MLB Thread

[attica]

I've been thinking about walk-up music, and I think I want the synth intro to "She Blinded Me with Science."  Or the big dinosaur-stomp drum bit in "In the Air Tonight" -- you know, the part you always have to air-drum along with?  I could use one for the early innings, and one for the late innings!

On 6/16/2017 at 10:20 AM, rippleintime17 said:

It would make sense, since the Yankees aren't super into their players having much personality at all. 

Tpbththpthbthppth. (That's me, blowing a raspberrry.) Unwashed Lumberjack beards do not a personality make. 

[smittykins]

My walk-up music would be the opening to Chicago's "25 Or 6 To 4."

[rippleintime17]

52 minutes ago, attica said:

I've been thinking about walk-up music, and I think I want the synth intro to "She Blinded Me with Science."  Or the big dinosaur-stomp drum bit in "In the Air Tonight" -- you know, the part you always have to air-drum along with?  I could use one for the early innings, and one for the late innings!

Tpbththpthbthppth. (That's me, blowing a raspberrry.) Unwashed Lumberjack beards do not a personality make. 

I've just always found it strange that to be a Yankee, you have to subscribe to a pretty specific code. What happens if the Yankees decide they want Johnny Cueto? They expect Johnny Cueto to say "I am so honored to be asked to be a Yankee that I will completely change something about myself that I love." It's just a weird mindset. And that's just one aspect. The Yankees have been doing better, with their commercials and whatnot, but there's a distinct "We are businessmen" vibe about the organization that isn't going to work for every guy that plays there, and telling someone that they shouldn't be themselves (like making Clint cut his hair) has always struck me as an interesting priority. 

[attica]

Obviously, there is massive mileage variance on this issue, but to me, dress/grooming codes are not ipso facto denial of personality. Look at Johnny Damon. He loved his hair; he rocked the cut-and-shaven look without complaint.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Johnny Damon probably got a helluva lot of money to cut his hair and shave.

[mojoween]

Would it be rude if I called Hal and asked him to force Holliday to button his damn shirt?

[Bort]

3 hours ago, attica said:

Tpbththpthbthppth. (That's me, blowing a raspberrry.) Unwashed Lumberjack beards do not a personality make. 

If Charlie Blackmon is an example of that label, yes, I agree. His beard looks like he might have his lost car keys stuck in there somewhere. But, say, Dallas Keuchel's beard looks unique and well-groomed and I'm sure he'd not want to lose it before he's good and ready to. Besides, beards aren't the only personality to show. Noah Syndergaard's got his Thor hair, Johnny Cueto has his dreads, Yuli Gurriel has his troll hair. And the teams they belong to get a lot of mileage out of those personality quirks.

[DkNNy79]

1 hour ago, attica said:

Obviously, there is massive mileage variance on this issue, but to me, dress/grooming codes are not ipso facto denial of personality. Look at Johnny Damon. He loved his hair; he rocked the cut-and-shaven look without complaint.

Agree.  Ditto with Nick Swisher, David Wells...etc  Their personalities shone through.   At the end of the day even though they're playing a game, its a job and everyone in MLB knows that the Yankees have a certain "dress code" and if a player wants to play for them they adhere to the code.  A lot of great players have worn the pinstripes so I don't think its that big of an issue, probably because of the $$$. 

Yes, I agree that the Yankees definitely do have a businessmen vibe to them and I think that's going to stick around as long as the Steinbrenner family have majority ownership.  As a Yankee fan the "dress code" doesn't bother me.

[rippleintime17]

34 minutes ago, DkNNy79 said:

Agree.  Ditto with Nick Swisher, David Wells...etc  Their personalities shone through.   At the end of the day even though they're playing a game, its a job and everyone in MLB knows that the Yankees have a certain "dress code" and if a player wants to play for them they adhere to the code.  A lot of great players have worn the pinstripes so I don't think its that big of an issue, probably because of the $$$. 

Yes, I agree that the Yankees definitely do have a businessmen vibe to them and I think that's going to stick around as long as the Steinbrenner family have majority ownership.  As a Yankee fan the "dress code" doesn't bother me.

A player doesn't always have a choice. I remember when Darnell McDonald was claimed off waivers by the Yankees. He had short dreadlocks and cut them off, as expected. He was DFA'd a few days later. 

There are a few players who have big enough personalities that it works either way but part of the reason why I lost interest in the Yankees over the years is that even when they were playing okay, they were pretty boring. This is the first season in awhile where they actually seem to have some life and I'm sure part of that is because there are a lot of young, energetic, exciting guys.

