MLB Thread

[DoctorAtomic]

I suppose it's going to boil down to how much cheddar owners are willing to fork over to make it work. You're going to likely have to guarantee X home games per team. Not impossible to work out, but still a pain. Then, the roster issue, doubleheaders. 

It could be interesting like the short NBA season - more teams who think they have shot might 'go for more' than just wasting 5 or 7 games because they're just hacking away for a home run. You're going to need a way bigger bullpen. 

[voiceover]

MLB Network screening the Pine Tar Game...and oh, I am sighing over those uniforms..those moustaches..

This is Kansas City lore.  I don't think I've ever heard the story told by a local, doesn't add a few multi-letter adjectives before "Billy" and before & after "Martin"🤣

Edited March 18, 2020 by voiceover

[Moose135]

11 hours ago, voiceover said:

This is Kansas City lore.  I don't think I've ever heard the story told by a local, doesn't add a few multi-letter adjectives before "Billy" and before & after "Martin"🤣

And his middle name was "F&^^%ing"... 😉

[smittykins]

I thought that was Aaron @&$!ing Boone? 😛

[bosawks]

It's actually "Bucky %#*&@+! Dent".....

I believe he might have even legally changed his name.

[Colleenna]

On 3/12/2020 at 8:47 PM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Well, maybe the Giants won't lose 100 games this season after all!

And hey, if the season is  cut in half, the Pirates won't  lose 100 games  either.  F#@$ing Bob Nutting  needs gone.

[Colleenna]

5 hours ago, bosawks said:

It's actually "Bucky %#*&@+! Dent".....

I believe he might have even legally changed his name.

I thought  it was Bill #@$%#$@ Buckner 😂

[Mittengirl]

I knew I shouldn’t have re-watched MLB Network’s special about Mark Fidrych.  All of a sudden it got very oniony in my living room.  
 

 

[Lantern7]

I got my copy of the Baseball Preview issue of Sports Illustrated. I don't know what's sadder: their reduced number of issues per year, or that they put out the issue after COVID-19 suspended the season indefinitely. Oh, and my copy had the New York cover (one of three versions!), with Pete Alonso and Gleyber Torres.

[smittykins]

7 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

I knew I shouldn’t have re-watched MLB Network’s special about Mark Fidrych.  All of a sudden it got very oniony in my living room.  
 

 

They’re showing it again now.

[mojoween]

Has anyone figured out how to watch the free games on MLB TV on a PS4?

[Moose135]

 

One bright side to the COVID-19 postponements, he'll won't miss as much during his recovery time...

Sources: Mets' Noah Syndergaard to have Tommy John surgery for torn UCL

New York Mets starter Noah Syndergaard has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery in the near future, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan. The procedure will keep him out until at earliest April 2021 and likely into the summer months.

[Lantern7]

1. Has there been a time where a top pitcher from the Mets had Tommy John surgery?
2. Given the state of the world, I’d say this news came at the right time.
3. Anyone else thinking the Phillie Phanatic is getting off so hard finding out about that?

Speaking of the Phanatic . . . this is for anyone who doesn’t watch Last Week Tonight. This is from several weeks ago. Enjoy!

 

[Moose135]

13 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Has there been a time where a top pitcher from the Mets had Tommy John surgery?

A look at how 8 Mets pitchers' Tommy John surgery recoveries unfolded

Depends on how you define "top pitcher". The list includes Matt Harvey (2013), Zack Wheeler (2015), and Bobby Parnell (2014).  Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, and Jenrry Mejia, all underwent it before making their major league debuts.

[Mittengirl]

I have read a couple of articles today about how to do a shortened season.  The idea of bracket play is just idiotic.  I like the idea of 7-inning (vs. 9-inning) doubleheaders, especially in the hotter months, but only if fans get in both games with one ticket.

Scott Boras said they could still get in 162 games with a June 1st start and play the World Series in December at a neutral site.  That sounds incredibly stupid.  Even with expanding rosters, that would put a lot of strain on players.  And is he even thinking of logistics?  At this point we have no idea what the travel & hospitality industries will look like this summer/fall.  The amount of events that will be trying to reschedule will be a nightmare to contend with.

