MLB Thread

[Lantern7]

SNY just premiered Amazin’ Finishes for 2021. Javy Baez’s dash home was #1. Once again: that was the game I bailed on. And, once again, I low-key hate myself for doing that. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[mojoween]

Watching game six of the 2009 World Series and Joe Buck mentions Johnny Damon’s 36th birthday is the next day, Hideki Matsui is 37 and Andy Pettite is 38 which means that this year they are turning 49, 50 and 51 and I am going to need a minute.

[mojoween]

Derek Jeter could have stayed in New York, worked in some fashion for the Yankees, and stayed beloved forever.  Now, he flees Miami with stacks of cash and a damaged reputation.

[sandrajane]

He was paying himself $5 million a year.  So he got his money back that he invested in the beginning* and then bounced.

How long before Posada suddenly grows a conscious and leaves, too?

*Plus he was getting $1-2 million in bonuses every year.  He's selling his shares, so he's really washing his hands of the Marlins.

Seems sudden.  Expecting some scandal soon.

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by sandrajane

[Lantern7]

8 hours ago, sandrajane said:

He was paying himself $5 million a year.  So he got his money back that he invested in the beginning* and then bounced.

How long before Posada suddenly grows a conscious and leaves, too?

*Plus he was getting $1-2 million in bonuses every year.  He's selling his shares, so he's really washing his hands of the Marlins.

Seems sudden.  Expecting some scandal soon.

It would be scandalous if there was a baseball season firmly in place. Also, it's the Marlins. If you're going to steal money and keep most of your rep as a good guy, that's the place to do it.

[mojoween]

Fuck Rob Manfred.  Fuck the owners.

[Mittengirl]

I hate the idea of buys and ghost wins.  It sounds like both sides want the money from an extra round of playoffs, but they want to make it very difficult for the wild card teams to win.  

[emmawoodhouse]

Manfred: Concern for the fans is the top of out list 

Suuuuure. 

First two series of regular season games are cancelled.

[cleo]

Almost everything Manfred says is a calculated lie imo. Or if you want to put it more mildly- PR spin. Nothing he says or does in public is genuine.

[Harry24]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Fuck Rob Manfred.  Fuck the owners.

Touché.

[cambridgeguy]

1 hour ago, Mittengirl said:

I hate the idea of buys and ghost wins.  It sounds like both sides want the money from an extra round of playoffs, but they want to make it very difficult for the wild card teams to win.  

Sure - I remember back in ye olden days of only one wild card team when people bitched about how the top seed could be stuck playing a superb wild card team in a short series.  For an example that's near and dear to someone from Southern California, in 2002 the 99 win wild card Angels stomped the top seeded Yankees 3-1.  Elite teams will want to make sure there's more of a difference than just home field between the division winner and wild card.

[ebk57]

I took Opening Day off and now have nothing to do.  Anyone want to meet for drinks?  

 

The commissioner hates baseball.  I hate the commissioner. 

[Harry24]

I’m seriously thinking of not purchasing Yes this season and certainly not going to any games for a good long while.  They’re starting to lose me.

[cleo]

Yeah it's funny before the pandemic I was considering buying a ticket package for the first time instead of just one offs, which would have been  a lot more games.

Not now and not ever probably. 

I don't think the owners are that interested in growing the sport or having new fans, although they pay lip service to it.

[morriss]

No MLB this year- No problem.   I have been following the NPB (japanese professional baseball ) for 3 years now and find it it much more entertaining than MLB.  No goofy rule changes, tie games allowed in standings, no showboating and best of all, the players are all skilled in the fundamentals of baseball.  Season starts late in late March.   ⚾

[rcc]

Maybe ESPN will air Japanese League games like they did KBO. 

 

[Carey]

On 3/1/2022 at 8:10 PM, ebk57 said:

I took Opening Day off and now have nothing to do.  Anyone want to meet for drinks?  

 

The commissioner hates baseball.  I hate the commissioner. 

Somehow, this guy will get into Cooperstown.  To say Y.I.K.E.S! would be mild upon that possible reality

[Moose135]

6 hours ago, morriss said:

…tie games allowed in standings

Ties? There’s no tying in baseball!

[Prairie Rose]

2 hours ago, Carey said:

Somehow, this guy will get into Cooperstown.  To say Y.I.K.E.S! would be mild upon that possible reality

Who would have ever thought we'd be longing for the good old days of Bud Selig? 😮

[mojoween]

My hubby grew up a Reds fan, then liked the A’s too (we’re 80’s kids, it’s what you did) and always haaaaaated the Yankees.

I turned on YES today and they are playing game five of the 2001 World Series.  And he’s sitting here just getting irate at what he thinks are bad calls by the umps not in the Yankees favor and when the Yanks take bad swings.

It is adorable, and unexpected.  Who knew someone could still surprise you after being hitched for 25 years?

[cleo]

I still don't think there will be a CBA anytime soon in spite of all the breathless tweets from reporters. 

But am I the only one that hates the changes they're talking about? 