[Bort]

14 minutes ago, rippleintime17 said:

There are a few players who have big enough personalities that it works either way but part of the reason why I lost interest in the Yankees over the years is that even when they were playing okay, they were pretty boring. This is the first season in awhile where they actually seem to have some life and I'm sure part of that is because there are a lot of young, energetic, exciting guys.

I'm sure the newbies will become boring like the rest of them. That's also my problem with the Yankees (other than my father's ingrained Yankee hatred) -- I find them dull, their oppressive rules turn me off, I can't tell them apart and them refusing to put names on the uniforms doesn't help with that at all. At least the Red Sox caved and put the players' names on the away uniforms.

[mojoween]

Holy ballsack now the prospects are heading to the DL too!  Someone in NY angered the baseball gods last week.

[prican58]

Talk of facial hair and long locks is irrelevant. It's about the game. If the Yanks want to bow to the wonderful minds of the fans and ballplayers then they should allow beards but they have to be trimmed/close cropped. None of that cave man bullshit. They look stupid.

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ZUTque7W7jo/Toronto+Blue+Jays+Photo+Day/5JZyZRatUJ3/Jose+Bautista

I like the clean cut look. It's like air travel. Back when flying was an actual event folks got dressed up. I will admit to have hated being all dressed up but I also hate that people now dress however the hell they want with flip flops, torn jeans, smelly sneakers and whatever else. 

I'm a liberal person, Lord knows. I personally don't care how you dress but if your job says cut your hair and shave your beard, then do it. Don't want to? Do like football players have done and tell the Yanks you don't want to be drafted by them or you won't take their Free Agent money because you want to have a beard. But the Yankees do very well by their players in the way of clubhouse, food, etc.  DkNNy79, I am with you.

Someone mentioned that many recent playoff/WS teams have flourished with beards and long hair. Well that may be true and as far as I can tell only the SF Giants have had repetitive success. I may be wrong since I don't really follow many other teams. But the Yanks of the 90's did pretty well with short hai and no facial hair.

Ok I'm done venting.

Edited June 20, 2017 by prican58

[MVFrostsMyPie]

12 hours ago, kariyaki said:

If Charlie Blackmon is an example of that label, yes, I agree. His beard looks like he might have his lost car keys stuck in there somewhere. But, say, Dallas Keuchel's beard looks unique and well-groomed and I'm sure he'd not want to lose it before he's good and ready to. Besides, beards aren't the only personality to show. Noah Syndergaard's got his Thor hair, Johnny Cueto has his dreads, Yuli Gurriel has his troll hair. And the teams they belong to get a lot of mileage out of those personality quirks.

I was saying the other day to a friend that if Blackmon shaved his beard off, he'd be leaving the family of birds nesting in there homeless. 

I'm fine with the Yankees being boring with their looks, it gives us non-fans one more reason to poo-poo on them. But they are missing out on some epic slo-mo hair flipping shots during brawls on the field. ;)

Edited June 20, 2017 by MVFrostsMyPie

[MyAimIsTrue]

11 hours ago, prican58 said:

I like the clean cut look. It's like air travel. Back when flying was an actual event folks got dressed up. I will admit to have hated being all dressed up but I also hate that people now dress however the hell they want with flip flops, torn jeans, smelly sneakers and whatever else. 

When I was a kid my father forbade us from wearing shorts while flying as he was of the mindset that we should be dressed appropriately.  Now here I am at age 52 and I still won't wear shorts while flying and being that I live in a major tourist destination I'm always surprised by what I see in terms of dress (or lack thereof) at the airport.

[rippleintime17]

I don't wear shorts when flying because shorts on an airline seat for that long would be uncomfortable! But I have flown in comfortable clothes for red eye flights or long flights. Comfort when being stuck in a sardine can for hours should take precedence over the few people who might see you while you are on the plane.

The Red Sox had repetitive success (I consider three championships in ten years to count) and their last one, they used their lack of appearance protocol to rally together. Though I guess that can go in the other direction... a few of those guys could NOT grow very good beards! 

[MyAimIsTrue]

1 hour ago, rippleintime17 said:

But I have flown in comfortable clothes for red eye flights or long flights. Comfort when being stuck in a sardine can for hours should take precedence over the few people who might see you while you are on the plane.