What exactly would be a “neutral” site?  Say the Angels make the post-season - would Dodger Stadium be considered neutral?  San Diego? Anywhere in California? It would obviously have to be either a domed stadium or in the south.  Are there any domed non-baseball stadiums that could be converted to a accommodate baseball?

If, heaven forbid, a city/region suffers a second Coronavirus outbreak, does MLB have a plan for that?  That would be the ultimate fly in whatever revamped season they come up with.

[mojoween]

Happy Opening Day everyone 

*sad trombone*  

I would have been very excited to watch the 2017 Home Run Derby later today if ESPN weren’t running them in reverse order so it will end at midnight.

[shoregirl]

It's crazy to think that baseball only got shut down two weeks ago. It feels lime baseball has been gone for months. I am sad today is not the start of the season and when it starts is so uncertain. I do like that MLB is giving fans access to the last 2 seasons on MLB.TV and has a bunch of games on You Tube.  

[catlover79]

I understand and agree with why MLB has to be shut down now. Still...

 

WAHHHHHHHHH!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

[smittykins]

YES is showing the 1998 Home Opener between the A’s and Yankees(NY won 17-13).

Fun fact:  my podiatrist is also a Yankees fan, and once he was talking about this crazy game he went to at Yankee Stadium between Oakland and NY, and when I asked him who won, he said, “the Yankees, 17-13.”

Me:  “The ‘98 home opener!”

Him:  “How did you know that?”

Me:  “Dude, they show it on Yankees Classics all the time.”

[Mittengirl]

Maybe the Red Sox probe is as half-assed as the Astros probe, so he doesn’t want our unfocused attention on it.

[mojoween]

I love him

 

[Lantern7]

For any Mets fans reading this: MLB Network is airing Games 5-6 of the NLCS right now.

Edited March 28, 2020 by Lantern7

[Sew Sumi]

Jim Edmunds is hospitalized, apparently with coronavirus. He's awaiting test results.

[Lantern7]

ESPN is running the Braves/Mets game from September 21, 2001 . . . the first post-9/11 game played in New York.

[xaxat]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

ESPN is running the Braves/Mets game from September 21, 2001 . . . the first post-9/11 game played in New York.

Thanks for the heads up. I haven't seen this game since it aired live. 

I lived in the city back then, and it was an amazing (See what I did there?) moment. The ceremony, the first responder caps and, of course, Mike F Piazza. 

The next day in the office everyone had a big smile on their face. Mets fans, Yankees fans, people who didn't care about baseball.

I can't find it online, but the MLB "we will beat this thing and eventually have opening day" ad is really good.

ETA Found it. 

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by xaxat

[Sew Sumi]

Al Kaline has passed. Cause of death not immediately given. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Sew Sumi

[AimingforYoko]

11 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

Al Kaline has passed. Cause of death not immediately known. 

OK, this is another one of those where I wasn't aware he was still alive. He was before my time, the biggest thing I remember is that he was Thomas Magnum's favorite player. R.I.P.

[mojoween]

Al Kaline screams Tigers to me and he was before my time too.

Happy Designated Hitter Anniversary Day!  We were born in the same year.

Thanks, Ron Blomberg, for getting it started.

Edited April 6, 2020 by mojoween

[Mittengirl]

Al Kaline was signed by the Tigers at the age of 18, never played in the minors and won the batting title at age 20.  
 

When I was a little kid, before I was a baseball fan, he used to star in Faygo commercials with a real tiger.  That was my first introduction to him.

[mojoween]

Watching Cal Ripken’s streak game (9/6/95, 25 years ago how is that possible) and the ads on the outfield signs were Nobody Beats the Wiz and Fujifilm and that is SO nineties I could weep.

And is that Whitney Houston over the PA?  Good god.

And I know this makes me a bad fan but maybe @ebk57 knows who the incredibly handsome man was who was sitting next to Joe DiMaggio?  

 

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by mojoween

[ebk57]

45 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Watching Cal Ripken’s streak game (9/6/95, 25 years ago how is that possible) and the ads on the outfield signs were Nobody Beats the Wiz and Fujifilm and that is SO nineties I could weep.