Banning the shift- hate

14 team postseason hate

I could live with a pitch clock. Larger bases- I dunno. Neutral I guess.

[mojoween]

1 minute ago, cleo said:

14 team postseason hate

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE

[Ms Blue Jay]

44 minutes ago, cleo said:

I still don't think there will be a CBA anytime soon in spite of all the breathless tweets from reporters. 

But am I the only one that hates the changes they're talking about? 

Banning the shift- hate

14 team postseason hate

I could live with a pitch clock. Larger bases- I dunno. Neutral I guess.

The union voted AGAINST robot umpires.  I have been wanting robot umpires for years.

I also hate banning the shift.

I have no idea why any player would want this, I guess except pitchers?

I always want more teams to make the postseason because Toronto never gets to go .  LOL.  AL East is too competitive.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[theatremouse]

I do not like banning the shift. Learn to bunt, people!

I am pro robot umpires and cannot understand why anyone other than a finesse pitcher would be opposed.

Don't need a bigger post-season.

And while we're at it, I don't like the DH, but I know that's a losing battle.

[grommit2]

3 hours ago, cleo said:

I still don't think there will be a CBA anytime soon in spite of all the breathless tweets from reporters. 

But am I the only one that hates the changes they're talking about? 

Banning the shift- hate

14 team postseason hate

I could live with a pitch clock. Larger bases- I dunno. Neutral I guess.

Hi Cleo...someone has to tell me why professional baseball players cannot figure out how to "hit it where they ain't".  Nope.  They insist on trying to hit rockets into the defensive shift. 

[Rootbeer]

Sure, let's ban the shift.  Then, make the pitchers throw underhanded use whiffle balls and plastic bats.  Extreme shifts have become more prevalent lately, but the obvious answer to that is to have the hitters learn to adjust to it by bunting or hitting to the opposite field.   The game does not need to be 'dumbed down' for hitters who refuse to adapt.

[Mittengirl]

I will never be in favor of ghost wins.  I cannot believe any true competitor wants to be handed a win.  Why not just say that the playoffs/World series are unnecessary if there is one team with the best record? 

Or maybe it is about the money?  

Nah, that can’t be it.

[grommit2]

On 3/2/2022 at 3:00 PM, rcc said:

Maybe ESPN will air Japanese League games like they did KBO. 

 

Hi RCC...I found the Korean Baseball shows (early AM here on the East Coast) to be just what to watch while getting up in the morning.  The announcers were really knowledgeable.  But the best part was the home team that seated large stuffed teddy bears in the stands. Very cool. 

6 hours ago, theatremouse said:

I do not like banning the shift. Learn to bunt, people!

I am pro robot umpires and cannot understand why anyone other than a finesse pitcher would be opposed.

Don't need a bigger post-season.

And while we're at it, I don't like the DH, but I know that's a losing battle.

Hi Theatremouse...I look forward to the time that a batter gets annoyed at the robot...and clobbers it with a bat.  Wham!

[rcc]

59 minutes ago, grommit2 said:

Hi RCC...I found the Korean Baseball shows (early AM here on the East Coast) to be just what to watch while getting up in the morning.  The announcers were really knowledgeable.  But the best part was the home team that seated large stuffed teddy bears in the stands. Very cool. 

Hi Theatremouse...I look forward to the time that a batter gets annoyed at the robot...and clobbers it with a bat.  Wham!

So did I. Early morning baseball. Good games too.

[Black Knight]

5 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

Sure, let's ban the shift.  Then, make the pitchers throw underhanded use whiffle balls and plastic bats.  Extreme shifts have become more prevalent lately, but the obvious answer to that is to have the hitters learn to adjust to it by bunting or hitting to the opposite field.   The game does not need to be 'dumbed down' for hitters who refuse to adapt.

My devil's advocate counterpoint would be that hitting a major league baseball is already one of the hardest things to do in sports and it's only gotten more so. Hitters are celebrated if they fail "only" two-thirds of the time. In conjunction with the extreme shifts there have been numerous changes in pitching occurring - from the rise of pitching-by-committee to only having pitchers face a line-up twice, all of which ensures hitters now hardly ever see a tired pitcher or get a chance to really get a feel for the pitcher that game. And there are more hard throwers than ever.

If it were that simple for hitters to just learn to hit the ball to where fielders aren't, we'd see more of that. Most of us played baseball at levels where the ball is thrown at far lower speeds. I don't think it's a question of hitters just refusing to adapt. This is a game that by nature has always been heavily stacked against hitters; where else is someone celebrated for failing over half the time? Only 10 players in MLB history have managed to have an season OBP of .500 or more (and nine of them played in the distant past while the 10th is Barry Bonds, still two decades ago) and it's also quite notable when scanning the list of all-time career OBPs to see how few active players are listed. There's only one in the top 20, Mike Trout, and he's down at #18. Since career OBPs include a player's twilight years, in theory active players should be over-represented since many of them haven't yet hit their past-their-prime phase that will drag down their career OBP. But they're not, which says a great deal about how much harder it's gotten in recent years to be a successful hitter.