Agreed!  In fact I have a transatlantic flight this Friday night and I'll practically be wearing pajamas (but not shorts!) because who cares?

While I'm in Europe it'll be fun "watching" west coast baseball games live in the early morning.  I did that when I went to Ireland a few years ago.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

While I'm in Europe it'll be fun "watching" west coast baseball games live in the early morning.  I did that when I went to Ireland a few years ago.

I did that last year when I was in Scotland. And watched east coast day games in the evening.

[jennifer6973]

Does anybody else get annoyed when they have to listen to the opposite teams broadcast crew?

 

Right now, the only person I enjoy on the Marlins broadcast is Jessica Blaylock.  I don't normally mind Rich when the Marlins are playing teams other then the Nats.  But Todd Hollandsworth is more annoying then Jeff Conine.

 

Plus does Rich get a new color man every season?

[Silver Raven]

Ugh, I hate when broadcast teams have some guest in the booth.  They spend at least a whole half inning talking to the guest and ignoring what's happening on the field.  The A's announcers are the worst.

Though after Sonny Gray gives up five runs in the first inning they want to talk about anything else.

[Lantern7]

It is 2 a.m. New York time. There is no news about Terry Collins no longer being the manager of the Mets after the Dodgers drubbed them, 12-0. I know, the Dodgers might pull off a run like the 1988 "Mission From God" squad (how else to explain Orel and Kirk?), but I still think that Terry would have to pay for the team's sins and injuries.

ETA: 1. I don't want to hear about the Yankees' injuries and losing streak. I can't count them out until somebody successfully stakes Aaron Judge. 2. Fucking pitcher got a save tonight. For working three innings in a 12-0 shutout. I know, longstanding rule, but fuck that noise. 3. Am I a bad person for wanting Chase Utley to at least taste some dirt at the plate? He did break Ruben Tejada's leg, and I don't think he's answered for that crime.

[mojoween]

Then I won't mention that the streak is fucking seven now, in the wrong damn direction.

Judge doesn't even look like he's having fun anymore when he hits a homer.  

He HAS to agree to the Derby, it's all we have right now.

[rippleintime17]

As a Giants fan who's second team is the Yankees, the past week has not been very fun but at least the Giants pulled off a win last night so that their combined record in the past week is not 0-15!!! 

Edited June 21, 2017 by rippleintime17

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I'm so excited for this! 

15 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

3. Am I a bad person for wanting Chase Utley to at least taste some dirt at the plate? He did break Ruben Tejada's leg, and I don't think he's answered for that crime.

If that makes you a bad person, then I am also a bad person. Does anyone besides the dodgers and his fans from his Phillies days like him? 

ETA: I've added Rizzo as someone who needs to eat dirt at the plate as well. Maddon can join him from the dugout. 

Edited June 21, 2017 by MVFrostsMyPie

[rallymantis]

A great day: MLB ponied up a big ol' check for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

If anybody blows through my hometown, a visit should be on the agenda.  You walk away inspired.

I wept a little, during the presentation, thinking that I so wished for Buck O'Neil to be there, it was almost like a pain!

But I'm sure he was watching.

[attica]

Occasionally, I'll schedule some 'away games' into my vacation allotment, because it's super fun to wear my tribal indicators in somebody else's park. I have long wanted to go to KC for a game, but it always seems like the only time the Yankees go to KC is in the dead of winter, or when it's not good work-wise. And they only go there once a year, which is passed already. I want to go to the NLM so bad, though. Maybe next year?

[MyAimIsTrue]

9 minutes ago, attica said:

I want to go to the NLM so bad, though

Me too and I've been mentally planning a trip to the NLBM for years.  My company has an office in the Kansas City area so I'd be willing to make it a work trip!

[Bort]

I'm going to two parks this year for Astros away games. The first one is to Baltimore, which is an arranged trip for the season ticket holders, so July 21 & 22 will have a big huge section of about 50 Astros fans sitting in Camden Yards. Then I'm going to the last regular season game of the year @ Boston. I've always wanted to see Fenway.

[Lantern7]

Mets were not happy with Yasiel Puig last night. And the teams play one more time. This isn't gonna end well.

"In case you're just joining us, Yasiel Puig has hit his third home run, and he is taking longer to run the bases than Bartolo Colon." "In Puig's defense, doing Ozzie Smith-style cartwheels onto each base does take some time." "The Mets were angry by him diving at every base after his second home run, so they tried to bean him. Hence, the third home run." "You can see Terry Collins in the dugout. He honestly believes that the bat he's holding is a sword, and he is trying so hard to disembowel himself." "Just got a tweet from Vin Scully. 'Serves those fuckers right. I never liked them. Dodgers 4ever New York's team.' Wow, he knows what Twitter is. Good for him."