And is that Whitney Houston over the PA?  Good god.

And I know this makes me a bad fan but maybe @ebk57 knows who the incredibly handsome man was who was sitting next to Joe DiMaggio?  

 

 

 

 

Wish I could help, but since i was at that game, I didn't see it on TV.  And never did, actually.  I've seen the highlights, but not the whole game.  

It was a great night at the ballpark!  

Then, exactly one year later, Eddie Murray's 500th HR.  I had to wait out a rain delay for that, but it was so worth it. 

[mojoween]

I should have known you would have been there!  That is very cool.  I actually watched this game live at my parents house, have it recorded on a VHS somewhere and have the newspapers from the next day in a box in my garage.

The handsome man I believe is someone important to Baltimore.  If Boomer mentioned him by name, I missed it.  I’ll have to see if I can find a pic.

[Lantern7]

Brooks Robinson? I have the game on mute, and I think he was in the booth.

[mojoween]

Nope, it wasn’t Brooks; I did see him talking to Boomer in the booth.  Handsome man was sitting next to DiMaggio in the stands.

[nittany cougar]

I think that it was Hank Aaron next to Joe DiMaggio.

 

[Mittengirl]

The last game at Tiger Stadium is on right now.  Is there something about getting old that makes you cry over every damn thing?

[catlover79]

On 4/7/2020 at 9:00 PM, mojoween said:

Watching Cal Ripken’s streak game (9/6/95, 25 years ago how is that possible) and the ads on the outfield signs were Nobody Beats the Wiz and Fujifilm and that is SO nineties I could weep.

I was watching it, too - as well as some of the Indians' playoff games from 1995 on Fox Sports Ohio. Gotta love the old school graphics and fonts (both on the scoreboards and on the TV screens), but lament the sponsors that no longer exist/bought out by conglomerates (Revco, Stop N Shop, Society Bank). I also applaud whoever finally decided to put the score and the balls/strikes/out tallies at the corners of the screen - post 1995, obviously.

While we await new MLB games, watching the classic games have been a nice trip down memory lane. 25 years???? Has it been that long already? Scary.

[mojoween]

Hank Steinbrenner has passed away at 63.  Love them or hate them, Steinbrenner is one of the most important post mid-century names in baseball.

[smittykins]

Wow, he was fairly young.  RIP.

[Sew Sumi]

4 hours ago, smittykins said:

Wow, he was fairly young.  RIP.

He had coronavirus. 😢

[theatremouse]

The article I read indicated the family said he did not? They mentioned a super-vague "lengthy illness", but said it wasn't COVID-19.

[mojoween]

Yeah every article I saw made a point to say that his illness was not COVID related.

[Sew Sumi]

I heard it on CBS radio. Maybe they should fact check. Sorry for any confusion. 

[smittykins]

YouTube is showing the game where Pedro Martinez struck out 17 Yankees in 1999.  I saw it the first time, thankyouverymuch(it was my birthday).

[mojoween]

Happy Jackie Robinson Day!

While we won’t see anything on the field today (sniffle) MLB Network will be doing tributes on TV, their website and across their social platforms.

[smittykins]

On MLB The Show, all players wear #42 on April 15(one of the reasons it’s my favorite baseball franchise).

[Lantern7]

Also, MLB Network is airing games that took place on April 15. And I think that was the date of the last time I went to Wrigley Field, back in 2010.

[catlover79]

This story just cracked me up. Just because you're a MLB pitcher doesn't mean you still can't accidentally break a window. OOOPS!! 😳😝😂

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/watch-dodgers-joe-kelly-breaks-window-while-throwing-a-baseball-in-his-backyard/amp/

[Moose135]

We don't really have a "generic sports" thread, and since I think of Joe Buck more as a baseball guy than anything else, I thought I'd post it here. Good to see he has a sense of humor.

 

[xaxat]

Billionaire baseball fan Thomas Tull produced the Jackie Robinson biopic 42.

He honored Robinson day by donating $4.2 million to Pittsburgh area hospitals to help them fight the pandemic.