I appreciate the strategic element of extreme shifts, and don't necessarily think that eliminating those is the answer. But I think something should be done to at least bring pitchers vs. hitters back in balance a bit more. If it's not eliminating extreme shifts, then do something with the pitching mound, for instance. Just as present-day hitters have to contend with more, make present-day pitchers contend with more.

[Bewitched]

48 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

But I think something should be done to at least bring pitchers vs. hitters back in balance a bit more. If it's not eliminating extreme shifts, then do something with the pitching mound, for instance. Just as present-day hitters have to contend with more, make present-day pitchers contend with more.

This is one of my arguments against the DH.  If the pitcher has to hit, then his training alters just enough that it might save his shoulder and elbow from overuse.  He has to run a little more so his stamina might be better.  He has to be more than just an arm.

But I am an old and grew up watching Maddox and Glavine who could actually hit.  And I've very much enjoyed watching Scherzer at the plate in DC.  Mad Max indeed.

[cleo]

If they bunted more teams would stop shifting in a hurry. They don't have to hit homers the other way.

But they don't really teach hitters to bunt anymore bc of the home run worshipping. 

They bunt a little more in the NL I guess.

I've also read other suggestions, around limiting the constant pitching changes, that I like more than limiting the shift. 

But I also don't mind the game as is so I don't have an issue with the shift.

Different subject - I find it funny in the midst of these negotiations and a lock out they're announcing shit like exclusive deals with Apple TV.

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by cleo

[mojoween]

Oh no no no no no no.  I made my belligerent peace with the swoosh on the uniform tops.  But MORE advertising on uniforms and HELMETS?  Oh hell no.

[Moose135]

 

[emmawoodhouse]

Opening Day is April 7. We only lose a week's worth of games. 

[Lantern7]

Super. Now it's time to do what Mets fans do: wait for an announcement that the lockout was settled when the MLBPA sacrificed Max Scherzer to appease the owners.

I should also learn to spell the guy's name. I had it down as "Schrezer" before Googling it.

ETAL Yeah, I'm for bunting to beat the shift. I guess that Tony LaRussa threatened to start murdering people if any play broke the "unwritten rules."

Edited March 10, 2022 by Lantern7

[Moose135]

9 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Opening Day is April 7. We only lose a week's worth of games. 

I've been hearing that they will make up those games, either on off-days or as doubleheaders.

5 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Yeah, I'm for bunting to beat the shift.

But if I have a guy who can hit the ball 500 feet with some regularity, I don't want him bunting.

[emmawoodhouse]

Yeah, just heard it will be a full season. Hurray! 

[cambridgeguy]

49 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

But if I have a guy who can hit the ball 500 feet with some regularity, I don't want him bunting.

Bunting is for your speedy second baseman or shortstop.  Those massive first basemen aren't being paid to not get the ball out of the infield.

[Carey]

This is fantastic news.  While there may be arguments or a lack of excitement (mainly from the small market teams), this a good thing overall for both side & all parties.

Not too thrilled about 12 teams for the postseason, but I'm okay with that.  The fact is: baseball is back.  And much sooner than I thought!

[Lantern7]

3 hours ago, Moose135 said:

I've been hearing that they will make up those games, either on off-days or as doubleheaders.

But if I have a guy who can hit the ball 500 feet with some regularity, I don't want him bunting.

 

2 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Bunting is for your speedy second baseman or shortstop.  Those massive first basemen aren't being paid to not get the ball out of the infield.

Okay. You’re a left-handed hitter. You’re in a slump where you make contact that isn’t heavy. The infield is shifted to the right. Third base side is wide open. You know the catcher is slow as hell. Why should bunting in that situation be out of the question for guys with average speed?

Honest question, no snark intended: is it hard to learn to hit towards the opposite field on purpose?

[smittykins]

And the players’ photos on the app are baaaaaaack!

[theatremouse]

5 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Bunting is for your speedy second baseman or shortstop.  Those massive first basemen aren't being paid to not get the ball out of the infield.

If the shift is on, that bunt should end up in the outfield if you do it right.

[cleo]

Well it's been banned for 2023 so kind of a moot point now. 

Anyone have the details on how the playoffs work now?

ETA nm found something. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-has-a-new-12-team-playoff-format-will-an-expanded-postseason-work-for-baseball-024032387.html

Edited March 11, 2022 by cleo

[smittykins]

RIP Odalis Perez.

[smittykins]

Yankees re-sign Tim Locastro, Mets sign Adam Ottavino.

[mojoween]

No what the fuck Josh Donaldson is used up and Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela are not, Gary can work on his shit, this trade sucks.

[smittykins]

Plus who’s gonna catch?(Higgy is good, but he’s strictly a backup.)

[mojoween]

Apparently we traded catcher for catcher.  Unless this kid is the second coming of Yogi Berra, pfffffft.

[mojoween]

I love new players shaving and traded players becoming wolfmen, but this video has to be two different people.