[Silver Raven]

As I may have mentioned a few times or hundred, there is not enough mustard in the world to cover the hot dog that is Yasiel Puig.

[mojoween]

Next time Puig hits a homer I hope he takes five minutes to round the bases.  I love showboating!

Caveat - you pull that shit against the Yankees and I'll bean you myself.

[smittykins]

I can't believe that the Old Timers Game is this weekend.  I mean, the season just started, right?

[attica]

I'll be there! I'll wave at y'all! Hooray for free-spending out-of-town visiting siblings!

[mojoween]

Ahhh I am so jelly!  I love that day so much and Hip Hip Jorge is making his first appearance you are so lucky!

[prican58]

6 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Mets were not happy with Yasiel Puig last night. And the teams play one more time. This isn't gonna end well.

"In case you're just joining us, Yasiel Puig has hit his third home run, and he is taking longer to run the bases than Bartolo Colon." "In Puig's defense, doing Ozzie Smith-style cartwheels onto each base does take some time." "The Mets were angry by him diving at every base after his second home run, so they tried to bean him. Hence, the third home run." "You can see Terry Collins in the dugout. He honestly believes that the bat he's holding is a sword, and he is trying so hard to disembowel himself." "Just got a tweet from Vin Scully. 'Serves those fuckers right. I never liked them. Dodgers 4ever New York's team.' Wow, he knows what Twitter is. Good for him."

When you say "diving at every base" do you mean as if he were stealing a base?

Terry should not be fired just because his pitching staff is shredded. Now Wheeler is on the DL? Gsellman got Gshelled before he knew what happened. Never say die, but they look done. 

[ebk57]

8 hours ago, attica said:

Occasionally, I'll schedule some 'away games' into my vacation allotment, because it's super fun to wear my tribal indicators in somebody else's park. I have long wanted to go to KC for a game, but it always seems like the only time the Yankees go to KC is in the dead of winter, or when it's not good work-wise. And they only go there once a year, which is passed already. I want to go to the NLM so bad, though. Maybe next year?

 

7 hours ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Me too and I've been mentally planning a trip to the NLBM for years.  My company has an office in the Kansas City area so I'd be willing to make it a work trip!

The NLBM is wonderful.  We were there on that Louisville-St Louis-KC-some other city trip that I mentioned.  The America Jazz Museum is in the same building (or it was in 1998), but we didn't get to see it because they were having a private event the day we were there.  I'd like to check it out on our return trip.  And eat more BBQ.  We also hit the Truman Library since it seems there are a bunch of presidential libraries in baseball cities, so we always visit those.  The Truman site is quite nice - small, but interesting and informative.

 

7 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I'm going to two parks this year for Astros away games. The first one is to Baltimore, which is an arranged trip for the season ticket holders, so July 21 & 22 will have a big huge section of about 50 Astros fans sitting in Camden Yards. Then I'm going to the last regular season game of the year @ Boston. I've always wanted to see Fenway.

I hope you have fun here in Baltimore...but not too much fun :-)   We'll be there on the 23rd.  It's a shame you won't be there on the 23rd so I could offer you some $$ for the bottle stopper set you'll be getting on the 22nd.  Ah well...  That will be right after we get home from Florida where I will see a Marlins game and knock another stadium off my list.  Only 3 more to go.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I'm leaving for the Netherlands tomorrow, home of Bert Blyleven and Didi Gregorius.  And that's my baseball post for the night.

[catrox14]

2 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

I'm leaving for the Netherlands tomorrow, home of Bert Blyleven and Didi Gregorius.  And that's my baseball post for the night.

Awww, you are off to the land of Honkbal!

Have fun!

[Bort]

27 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

It's a shame you won't be there on the 23rd so I could offer you some $$ for the bottle stopper set you'll be getting on the 22nd

Ooooh... between myself, my mother and my stepfather, we'll have three sets!

[Lantern7]

Flipped to SNY. Why the fuck do I do that?!? Blevins just walked three straight Dodgers, forcing in two runs. Good night, guys.

Was Puig timed last night? When SNY ran the Bartolo game, I actually clocked him at 31 seconds. Of course, he had a lot of mass to push around the bases.

