everything you say and do

Take good care of my baby(s)
Now don't you ever make them cry
Just let your love surround them; Paint a rainbow all around 'em
Don't let them see a cloudy sky.

Once upon a time those two guys were mine
And if the salary cap weren't true I know they'd never be with you, so --
Take good care of my baby(s)
Be just as kind as you can be
 

And if the trade deadline proves they might still be mine
Just send my Wade & Dice back home to me.

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by rallymantis
Never drink & post

[attica]

7 hours ago, King of Birds said:

I saw way too many players step out between pitches.

Have you ever seen the video of, say, Don Larsen's perfect game? Nobody steps out of the box, ever. Game's over in, like, 40 minutes.  I suspect coaches up and down the systems must think stepping out is good for the batter, either by letting him or her refocus, or catch a breath, or soak in fan adulation, or whatever, or there'd be less of it in the majors.

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, attica said:

I suspect coaches up and down the systems must think stepping out is good for the batter, either by letting him or her refocus, or catch a breath, or soak in fan adulation, or whatever, or there'd be less of it in the majors.

I think some of it is to affect the pitcher's timing - make him work on your pace, not his.