[xaxat]

25 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Flipped to SNY. Why the fuck do I do that?!? Blevins just walked three straight Dodgers, forcing in two runs. Good night, guys.

Was Puig timed last night? When SNY ran the Bartolo game, I actually clocked him at 31 seconds. Of course, he had a lot of mass to push around the bases.

I hope you stuck around to see that great catch by the fan holding the baby. (The guy's wife was not happy.)

[Lantern7]

1 minute ago, xaxat said:

I hope you stuck around to see that great catch by the fan holding the baby. (The guy's wife was not happy.)

Turned it back on. Mets had the bases loaded, and the batter popped up weakly. I'll probably see the clip tomorrow. Seriously, what is the proper protocol in a situation like that? I'm thinking turn your back to the field while holding the baby and brace for impact. I think a dad might get love on the sports shows for that.

Random Thought: Does anybody else miss This Week In Baseball? I should see if I can see old clips online. I used to watch ESPN Classic for that.

[smittykins]

5 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Flipped to SNY. Why the fuck do I do that?!? Blevins just walked three straight Dodgers, forcing in two runs. Good night, guys.

Was Puig timed last night? When SNY ran the Bartolo game, I actually clocked him at 31 seconds. Of course, he had a lot of mass to push around the bases.

I think the official time for Big Bart's trot was 30.6 seconds.(And that was like the third slowest of the year, behind Big Papi).

I miss TWIB.  And ESPN Classic(it's on an extra-cost "sports tier" on my system).

Edited June 23, 2017 by smittykins

[attica]

12 hours ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

I'm leaving for the Netherlands tomorrow

So much good cheese. The eatin' kind, not the pitchin' kind. Also: Dutch people are exceptionally good looking (imho). Have fun!

[Bort]

Rangers vs. Yankees tonight. The one matchup where I will root for the Yankees over someone else.

[jennifer6973]

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Turned it back on. Mets had the bases loaded, and the batter popped up weakly. I'll probably see the clip tomorrow. Seriously, what is the proper protocol in a situation like that? I'm thinking turn your back to the field while holding the baby and brace for impact. I think a dad might get love on the sports shows for that.

Random Thought: Does anybody else miss This Week In Baseball? I should see if I can see old clips online. I used to watch ESPN Classic for that.

I loved watching TWIB on Saturdays after Saved By the Bell and other teen/kids shows.  I loved that one show where the kid reporter tried taking to I think Gary Carter in French because he played for the Montreal Expos.

[Lantern7]

For me, it was 1 p.m. on WWOR, before the Mets game. I'm sure I can get the music played during the end credits somewhere.

ETA: Any personal memories from TWIB? Here's mine: I went to Ron Darling's last game as a Met. They lost, and the sole bright spot was Mackey Sasser, the catcher who had the "yips" behind the plate. The Mets moved him to right field that day. Ron had a baserunner to start, then balked him to second. The next batter hit it to right, and Mackey not only made a great grab, he doubled the runner off at second. Next guy up hit it to the wall, and Mackey lept to make the catch. The following week, I was waiting to see Mackey make the "Top 5" highlights. He didn't, and I was pissed . . . until they immediately ran Mackey's inning after that, complete with Rick Cerrone bowing to him in the dugout.

[prican58]

Maybe they should have changed Mackey to OF instead of C. Wonder if they ever considered that. 

[Lantern7]

Me: Hey, a Facebook friend is happy that her Royals won. Lets see what happened.

ESPN: Asrubal Cabraera Isn't Happy Playing 2B! Demands Trade!!

Me: Of course. They're wailing on the Giants, and there's still bad mojo. Say, that reminds me . . .

Mets.com: Asdrubal Cabrara Bobblehead Doll Night: July 1!!!

Me: Seriously, why the fuck do they even do player-based promotions?!?

[Bort]

On 6/21/2017 at 4:20 PM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I'm so excited for this! 

This is apparently making the rounds through MLB this time of year. The throne is going to each game and you can get your picture while sitting on it. This is the Astros one, coming the 28th:

[prican58]

Yanks win in dramatic fashion. Tanaka lights out, finally. Maybe it was the competition vs Yu D. Whatever, I just hope he keeps pitching well. Torreyes, the Big Toe. I love this kid. Walk offs are so much fun! 

I do feel bad about Chris Carter being DFA'd. He has such a sweet face, like he is a really nice guy. Brewers fans, what's he like? Hope he regroups and contributes somewhere.

Chris, we hardly knew ye.